Just Dance Textual Analysis

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Textual Analysis of the music video Just Dance by Lady GaGa

Transcript of Just Dance Textual Analysis

Page 1: Just Dance Textual Analysis
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Mise-en-sceneCostumes suggest a party, and show the “character” of the artist. The costumes are very high fashion, which is typical of pop videos however her eccentric clothing makes her unique.

People waking up, looking “rough” makes it seem like their was a party the night before, it suggests a wild party atmosphere to the audience. The already messy setting at the begging of the video also suggests that a party happened the night/day before

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Props such as the fancy car and big house establish a theme of wealth and show the importance of money in the video.

Platinum blonde hair, sharp fringe and blue lightening bolt on her face show how she’s trying to be individual and different to other pop artists. Just Dance was her first ever video and she’s making a statement that she’s unique and creating an image that stands out.

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Man surrounded by women is something seen more in RnB videos than pop videos. This challenges the stereotypes of music videos for different genres.

More of a crazy party atmosphere than the nice, clean parties normally seen in pop videos, this video shows lots of drinking, falling over, girls kissing and the setting is very messy. Again by taking a common scene for pop videos and changing it to make it stand out she’s separating herself from other pop artists

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Genre• Pop videos often include parties, dance routines, high

fashion, fake settings and are not usually narrative based.• Lady GaGa’s video to “Just Dance” uses most of these

aspects of a pop video but expands on them in order to separate herself and make herself stand out.

• She uses a small dance routine with two other girls, however the dance routine is very short and not like the dance routines you expect to see in pop videos.

• She uses a party which is seen in both POP and RnB videos. • Lady Gaga is known for her dress sense. She wears

eccentric high fashion clothing and Just Dance introduced Lady Gaga and her eccentric clothing. In this video we see costumes which are exaggerated compared to the costumes we’re used to seeing in other pop video, however lots of pop videos also use high fashion outfits/costumes.

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Narrative• There’s no specific narrative of importance in

the video to Just Dance, the video starts with Lady Gaga arriving at the party and people from the night before waking up to party with her, this suggest to the audience that she is the party starter, the life of the party etc. The whole video consists of the party just getting more out of control throughout. The narrative isn’t hugely important, as there isn’t exactly a story-line however the narrative/scene of the party is hugely important in introducing Lady Gaga and presenting her to the Pop audience in her first video.

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Camera Work• At times during the video the camera work is shaky

and unsteady. This is because it is a point of view shot, this means the camera is being used as if it were someone's eyes. The shaky-ness makes the shot more believable and also gives that sense of disorientation which many party goers in the video maybe feeling.

• Throughout the whole video not one camera shot is still using a tripod, ever shot is either unsteady, a pan or a tilt movement. This helps keep the pace of the video. Non moving tripod shots at times can be a bit boring and the scenes in the video are bright and lively scenes so dull camerawork cannot be used.

• Most of the shot lengths used in the video are either LS (long shots) or CU (Close ups) With the occasional MCU (medium close up)

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Editing• Most of the editing techniques used in the

music video are cuts. This simple cuts from one shot to another. This keep the video interesting and also makes it much easier to make.

• During the video the editor has singled out 5-6 different shots and cut them together very quickly. When played we get a very quick look at what's happen. This gives us a sense of disorientation. Maybe how we would feel if we were in that scene that Lady Gaga is in.

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Sound• During the music video for Just Dance

the only sounds used are directly from the soundtrack. There is no ambient sounds used. Although because of the imagery used during the video we do not see this as unnatural. This could be because of the strong themes from the songs lyrics which are then seen on screen during the party.