Poker face

1. Lady Gaga: Poker Face
The music video is a performance, and consists entirely of the artist performing the
song.
Editing:
The concept of evenly distributing the screen time to different
characters does not apply within 'Poker Face'. As Lady Gaga is the
only main character throughout the whole video, she is the one is
who shown the most. The editing also matches dance routines, for
example, mirroring a specific move. In the video, the lyrics say
"poker face" and Gaga has a hand movement that circles her face
and indicates what she is talking about.
The editing also highlights that there are no order to the shots, and there is no continuity.
However the editing is still connected very closely to the song, and keep the whole flow
of the video going. The clear beat is emphasised by the short takes within the editing,
which are obvious to the audience.
Cinematography: There are lots of long shots which help to give
greater prominence to the character. However, there are also a variety
of other shots that help to keep the audience engaged. There are close
ups, to show Gaga's emotion, and also shots such as as mid shots to
show space around the character, and to show that the figures are
equal. In the video, Lady Gaga breaks down the 'fourth wall', and
looks directly at the camera to address and 'speak' to the audience. In a music video, the
narrative should be hinted at through shot types, however shouldn't fully explain the
whole narrative. The video itself does have a narrative, however it is not fully explained
in the shot types, or any other devices within the video. Other rules within the TV and
film industry, such as the 180 degree rule, do not apply to music videos because music
videos do not follow the same written and unwritten rules.
Showcasing the star: There are frequent close-ups of the star throughout the video, and
the co-stars never have as much camera/screen time as the
main character. There are also supporting dancers and actors
that are there to help the 'star' show off, and look good. For
example, in the video, there are many backing dancers that
help to draw attention to Gaga, and also give the audience
something else to look at.

2. Editing, Image, and Sound: Lady Gaga lip syncs to the song
throughout the video, as she cannot sing it live because the quality
of the audio would be terrible, and she wouldn’t be able to dance as
expressively if she had to sing it live. As a result of the editing and
the images, the audience pay less attention to the individual lyrics
themselves, and more to the images that they are seeing, and
especially Gaga's bright costumes and dance routines. The figures in
the video interact with the sound, for example, when they do the
dance routine and do the arm actions on the beat. The attention that
the audience have towards the song shapes the way that they see the
image. For example, the song and the meaning of its lyrics itself
may prompt the audience to interpret the song in a certain way, and this pre-conceived
belief/opinion of the song that has been created through Gaga’s pre-existing
representation in the music industry may be a contributing factor to the interpretation of
her content when the audience watch the music video.
Mise-en-scene: The location is very appropriate to the pop genre, and also the artist and
her narrative. Lady Gaga is renowned for doing things a little bit differently, and so her
choice of outfit and location is very fitting for her image and beliefs. The audience
probably already know who Gaga is, and essentially what she's all about. Subsequently,
there are very few surprises within the music video, we see the artist walking around
playing poker, and dancing, nothing particularly new for Gaga.
The setting itself suggests many meanings, and those meanings must be carefully
considered when choosing the location.
Gaga chose a pool setting, representing sophistication, an
outside decking area representing wealth and excitement,
and she adds different props to these two locations such as
beds, chairs, poker etc. From glancing at the setting, the
audience quickly identify the genre, which is pop music. If
Lady Gaga was a rock artist, she probably wouldn't chose
the setting that she used, as if wouldn't have served a correct
function for the message that she was trying to promote. The 2 contrasting settings
of the poolside in the day, and the outside decking in the evening gives variety to
the video, and helps to draw interest and engagement towards the narrative. We are
easily able to identify who the different characters are by their clothing, Lady Gaga
wears clothes that are more exotic, colourful, eye catching costumes, whereas the
other characters might all wear the same colour, or the same clothes so that the
audience can easily identify who they are, and the status that they hold.