This document analyzes and compares scenes, conventions, and motifs from Ariana Grande's music video for "Baby I" to other pop and R&B music videos. It discusses how the mid shot of Grande emphasizes her likable persona. Bright colors and graffiti in the background reference 90s R&B videos. Close ups show Grande's emotions and mouthing lyrics while on the phone, a common convention. Long shots present Grande as a style icon and draw attention through techniques like Laura Mulvey's male gaze. Party scenes are conventional despite not relating to lyrics. Choreography, lighting, hair styles, and hand gestures are also repeated across Grande's videos.

1. Bryony Johnson

2. TLC – Ain‟t 2 Proud 2 Beg
Miley Cyrus – Party in the USA
LL Cool J - Hush
Victoria Justice - Gold
This mid shot is used to place emphasis
on the artist, Ariana Grande. The shot
clearly shows Grande‟s face as she pulls
a cheeky expression, this suggests to
the audience that she is a fun, likeable
person, which is conventional for artists
in the pop genre. The mid shot is also
used so that the background is visible.
The audience can see that in the
background, the title of the song “Baby
I” has been spray painted onto the
walls. Bright colours are conventionally
used in pop music videos; the colour
yellow connotes happiness, which is
promoted through the upbeat tempo of
the song.
Furthermore the iconography of graffiti
is often used in R&B music videos,
especially from the 90s, which is an era
that inspired this song and some of
Grande‟s other songs. This can be seen
in the 90s R&B song „Ain‟t 2 Proud 2
Beg‟ by TLC. Furthermore in LL Cool J‟s
video for „Hush‟, we can see the title
of the song spray painted on the wall
he is standing against, just like in
Grande‟s video. This is also seen in
Victoria Justice‟s pop video for „Gold‟.
Miley Cyrus‟ „Party in the USA‟ is
another example of a pop song with the
graffiti convention.

3. This close up shot is used to again draw emphasis on the artist and also to show her
emotions. In this shot we can see that Grande is quite happy which leads the audience
to feel the same way. This is quite a conventional emotion to be depicted through pop
music as the songs are usually very upbeat. Moreover she is denoted mouthing the lyrics
to her song whilst on the telephone as if she is singing to her “baby”.
Bow Wow & Ciara – Like You
The convention of being on the phone
is shown in many other Pop and R&B
music videos. The videos shown on
the left and the right are similar to
the Baby I video whereby the artists
Christina Aguilera –
are shown in their bedrooms as well
Come On Over
as being on the phone.
Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu
Black Eyed
Peas – Shut Up
Little Mix – How Ya
Doin

4. A long shot is used here, which shows the audience more mise en scene within the scene. The
shot draws attention to Grande and introduces her as a style icon since you can see her whole
outfit. Furthermore, Laura Mulvey‟s male gaze theory can be applied here, since the audience
will be drawn to Grande‟s legs. We can also see there are people surrounding Grande and
staring at her. This leads the audience to believe that she is desirable. It is quite conventional
to depict female pop artists in this way. For example a similar scene can be seen in the shots
below.
Cheryl Cole – Call My Name
Destiny‟s Child – Lose My
Breath

5. This shot shows a conventional
setting of a party. Grande is also
denoted clapping along to the beat
of her song. The party scene is
shown in many different pop songs,
even if it doesn‟t directly relate to
the lyrics of the song, for example
Grande‟s song „Baby I‟ and Taylor
Swift‟s „22‟ are about love and
relationships, yet the videos are
still set at a party. This is used to
promote the song as fun and it
encourages people to have the
same fun attitude. Additionally,
these artists use the party scene
convention to appeal to their
teenaged audience.
Selena Gomez - Birthday
Ke$ha – Tik Tok
Taylor Swift - 22
In these videos, the lighting is
quite similar, whereby the
background is dark, but the artist
appears illuminated. This again
draws attention to the artist.
Lady Gaga – Just Dance

6. It is very conventional for music videos to include choreographed dance routines. This can be
seen within Grande‟s video for „Baby I‟ as denoted in the two screenshots above. In the first
shot we can see that Grande herself is dancing, and in the second shot we see professional
dancers.
In these two videos we see
the main artist(s) dancing
alongside backing dancers.
This is very conventional in
music videos.
Little Mix - Wings
Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA
In this video we see the
professional dancers on their
own, similarly to in Grande‟s
video.
Rita Ora – Hot Right Now

7. Here we can see one of
Grande‟s star motifs which is
her hair being in the half up,
half down style. This can also
be seen in Grande‟s videos for
„The Way‟ and „Right There‟.

8. In this shot we see another
star motif, where Grande
dances with her hands in the
air. This again can be seen in
the videos for „The Way‟ and
„Right There‟.