Julio Rebello

Textual Analysis of a Music Video (Wiley – Never Be Your Woman Ft. Emeli Sandé)

The music video starts with an establishing shot that consists of a slow zoom and a close up shot of a grimey high-rise council flat. This is a symbolism of Wiley’s hometown of Bow, East London as it is one of London’s deprived areas and it is also the location and setting of where the rest of the video will be shot. Over this clip is a superimpostion with the text of “Naughty Boy Presents” because this is the record label. A drumroll is heard alongside with this which connotates to us an introduction to the new record label and the mood of the council estate. The sequence moves on to introducing a Black female (who is the featuring singer, Emeli Sandé) that is standing on the rooftops of a high building, whist wearing a thick jacket and scarf and singing in the cold weather. Cold weather is often a part of many Londoners’ lives and this scene indicates the fact that she is cold and miserable of this weather and life on a London council estate, yet singing is a way for her to receive warmth and hope.

We are finally introduced to Wiley, whose life in the video is shown in four different stages: being a toddler, infant, teenager and an adult. This is first shown to us in four very quick cuts, which symbolises his fast moving life and that he had grown up much too quickly. Immediately after this, we are shown another four extreme close-ups of Wiley’s passport photos of him in his different stages of life. What is significant, is that his name in all the passports are only filled in as his pseudonym Wiley and with no surname. This and the fact that the real Wiley’s face is never actually shown in the video suggests to us that he, in real life, is a character of mystery and feels he does not need to sell his face and image to be a successful musician

Julio Rebello

After the introduction of the song, the narration of the video starts and we see a Black woman coming out of her flat only to see a sign on a lift saying “out of order”. Council estates are often associated with a lot of crime and this shot indicates to us the bad condition of the estate which they live in. Many high-rise council flats require a lift and this shows the poor living standards, which the woman and many others who she represents, live in. As the drums of the song kick in, the sequence transits to a clip of a happy woman dancing in the open space of a bright pink room. She has no significance of narration but is designed to aid visualisation in the video. She symbolises the change in mood and atmosphere of the song and video, from what was previously depressing to what is now happier.

With regards to editing, we are now moved to a clip of a pregnant mother walking down a set of stairs. As she pauses, we see her taking of her coat and a special effect takes place of her being transformed into a more attractive looking mother. Whilst a smile is now shown on her face she takes a step forward and we see a toddler who appears to be her son, Wiley. This whole frame tells us a rapid change in time and how that perhaps life for her and her child is good. The next clip is a cutaway and is filmed using the stop motion technique. It shows us a rapid change in time as we see a motif of birthday cakes developing from very simple styles to more bigger and complex. This communicates to us how his life was simpler when he was younger but as he had grown older, his life has become more luxurious.Just before the chorus, we see toddler Wiley walking down the stairs and dropping an action figure. This is a significant motif as it is the action figure of Wiley Kat, which Wiley’s name derives from. The concept of the video is that as we see Wiley walking down the stairs of his flat, we see him growing into the different stages of his life. This is illustrates to us that he has lived all his life in the estate and we see how this develops him into becoming a man.

Julio Rebello

When we see Wiley entering his infant years, we see two more uses of stop motion filming. This time we are shown the images of trainers transforming into different and larger trainers, again signifying a change in time. We are also shown images of drinks, transforming from what he would drink as baby (milk and orange juice) to what he what drink as an adult (fizzy drinks and champagne). This would also be signifying how his lifestyle has changed from being very simple, to being able to live in luxury. After, we are shown several establishing shots of the estate life. A particular shot is of a balcony with clothes hanging of a washing line. This illustrates to us how some families on the estate might not be able to afford such luxuries as a clothes dryer machine.

Another interesting shot is of Wiley is a close up of the bottom end of his trousers as they appear to be very short, perhaps representing poverty in his lifestyle because of not being able to afford new trousers. As Wiley carries on walking down the stairs, we come to an intense shot of a police man trying to arrest a man on the same shot, yet Wiley carries on walking casually and smiling. This symbolises that this is just everyday life for Wiley and he is too much in his own world to be involved in everybody elses drama. Notice that he is by himself and not with his mother now, illustrating to us that he has become independent at an early age and that perhaps his mother is working and cannot take him to school.

We are now introduced to Wiley as a teenager and for the first time in the video he is performing to the camera. This is a very momentous frame as it around this time that Wiley had started to begin his career as a music producer and an emcee. We also see his transformation of his interest from toys to woman as we see him trying to flirt with a girl on the estate, of a similar age.

Julio Rebello

As nighttime appears, another special effect takes place where we see teenage Wiley transforming into adult Wiley, as he takes of his coat. These would both again indicate to us a rapid change in time of his life. We are now shown a cutaway, back to Emeli Sandé but she is now signing in the nighttimeAs Wiley finally comes out of his block of flats, we see him entering in a very flash sports car with a custom license plate saying “WILEY”. This is symbolic as how to us how his lifestyle as improved and that he will be leaving the estate life for good.