Influential Videos

Beyonce – “Me, Myself and I”

I have chosen this particular song as my influential video because I think the video as a whole goes well with the concept of the song. I’m especially fond off the way the whole video is in backwards/slow motion. This gives a good effect on the whole video as it is a slow song and it shows the artist in a realist fashion throughout the video. This Beyonce video is different to her other videos as she is normally dancing in fierce routines, but in this video she seems very calm and natural.

I also like this video as she as a woman is not portrayed provocatively and is not wearing sexual clothing, but she is dressed sophisticatedly and casual throughout the video. As she is not wearing revealing clothing, the video is not initially set for the male target audience, instead, young girls and women could relate to her song and her video, as the scenario is common with a lot of people.

I think it will be a good idea to use the ‘rewind’ technique in our own video as it is a fine effect and we think it will go with our song well. In the song, there’s a part that says ‘Take it backwards’, and at this part of the song is where we want to add in the rewind effect.

Lady Gaga – “Paparazzi”

Another major influential video is Gaga’s video for “Paparazzi” as it creates a quick relationship between lyrics and visuals as the flashing cameras illustrate the meaning of paparazzi, for example, she says “This picture of us has no price” this line refers to how the images paparazzi take have a significant impact on either a famous person or the people who follow them. However, some visuals aspects contradict the lyrics as she states “I’m your biggest fan, I follow you until you love me”, this expresses love and obsession but the visuals show her and her boyfriend being murdered and her dancing in flamboyant costumes, which does not express clearly what paparazzi actually do when chasing a celebrity, hence blurring the lines between reality and artificial which I find appealing.

I like the fact that there is also a relationship between the music and visuals as the upbeat, electronic beats is amplified by the dancing and the costumes to reflect the song to be a song to dance to, whilst giving a sense of the ‘feel good factor’ for the audience. This is particularly used in the chorus section in the song as Gaga purposely places catchy music, lyrics and visuals in order for the audience to subconsciously remember the song to boost popularity of the song.

I also like the video as every other character in the video is constantly looking at Gaga to show that she is sexual and that all are obsessed with her which coincides with the meaning of the song. Therefore, the constant gazing attracts both male and female audiences that fantasize over her and are infatuated by her, hence why all the characters are fixated on her. Furthermore, due to the meaning of paparazzi, she has camera lens showing what she is doing with her boyfriend which is voyeurism as the audience gain

pleasure from looking at her doing something that we has audience members would not see on an ordinary or moral basis.

Overall, I find Gaga’s video influential in terms of the construction and meaning of the video as she has linked every aspect of the video to a meaning such as the use of cameras and voyeurism.

All Saints – Black Coffee

This is also one of our influential videos as it contains the same style that we wish to interpret into our music video. We wish to have the artist singing whilst there is action going on in the back.

In this video, it is just a couple arguing, whereas in our video we want to include more scenarios for example with her and her family, friends and boyfriend.

We like this video because the artists that are singing are singing to the viewers and can also be singing about what is going on behind them. It looks effective how they freeze half way and slow some things down. The movements in the video that the band and actors makes, goes well with the tempo and the beat of the music. This is something we need to encounter when creating our own music video.

We can tell that the video has been constructed by green screen. This is what we intend to do, however we know it will be a challenge we need to overcome as none of us in the group know how to use a green screen.

I also like this video as it uses a variety of shots for example when she is looking in the mirror, and establishing shots of the artist on a building.

There is also a good shot of the man smashing the mirror, then the camera zooms in on one of the mirror pieces and one of the band members is singing in it.

The only thing I dislike about this video is the lighting. I think the lighting is to dull, however this may be the effect that they wanted as the situation between the couple is sad, plus the song is called ‘black coffee’. In our video I wish to make it a bit brighter so the audience can see the artists face clearly as it is her promotional video.