Thunder – Jessie JDeconstruction

Shot Type and Movement: Close up, mid angle, mild shaky cam tracking up and down.

Analysis: This close up of Jessie shows her singing, she also has a dark appearance in bright light, this relates to her time during her album ‘Alive’ where she, during the recording of the album, looked more sinister. The shot relates to Andrew Goodwin’s theory, relating to point five, where there is a frequent notation of looking towards the camera. The shady theme Jessie used in the video also relates to the fourth part of Goodwin’s theory as the dark theme is a recurring theme across the album.

Music/Lyrics: Slow, rising tempo.“Now I’m Fall-ing down”“You lift me up to the clouds”

Edit: Slow, pulsing flashes of light occur during the shot, cuts are slow and lengthy. Cuts from close up to extreme long shot of Jessie sliding down the side of the car.

Shot Type and Movement: Extreme long shot, mid angle, still shot with some shaky movement

Analysis: The movements in the video currently are slow, relating to the beat of the song. Also, every time Jessie says ‘thunder’ in the song, a thunder strike appears in the background, relating to part of Goodwin’s theory as there is a literal relationship between lyrics and visual effects. The slow movements are used in the video as they are demanded by the record label.

Music/Lyrics: Slow tempo continues with a beat every two seconds.“Like Thunder, thunder, thunder.”

Edit: Cuts become slightly more frequent, but still maintain a slow pace. Every time the song says ’thunder’ a thunder strike appears in the background.

Shot Type and Movement: Mid – High angle close-up shot, still cam. Quick cuts and tinted lighting.

Analysis: similar to the rest of the video, there is a frequent notation of looking along with a high use of slow seductive movements, relating to more of Andrew Goodwin’s theory with the frequent notation of looking. Also, it relates to her recurring theme across her album, the sinister theme becomes more intense as cuts become more frequent, shaky cams are more common and Jessie’s movements become more chaotic, relating to the recurring theme across her album, where a similar theme occurs to the music video ‘Wild’ (also by Jessie J.)

Music/Lyrics: Slow, rising tempo.“Now when you’re Fall-ing down”“You lift me up to the clouds”

Edit: Extreme rapid cuts in beat with the music, tinted lighting in purple, some of the cuts overlay to create a ghost like figure.

Shot Type and Movement: Mid angle, extreme long shot, 180 degree tracking to the left.

Analysis: This part of the song is the only part with a 180° rule, where the camera moves smoothly across the terrain, with a high amount of silhouettes of Jessie flashing across the screen, The main Jessie, in the middle uses slow, seductive movements, while the silhouettes are more frantic. This use of editing relates to the music video as thunder is known to appear (literally) in a flash, where the silhouettes appear in flashes, quickly disappearing from the screen quicker then they appear. Whereas the Jessie in the middle is the central spotlight, where the silhouettes appear, similar to a lightning rod.

Music/Lyrics: Slow tempo with two second beat“You make my hands shake,I watch the glass break,Across my guarded heart tonight.”

Edit: Translucent figures of Jessie move across the screen, lighting on the figures in purple and blue are used. The figures appear and disappear rapidly.

Shot Type and Movement: Mainly mid angles, switches between long shots and close ups, heavy use of shaky cam.

Analysis: Cuts become even more frantic and frequent, the point in the song is loud but sad, so it relates to Andrew Goodwin’s theory with links between lyrics and visuals, where Jessie in some cuts is shown to be distraught; shown to be sad. Whereas in others, she expresses anger (picture: left.)

The setting for the video suggests that the production budget of the video ranges from low to medium. Since there are car lights flashing around her, use of slow motion plus quick camera rotation. However, the rest of the scenery is bland, on a sand dune in the middle of nowhere with dark clouds and thunder behind her.Music/Lyrics: Slow tempo turns electric

“Then you came and told me to fight through the rain, fight through the rain, to fight through the rain.”

Edit: Cuts become very frequent, rapid switch between the purple and blue tinted lights. Some cuts overlay

Shot Type and Movement: Heavy use of shaky cam in each shot, mid angles, rapid use of establishing shots, long shots and close ups.

Analysis: Similar to the rest of the video, there is a frequent use of quick cuts, and similar to the beginning of the song, every time Jessie says ‘thunder’ a thunder strike appears in the background.

The light in the centre of the stage relates to being lifted into the heavens. This theme occurs throughout the song, where Jessie is frequently floating in mid-air, as if she was being lifted by a heavenly force.

Music/Lyrics: Slow tempo with two second beat.“Like Thunder, thunder, thunder,You feel like thunder in the sky.”

Edit: Cuts become very frequent, thunder appears in the background every time Jessie says ‘thunder.’ The lighting switches from regular white to purple and light blue.