This document provides analysis of music videos by Ariana Grande ("Thank U, Next"), Beyoncé & Jay-Z ("Apes**t"), and Beyoncé ("Pretty Hurts"). It discusses conventions used in each video, such as costumes, themes, and camera shots. Intertextuality is analyzed through references to films for Grande and Beyoncé's Houston background. Target audiences are identified as mainly women ages 16-25 across a range of demographics.

1. MUSIC VIDEO
RESEARCH

2. THANK U, NEXT - ARIANA
GRANDE
APESHIT -
THE
CARTERS
PRETTY HURTS -
BEYONCE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl1aHhXnN1k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbMqWXnpXcA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXXQLa-5n5w

3. THANK U, NEXT - ARIANA GRANDE

4. CONVENTIONS
This is a conceptual music video as it has no specific storyline
or theme. It shares many of the conventions of pop music, for
example, bright colours, lots of make-up and fashion
accessories, frequent close ups of artists face etc. For example,
she has multiple outfit/costume changes that differ in style but
are still fashionable. This is so that the target audience can
relate to this era of fashion and in most cases replicate the
celebrities outfits. In this case, Ariana quotes movies from the
90’s and 00’s in her outfits which is around the childhood era of
her target audience. Also, many pop artists tend to base their
videos around the theme of love because they know how to
please their target audience as love is appealing. Ariana’s lyrics
portray the theme of love more strongly than the video but it still
has a strong theme. Lastly, hair and makeup are used in this
video to 1. Brand her look and 2. Set trends that can later
increase her fame. For example, Ariana is known for her long
hair in her high ponytail, however, she changes it multiple times
which is a big contrast from her typical videos.

5. This song is very personal to Ariana as it based off of her
previous boyfriends, including the late Mac Miller. At the
beginning of the music video it shows her writing all of her
Ex’s in her ‘Burn Book’, shot with a bird’s eye view. This is
the part of the music video that is the most personal to her
and this is shown by the use of a close up when she’s
talking about Mac Miller aka “Malcom”. Here the shot
changes from a birds eye view of her writing in the book to
a close up. This is used to show mood change, from light-
hearted to sensitive, when she says “wish I could say
thank you to Malcom, cos’ he was an angel” as she is
referencing his death. She also uses his real name to add
another personal touch.
MEDIA LANGUAGE

6. INTERTEXTUALITY
This video uses intertextuality to appeal to the target audience (16-25) by using topics that relate to
them. In this case, Ariana references well known 00’s movies such as, Mean Girls, Bring It On,
Legally Blonde and 13 going on 30. This is because the 2000’s is the era where her target audience
were either born or grew up. Not only does she reference the movies, she reenacts the most iconic
scenes from each of them.
She references the
iconic ‘jingle bell rock’
scene from ‘Mean
Girls’ and even casts
Kris Jenner to play
Regina George’s mum
as she plays a key role
in this scene.
Ariana plays Elle Woods
from ‘Legally Blonde’
and chose to reenact the
nail salon scene with the
original Paulette. This
makes the audience feel
nostalgic as Paulette is
still playing the iconic
character.
Ariana plays the
character Torrance
Shipman and reenacts
the bathroom and bed
room scenes in ‘Bring It
On’.
Here she is playing Jenna
Rink in the film 13 going on
30.

7. TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for this video Is 16-25 females.
The demographic profile of the target audience would be white British
and American females aged 16-25.
The socio-economic model of the target audience would be any but
her old music would attract an e - c1 audience as its quite childish
compared to her more recent music which would attract people more
high up on the socio-economic scale.
According to psychographic profiling, the audience Ariana attracts
would be classed as mainstreamers, succeeders or aspirers. This is
because they all consume well-known brands and they believe their
status is established by this consumption.

8. APESHIT - THE CARTERS

9. CONVENTIONS
In this video, Beyonce and Jay-Z wear well-known designer
clothes throughout. For example, when Beyonce and her dancers
are dancing in front of Jacques-Louis David’s ‘The Coronation of
Napoleon’, She is wearing a Burberry crop top and leggings whilst
the dancers are in nude bodysuits. This shows her higher status
over her backup dancers. At another point, Jay-z is wearing a
glossy pink suit by John Galliano and also a three-piece
Alexander McQueen suit worth hundreds of thousands of dollars,
which is something he would rarely wear so this is him showing
off. The use of bright colours is one of the main conventions in a
pop music video, however, the Louvre contains many pieces of
monotoned art which influenced The Carters to stick with the
beige tones. This is a big contrast to the usual pop music videos
as they are filled with bright colours. The setting of this music
video is one of the most important aspects as The Louvre is one
of the most famous buildings filled with famous pieces of art.

