By Roshani Perera & Beatriz Arredondo

Textual analysis of music videos

Mr Wrong is a song by American R&B singer-songwriter Mary J Blige. It features rapper Drake. The song was produced by Jim Jonsin and Rico Love and directed by Diane Marttel. It was released as the album's second official single on October 28, 2011.

Mary J Blige ft Drake – Mr Wrong

The lighting used in the video is coloured. This could be used to portray the feelings described in the lyrics. The video commences with Drake rapping. The lyrics suggest that he is reflecting what’s on this mind. Therefore, blue lights are used in the background. This shows that the atmosphere is calm and quiet, relating to the fact that he is reflecting.

The parts where Mary J Blige sings, the colours used for the lighting are warm colours such as Red and orange – colours of fire. This connects to the meaning of the lyrics as she’s portrayed to be frustrated and annoyed because “he breaks my heart so bad”. Furthermore, she describes that she is still in love with him which could be another reason behind the choice of Red as a colour for the lighting because red commonly symbolises Love.

There is a dance in the middle of the music video which obeys the beat of the music. Also, CGI images are used of flashing images of Mary J Blige, which comply with the beat of the song.

There are close ups of Mary J Blige’s face at various points in the music video. Additionally, there are areas where she is portrayed to be sexually attractive through her poses in the long shots.

This music video is mainly concept based. It does not have much of a narrative storyline, nor does it have any performance aspect to it. It includes many CGIs which makes it seem concept based.

Introduction:No Air is a song by American recording artist Jordin Sparks, featuring American R&B singer/actor Chirs Brown. The song was written by James Fauntleroy II, Eric Griggs, Michael Scala, Harvey Mason, Jr.,Damon Thomas and Steve Russell. The music video to no air was directed by Chris Robinson. It was released in the United States on March 4, 2008 and serves as the second single from her self-titled debut album.

Chris Bown ft Jordin Sparks – No Air

As the song starts and Sparks sings “No air”, it seems as if she is trapped inside the room. This is portrayed through her standing next to the window and looking outside like she wants to escape. Also, when the lyrics “here alone” are sung, both Sparks and Brown are by themselves which mirrors the lyrics. Furthermore, When Sparks sings “hard to breathe”, she holds onto her throat so that the audience are given the impression that it is literally hard for her to breathe.

The clothes that both the artists wear always have an aspect of red. For example, Sparks’ red shoes when wearing a green top and her red jacket along with Brown’s red hooded jumper. This reflects what the lyrics are about as Red is commonly associated with love, which is what the lyrics are about.

When the video commences, Sparks plays the piano which provides the music to the music video. Next, Sparks looks out the window where we see people walking to the slow beat of the song. There is a point where Chris Brown shares some dance moves which, obey the music of the song.

Introduction:Take a Bow is a song by recording artist Rihanna. The song was written and produced by Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Eriksen, and Shaffer Smith under their stage names StarGate and Ne-Yo. The song's music video was directed by Anthony Mandler.

It presents Rihanna as the female protagonist who leaves her boyfriend because of his infidelity. In the United States, the song peaked at number one on the US  ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart.

Rihanna – Take a Bow

The music video to “Take a Bow” is narrative based. This means that much of the visuals in the visual relate to the lyrics. Firstly, the clothing that is initially worn by Rihanna is black. This reflects the dark and sad mood of the song described by the lyrics. Through wearing such clothing, there is an emphasis on the emotions of the songs which allows that audience to relate to the content.

Next, there is an introduction of red chairs. This suggests that the song is about the dark side of a love story. This is because red is commonly associated with love and therefore including an object of this colour in the mise-en-scene allows the audience to get an understanding of the music video and the lyrics relating to it. Similarly, Rihanna’s outfit change is into a bright red jacket and a matching lip colour. This again highlights the content of the song through symbolism. To create an impact on the stress of the colour red, Rihanna wears green contact lenses to contrast with her red lip colour and jacket.

Throughout the song, Rihanna is portrayed to be in control through the events shown. For example, when she drives away, the boy she is having issues with goes after her, begging her for forgiveness. However, she completely ignores him and continues to drive the car. This shows her importance and also suggests that she is a strong character. In the same way, her control is underlined in the scene where she sends him a text to “Come to my house at 6:45!” Through this, it is suggested that she is very commanding, especially with the presence of the exclamation mark. When she sings “it’s over now”, she waves goodbye which shows the audience that she’s the one that has decided to end the relationship, again reflecting her power.

The only contradiction that was evident in the video was when the lyrics “curtain’s finally closing” were sung; the garage was slowly opening even though the lyrics stated “closing”. Even though the lyrics do not directly relate to the visual as it is not of curtains opening, the action and the word “closing” is a contradiction.

At times, there is a good relationship between the music and the visuals. However, at other times, this is not the case. For example, when Rihanna sings “Talking about ‘girl I love you, you’re the one’”, her head movements match with the beat of the song. However, when we see a close up of Rihanna’s heels towards the beginning of the music video, she walks much slower than the actual beat of the song, causing a mismatch.

In previous songs such as “Hate that I Love You” and “Unfaithful”, Rihanna is portrayed to be very sexy throughout the whole music video. However, in this music video, there is a change of image. Although there are some sections of the video (like when she is taking off her red jacket), much of the video is revolved around a mid-shot of her dressed in a plain black vest top. This may have been done to reflect the mood of the song so that the audience realise the emotional side of the song, rather than completely focusing on her look.

Erika Brooks Adickman compared the content of the video to Beyonce Knowles’ song “Irreplaceable”, stating that it was her first video to contain a plot. However, Rihanna's music video for her song "Unfaithful”, from her second studio album, and "Hate That I Love You", from her third studio album, also contain a plot. I personally think that it is inevitable that the two artists, Beyonce and Rihanna, will be compared to each other as they are both strongly influential in the music industry and have music in the same genre – contemporary R&B.

Contemporary R&B (also known as R&B) is a music genre that combines elements of rhythm and blues, pop, soul, funk and hip hop. Contemporary R&B uses drum machine backed rhythms; an occasional saxophone based beat to create a jazzy atmosphere (mostly common in contemporary R&B songs prior to the year 1993) and a smooth vocal arrangement. Electronic influences are becoming an increasing trend and the use of hip-hop or dance inspired beats are typical. Contemporary R&B vocalists are often known for their use of melisma (the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes in succession), which was made popular by vocalists such as Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

The music video for this song takes the audience through the story of a break up. It is therefore narrative based, and much of the visuals relate to the lyrics, allowing the audience to understand what is happening.