2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUTTHE
SONG ANDVIDEO
The song CallThe Shots is a song by Girls Aloud from their fourth studio album,
Tangled Up.The song was written by Miranda Cooper with an inspiration from and
article about the advance of women in business.
The music video was directed by Dean de Sparengo and features the artists in
purple dresses on Malibu beach as well as in their own locations following their
own storylines.
Call the shots was received well with critics with positive reviews from Digital Spy
and Daily Star. Kim Dawson from the Daily Star said that “Call the Shots is one of
the band’s best singles.
3. There are then several cuts between the members of the band allowing you
to identify each member.The girls are also wearing purple dresses in the
other scene, they also have their hair and make up don’t too, this is contrary
to the other scenes of the group.
The video opens with a long shot of Cheryl one of the singers in the band. She
is facing with the back to the camera and looking out of the window. She is in
white dress, the colour white has connotations of purity.
When in the purple dresses the group are shown dancing fluidly around a fire
with sexy body language this then encourages the audience to focus on their
bodies and appearance.This objectification of the female body is often shown
within a popular girl’s music video. Partway through the video there is a
topless man showering, this also objectifies the male body and breaks the
convention stated but it can also be seen as he is ‘arm candy’ for the girls and
will make women want that lifestyle.
4. The lyrics of the song compliment the video’s narrative because the lyrics are
about female empowerment and this is shown in the mise-en-scene of the
shots an example being when the group wear purple dresses as the colour
purple has connotations of power and independence.
The video is a performance as the group are miming the lyrics and addressing
the camera, however there is still a narrative to the video, this is of a break up
in a relationship.This is shown in mise-en-scene as one of the members is
shown burning photos of her and her partner.
Lyrics such as: “I won’t cry for all the hunger in my heart, no I won’t cry
because I’ve stumbled through this fat” suggest that the group have became
independent and don’t need to rely on their partners complimenting both
aspects of the narrative.
5. The colour purple is dominant throughout the video connecting the
connotations of power and independence to the recent break up that
would’ve happened in the video.
The mise-en-scene of shots when the group are in the building show luxury,
examples of this are the pool this will make the audience lust for that lifestyle
as the audience can relate to wanting that lifestyle.
