The document analyzes Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" music video. It discusses several elements of the video: the genre is pop, featuring dancing and costumes; the setting is a modern mansion connoting wealth; Lady Gaga wears flashy costumes fitting her eccentric image; props like a poker table reflect the song title; and the narrative and sexual body language convey the song's meaning of bisexuality through a strip poker game.

1. Genre Music Video Analysis
By Farida Islam

2. Introduction
• In this task I am going to analyse the 'Poker
Face' music video by Lady Gaga, as it is within
my chosen genre Pop. I am going to analyse
the meaning produced from the use of media
language through the mise en scene i.e
props, costumes, lighting, setting/decor and
performance.

3. Genre
• The 'Poker Face' video does fit the Pop genre as it displays
typical generic conventions found in Pop music videos. For
example there are backing dancers behind Lady Gaga
performing a dance routine that goes along with the song.
Also the singer Lady Gaga is the main focus of the music
video as she is lipsynching. Another convention is that
there isn't a storyline which is expected from a Pop video
unless its a love song. There is only dancing and the singer.
Furthermore the singer is in filmed in several different
costumes and positions as she is the main focus of the
video. Two visual elements that suggest that it is a Pop
video are the dancers and the singer being in practically all
of the shots.

4. Setting
• The setting of the video is outside a mansion in America it
is fairly modern looking, therefore fitting in with the
modern look the artist portrays. The setting connotes to
the audience that the artist is rich and has a lot of money.
This fits in with the song for the music video as it is called
‘poker face’, as the director took the literal meaning of the
song title and had the artist and extras play poker. Thus
connoting to the audience the extravagant lifestyle
associated with poker i.e. mansions, money, friends. I think
the setting does fit in with the genre of the music video, as
Pop involves modern trends right now and the modern
trends for Pop videos in that time was grand mansions with
pools and showing wealth.

5. Costumes
• Lady Gaga’s costumes in the music video were flashy
and modern, making her stand out amongst the extras.
She had several different costumes in the video; this is
a generic convention of a pop video as usually the
artist wears more than one costume. The director
decided for the artist to wear these costumes as it goes
with theme of the video e.g. big, flashy, and
extravagant. The image that Lady Gaga portrays is very
different to other pop artists in the music industry as
she is very eccentric. Resulting in her videos being
eccentric and suiting her image as it is expected from
her.

6. Props
• In the video the director has chosen to use a poker table
with cards, chips, matching the song title of the music
video, by doing this he is taking the literal meaning of the
song. Another prop used in the video is a big light behind
Lady Gaga, connoting to the audience that she is the star of
the video and all the focus should be on her. There are also
mannequins used in the video located on different parts of
the setting. This is slightly odd and has no connection to the
video; however this portrays the artist’s image perfectly as
she doesn’t fit in with the norms, and is out of place in the
music industry. In pop videos certain themes are used to fit
the meaning of the song. For example in this video there
are people playing strip poker therefore fitting in with the
song and being a generic convention.

7. Body Language and Movement
• The body language and movement used in the video is
very sexual since the artist’s audience is an older
audience e.g. above 16. This also matches the meaning
of the song as it is about being bisexual, so there are
several extras kissing and caressing each other during
the strip poker game and throughout the video. Both
the extras and artists movement within the video is in
time with the beat of the music as it is very upbeat.
However the artist is more upbeat than the extras as
the main focus should be on her. The artist is important
in the video because she is the main focus without her
there’d be nothing to look at.

8. Narrative
• There isn’t a strong narrative in the video as there
are just many shots of the artist in several
different locations within the same setting. Apart
from this the artist is playing strip poker with
other people. The narrative emphasises the
meaning of the song as it is about being bisexual
and in the narrative there a people kissing and
caressing each other during the game of strip
poker. This conveys the actual message of the
song to the audience by connoting it through
actions used in the narrative.