10. This song is based on the success of Beyonce and Jay-Z
throughout their career. There are a lot of metaphorical
messages that are shown by camera shots and angles.
Firstly, a subtle low-angle shot is used many times
throughout. This is to show their status by making it seem
like they are looking down on the audience without being
too obvious that that’s what they’re trying to portray.
Jay-Z also boats about his success and his high status in
the rap industry by a low-angle shot. With this he also raps
the lines “I said no to the superbowl, you need me, I don’t
need you” “tell the Grammys f**k that 0 for 8 s**t” this is
referencing the 8 grammy nominations he had for his album
‘4:44’ but left empty handed.
MEDIA LANGUAGE

11. INTERTEXTUALITY
The opening shot of the video is the couple
standing in front of the ‘Mona Lisa’, the most
famous piece of art, which symbolises them being
them being the most famous artists. Beyonce
became one of the most well known artists with
fans selling out every tour. Beyonce has sold 17.2
million albums as a solo artist, and a further 17
million albums as part of Destiny's Child.

12. TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for this video would be, mainly mixed-race but can
be any raced, women, aged 16-25 and live in the usa or the uk.
The socio-economic model of the target audience would be from e - c1.
This is because of the theme of the song, as it isn’t very sophisticated,
and the fan-base of the artists.
According to psychographic profiling, the target audience would be
either mainstreamers, succeeders or aspirers. This is because in the
video it shows Beyonce and Jay-z wearing well-known branded clothes
to show off their status, which is one of the main characteristics of these
people.

13. PRETTY HURTS - BEYONCE

14. In a typical music video, the characters, most likely
female, are preferably good-looking/pretty. This video is
about the pageant lifestyle and how mentally and
physically hard It is to get the ‘perfect’ look which
contradicts one of the main pop conventions and this is
appealing to the target audience, as it’s something out of
the ordinary. The costumes make up a big part of a music
video. The outfits in this video are all very slimming and
minimal to symbolise the ‘ideal figure’ as body types is a
big theme in this song. Next, many close-ups of the artist
is used which is a convention used in many, if not all, pop
music videos. Also, a theme is a really important part of
the pop culture as having a theme that is relatable makes
the song more appealing. The theme of this song is very
relevant to everyday life as body image has become a big
issue in society. Having Beyonce make a statement about
body confidence shows young girls that not everyone is
perfect, even if they seem it.
CONVENTIONS

15. MEDIA LANGUAGE
In this music video, it is very common to see long shots. Long shots are
used to show the distance from the artist and the audience, meaning
they are distanced, isolated and alone. This emphasises how isolated
people feel when dealing with mental health and confidence issues.
The mise-en-scene of this video shows how vulnerable and depressed
she is feeling when her body language is hunched, and low to the
ground. There is a reoccurring scene of Beyonce sat lonely on the floor.
Throughout the video, she gets lower to the ground until she is lying
which could be a metaphor of her mood and feelings getting lower and
lower. This is an example of Non-Verbal communication.
Another example of camera shots in this video is a close-up. The close-
up is used when she is out of her Pageant ‘look’ and her make-up and
hair aren’t done. This can represent her letting the audience into her
personal life, shown by us in her personal space. Close-ups are used a
sparingly as in the video she is trying to hide her personal feelings from
the public.

16. In this video, Beyonce is Miss 3rd Ward, a
pageant award from Houston, Texas. Many of
Beyonce’s fans know her background and
know that she was born and raised there, from
her song ‘Run the world’ when she sings the
lyrics “This is how they made me, Houston
Texas baby”. Also, Beyonce knows first hand
about the pageant world as she has competed
from the age of 7, winning titles such as
‘female pop vocalist’ in 1990.
INTERTEXTUALITY

17. TARGET AUDIENCE
The target audience for this video would be, any raced, women, aged
16-25 and live in the USA or UK.
The socio-economic model of the target audience would be any. This
is because the theme of this song is body confidence and women from
all social classes can be insecure about themselves and this song isn’t
aimed at any specific social class.