1) The music video for Justin Bieber's "Beauty and A Beat" both supports and contradicts Andrew Goodwin's theory of connecting lyrics and visuals. While some shots illustrate the lyrics, others like found footage have no connection. 2) The video uses invisible editing and guerrilla filming styles, which does not support Carol Vernallis' theory that editing is more important than filming. 3) Some representations of women in the video can be seen as objectifying which supports Robert Shuker's theory, but it does not fully support Laura Mulvey's "Male Gaze Theory" as the camera does not expose or focus on the women.

1. ustin Bieber – Beauty and A Be
Theory Analyis

2. The music video for ‘Beauty and A Beat’ supports Andrew
Goodwin’s theory to some extent, as the lyrics and the
visuals are somewhat connected. One on hand, the visuals
illustrate the lyrics. For example, the extravagant party
setting emphasise that he lives a fulfilled lifestyle, all he
needs is this girl to “make his life complete”. Furthermore,
the mise-en-scene emphasises the party atmosphere in
order to create a stronger connection between the visuals
lyrics. This is shown by the use of a vibrant setting, such as
the water-park at night, that is decorated with bright lights
and neon colours. This links with the idea that they are
“going to party like it’s 3012” and helps to emphasise the
energetic atmosphere.
However, the visuals also contradict the lyrics as some of
the shots have little or no connection the words being sung.
For example, the idea of this video being compiled of found
footage that a fan has illegally uploaded online bares no
connection the lyrics in anyway. Furthermore, although the
video emphasises the idea that he wants to take the girl he
likes out to a club and party with her, it has no relation to
Andrew Goodwin’s Theory
the feelings he is describing in the song.
Overall, the video consists of visuals that either contradict
or illustrate the lyrics. This mixture may be due the
performance aspects of the video, as the producers are
more interested in trying to keep the audiences engaged
in the visuals as well as showing the artist under a
positive light than creating a strong narrative that
illustrates the emotions and the themes of the song.

3. Carol Vernallis’ Theory
Carol Vernallis suggests that the editing of a music video is
much more important that the filming. She also suggests that
the video may disrupt the elements of continuity editing and
is apposed the the invisible style of continuity editing, where
the techniques are unclear to the audience.
This video, however, does not follow this theory and it uses
invisisble editing to create a smooth finish and to create the
impression that the video was shot using a long take.
Furthermore, the video uses guerrilla style filming in
order to give the video a more realistic feel thus
allowing audiences to become more engaged by the
action. This does not support Vernallis’ Theory as it
means that the editing is less visible to the audience
and there is no distinctive style of editing throughout
the video. The video is also filmed on a GoPro Hero 2
camera, which helps emphasise the realistic style of
the video, thus demonstrating how the filming plays a
vital role in the overall finish of the product.
However editing is incredibly important as it helps to
perfect the smooth finish, as the use of short jump cuts
help piece the takes together thus creating the
impression that the shots gentle flow from one to the
other. Furthermore, it helps to emphasise and elongate
a long take, thus strengthening the continuity of the
video. This supports Vernallis’ theory, as the editing of
‘Beauty and A Beat’ allows for the shots to come
together and receive an overall smooth appearance.

4. Shuker’s Theory
Shuker’s theory suggests that the representation of women
is often aimed at heterosexual male audiences, therefore
they are often objectified. This video does support this
theory to some extent, as the majority of the women are
dressed in bikinis and are seen dancing provocatively, which
can be seen in the shot below. Furthermore, Nicki Minaj
wears clothing that can be considered to be provactive, as it
consists of a short skirt, a low-cut bralet.
Mulvey’s Male Gaze Th
Although the representation of women may be
altered to for male audiences, it does not support the
‘Male Gaze Theory’ which engrains a specific image of
women onto the audience’s minds. Although the
women are dressed in bikinis, their clothing or their
bodies is not a focus point of the video. Furthermore,
the camera does expose the women in anyway. This
allows for the artist to gain more respect, and makes
him seem more mature than in his previous videos.

5. Genre Theory
Neale (1980) suggested that ‘genre is repetition with
underlying patterns of variation’. This is evident in Justin
Bieber’s music video, as it includes common codes and
conventions from electronic music videos alongside some
unique twists. For example, the ‘found-footage’ style is
commonly used in electronic music videos (e.g Ella Eyre-Good
Times) however this video is much more polished and
includes large, choreographed dance routines.
Genre theory also states that music videos
includes semantic elements, that are
typical to electronic music, and syntactic
elements, which emphasise the themes
which are associated with electronic
music. This can be seen in ‘A Beauty and A
Beat’, as the mise-en-scene of the video
helps connote the genre. For example, the
neon lights and the dancing emphasise
the club-party style atmosphere which is
typical to electronic music. Additionally,
the excitement of the actors in this video
demonstrates the electronic genre, as it
helps to create a much more vibrant and
energetic genre that is associated with
this type of music.

6. Propp’s Character Theory
Throughout the video, it is clearly evident that
Justin is the leader/hero due to the way that
the mise-en-scene, camera angles and editing
focus on him. For example, Justin appears to be
in control of the camera throughout the video
as he steers it towards the action.
Furthermore, it is usually focused on him and
he always lip-syncs towards the camera, thus
breaking the 4th wall and allowing for
audiences to identify him as the sole vocalist.
Furthermore, the choreography is organised
around Bieber’s actions. For example, the
synchronised swimmers move around Bieber
and move him to the correct position at correct
time. This demonstrates that he is the leading
protagonist in the video, as everyone else’s
sole responsibility is to create an energetic
atmosphere around the artist.
This also links to Goodwin’s theory, as the close-up, hand-
held shots of Bieber make him seem down to earth,
enthusiastic and relaxed. This allows for audiences to
understand the ‘star-persona’ of the lead singer, and feel
much closer to him as an individual.