2. • Young and Beautiful, a song by singer and
songwriter Lana Del Rey, was released on the
23rd April 2013.
• It was the first single from The Great Gatsby:
Music from Baz Luhrman’s Film Soundtrack.
• Many contemporary critics praised the song,
calling it “haunting” and “sombre”.
• The lyrics of the song follows a young lover
and her apprehension of ageing.
• The genre of the song is Indie Rock
3. The music video to Young and Beautiful is a clear conformer
To her usual styles, especially when in comparison to some
Of her other music videos. Usually, in most of her music
Videos she uses a variety of editing; such as dark, blurry
Edits and filters to create a vintage, dated effect to the clips;
Seem in videos such as “Born to Die” and “Summertime
Sadness”.
Also, as the music video of Young and Beautiful features an
Orchestra in the background, which creates the effect of
Synchronous sound; coloured lights are used to foreground
The orchestra members, as it connotes that they are an
Important part of the song and music video also. This feature
Is also included in her music video of “Summertime Sadness”.
Another convention of many of her music videos, which
Features in Young and Beautiful, is the use of similar
Cinematography; with several close up shots of her face,
Showing her use the common convention of lip-synching.
This adds to the music video mainly being performance
Based and suggests that it is used to create a connection
Between the artists and her fans; which encourages her
Audience base to grow.
Young and Beautiful
Ride
Summertime Sadness
4. • A common convention of Indie Rock music videos is
the use of lighting within mise-en-scene. The lighting
is usually dark to create a dated and natural
atmosphere, which the video “Young and Beautiful”
follows this convention.
• The use of lighting in this video is very effective as, it
creates Lana Del Rey to appear dark and hard to see,
apart from the silhouette of her figure, which is
accentuated by the light. This emphasises her curves
and sensual figure, portraying her as attractive and
desirable, as it follows Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze
Theory.
• In addition as the lighting being very dark to connote
the convention of the indie-rock genre, there is also a
colour scheme of reds, blues, purples, browns and
cream, decorating the orchestra in the shots. These
are all associated with Lana Del Rey and therefore
create cohesion, connecting the artist to the music
video.
• However the music video challenges a convention of
both Alternative Rock and her own style, as there is
no inclusion of any shots of nature or any camera
pans with scenery, in favour of a 1920’s performance-themed
piece.
5. The music video to ‘Young and Beautiful’ is a largely based on performance and
thus the lyrics have very little relation to the visuals, particularly in terms of
illustrating them, although this is a common convention of music videos.
• However, in the chorus, the line “will you still love
me..” is rhetorical and personal, which is related to
the artist. The use of sound then links with
cinematography, as a cross cut then shows a close-up
shot of the artists face, creating a link between the
artists personal question and the artists face.
• In addition, when Lana Del Rey begins the verse
“Dear Lord, when I get to heaven”, the footage
flickers to an image of the artist standing in beam of
light. This is effective as the light symbolises the light
from heaven and the use of cinematography and
lighting represents the artists silhouette about to go
up to heaven. Then, during the line; “He’s my sun, he
makes me shine” the sue of lighting shows a circular
glow around the artists silhouette; this suggests it
could be a halo or that the Lord has engulfed himself
around her, guiding her. This further draws a
connection between the lyrics and the visuals.
• Moreover, a theme within the lyrics is a fear of
growing old alone, this is demonstrated throughout
the music video with the use of cinematography, as
the artist is only ever viewed in the shots alone,
although she is backed up by an orchestra, she is
never in the same frame as them, and this
establishes a sense of isolation.
6. As well, there is a link between the music and the use of
editing in the video.
• Such as, the tone of the music is very melancholic and
dreary, and this is highlighted in the visuals, through the
use of the misty, fuzzy effects added to the shots, along
with the use of mise-en-scene portraying dark lighting
to capture this mood.
• In addition, throughout the song there is a heavy
drumbeat during the bridge of every chorus, which is
reflected by the use of shot reverse shot from a close-up
of the artists face, to the orchestra and conductor
playing, which demonstrates a rise in dynamics.
• The jump cuts between the shots match the same pace
of the song, which creates the video to appear very
professional.
Close up shots of the artists face, lip-synching, appear numerous times throughout the video;
However there is only ever focus on the focal points of the artists face, such as the lips, cheeks
And eyes in extreme close-up shots, and close-up shots of the full face, yet in a variety of camera
Angles. This contrasts with the few wide and long shots in the video which feature Lana Del Rey,
However the use of mise-en-scene and lighting make the shot appear very dark and you can
Only see the silhouette of the artists figure. This puts emphasis on her face, and develops a
Close, personal relationship between the artist and the audience, allowing the viewer to feel
Connected and sympathise with Lana Del Rey.
Also, the use of cinematography here, links back to the lyrics, as the close-up shots allow the
Audience to identify the artists melancholic and disparaging expression, matching the tone of
The song.
7. • There is a reference to ‘looking’ throughout the course
of the music video, as the action of the screen is framed
throughout by a black border. This portrays the footage
in a screen within a screen and proves the rule in
Goodwin’s theory.
• As well, the video features voyeuristic treatment of the
female body, which relates to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze
theory. The camera is subtle in the sense that in its
perusal of the artists body, it does not focus on the
highly sexualised areas of the body, including the
breasts, thighs and bum. Yet contrastingly, the camera is
blatantly sexual when perusing her figure as a whole.
Following the silhouette of her body, the lighting is dim
and creates shadows across her form, focusing the
audiences attention on the clear silhouette of her body,
blacking out the rest of the frame.
• Furthermore, during a close-up of the artists face, the
camera focuses on the sexualised area of her lips, which
have been made to appear more prominent with the use
of mise-en-scene in make-up; by the dark lipstick
contrasting with her pale skin, as well as her eyes being
accentuated with dark make-up. This technique,
popularises the artist with the audience and creates her
to appear attractive, appealing to the male audience
(according to Laura Mulvey) and to her fans who
appreciate her sexually, as well as musically.
