A2 media past student music video examples

1. +
Analysis of past
examples

2. + Beyonce- Run the world (Girls)
 Distortion on beat- shows power of the girls and the
implied chaos they are trying to create
 Choreographed group dance routine- key convention of
the pop genre. Especially female pop videos
 Close Ups- showing the main artist and also on certain
body areas of the dancers- Goodwins 7(close ups
ordered by the record label for promotion)
 Costume- Black leotard and leather jacket- minimal
clothing for female gaze and also a key concept of many
of Beyonce’s videos, most notably in “single ladies”
 Army Costume- Boots and short khaki skirt and top-illustrates
the power they have as girls as it is at the end
of the video- Goodwins 7 (linking the lyrics to the video-
“Run the world”)

3. + Beyonce- Run the world (Girls)
 Green screen- used to show her dancing in front of the flames-showing
her power as a leader- Green screen is also a key
convention of pop music videos, many of them showing the
artist dancing in front of the graphic on the screen
 Slow Motion editing (overcranking)- flicking her hair in the
bedroom- Key convention of female pop videos
 Low angle shots- showing her walking away with her group at
the end of the video- illustrates the power she has she walks
over the world (camera)
 Locations: Studio- key convention of performance videos
including dance/ Subway Tunnel- Americanism-relating the
video to the original American setting/ Bedroom- large house-shows
wealth of artist (evident in many pop videos)
 Money- props- dances in it on the bed- connotes the wealth of
the artist- evident in many pop and rap music videos

4. +
Beyonce- Run the world (Girls)
 Good Points-
Very good video, highly detailed techniques used, good use of
costume and conventions of the pop video, good use of
Goodwins 7 conventions, good use of group choreographed
dance showing evidence of key Beyonce conventions.
 Could be improved
Could’ve looked for more creative ideas, using a concept or loose
narrative showing the girls overrunning the boys, could’ve been
less sexualised.

5. + Ben Howard- Only Love
 Folk genre video
 Location- Old railway path- countryside/ Swimming Pool/
London- near canary wharf- shows urban independent
locations for independent video
 Tracking- showing London locations as bicycle rides past
 Long shots- showing locations around London and Canary
Wharf
 Animation- showing a drawing of a man walking along the
bridge near Canary Wharf
 Costume- Normal clothing- Leggings and shirt
 Establishing shots- showing locations near Canary Wharf
 Flower- prop- could be symbolic/ have a deeper meaning

6. + Ben Howard- Only Love
 Undercranking/ Slow mo- showing the female falling into the
swimming pool- linked to narrative
 Reverse- showing her emerge from the pool after falling into it
and also her riding her bike
 Opacity- merging the shots into each other- fluid transitions into
the next shot
 Loose Narrative- the narrative was very loose, I think it showed
the man at the start having to deal with the death of his
girlfriend. His girlfriend is the girl in the pool who drowns.

7. + Ben Howard- Only Love
 Good Points
The video was clearly independent, the filming was very still and
the tracking worked very well
 Negative points
The narrative was too loose and was missed, there was no use of
techniques such as green screen, the locations didn’t really fit the
genre of the video and there could’ve been more research and
thought into costume and locations.