The music video for Miley Cyrus's song "Wrecking Ball" featured numerous close-ups of the singer crying and later riding a wrecking ball nude, portraying vulnerability transforming into confidence. Through metaphors of destruction, intimate camera angles and rapid cuts, the controversial video explored themes of a relationship's demise while promoting Cyrus's new image and garnering significant attention online and media coverage.

1. Miley Cyrus
Wrecking
Ball
Directed byTerry Richardson

2. Introduction
‘Wrecking Ball’ is a song recorded by
American pop star Miley cyrus, it was
released on the 25th August 2013. It was
a very popular song and had many
favourable reviews from music critics. It
debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at
number fifty, and later became Cyrus' first
number-one single in the United States
after the release of its controversial music
video; it retained the peak position during
the following week. Nine weeks later, the
track returned to number one, and
consequently had the largest gap
between number-one sittings in Billboard
Hot 100 history. The song discusses the
deterioration of a relationship, which is
portrayed through the main lyric ‘you
came in like a wrecking ball’ describes
her lover/boyfriend with a metaphor.

3. Extreme Closeup
• The video bares many similarities to
Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing
Compares 2 you’. In the video Sinead
is captured singing directly into the
camera.
• The extreme close up of Miley Cyrus
crying, expresses emotion and
vulnerability.
• A juxtaposition of power and
weakness is portrayed throughout the
video. Miley looks exposed and
defenceless while she cries into the
viewer’s eyes. As the video
progresses, she looks powerful and
confident baring all while riding a
wrecking ball.

4. Link between music and
visuals
• The lyrics ‘I came in like a wrecking
ball’ is a direct metaphor describing a
deteriorating relationship. Miley is
seen riding a wrecking ball which is
destroying the setting, which lyrically
discusses the destruction people can
cause to one another.
• This technique helps viewers
remember the lyrics which can lead
them to buy the single and support the
artist.
• When ‘All I wanted was to break your
walls’ is sung, the walls come crashing
down, which is portraying the
message of a crumbling relationship.

5. Portrayal of artist
• Neutral colour scheme draws the viewers
attention to Cyrus’s brightly coloured lipstick.
• Cyrus was in the process of reinvent herself.
From a Disney pop princess to a sexual
woman.
• By presenting herself in a sexual way she
attracts a wider audience and portrays
herself as a woman rather than a young girl.
• Miley is filmed riding a wrecking ball
seductively with no clothes on. She seems
to be playing with women’s sexuality
showing control over her own image.
• The artist is shown throughout the video.
With a plain building site setting, the artist is
the main focus of the video.

6. Target Audience
• The main target audiences are:
• Social media audience and sites such as
Reddit and also more common and obvious
sites such Twitter and Facebook, which is
where the most viral content is pushed out to
a mass audience. This then helped the video
get the amount of views that it did.
• Another audience would be the new
audience that Miley is trying to gain, for
example people interested in Rhianna and
Lady GaGa.
• Lastly, she would have gained an audience
from past experiences with the media eye,
for example Disney, but those of which are
more mature now, and can relate to the
song.

7. Voyeurism
• A high angle close up looking down on
Miley symbolises male domination. This
could suggest her role in a male
controlling industry.
• The viewer is watching as she
inappropriately licks a sledge hammer
suggesting an intimate moment. This
leaves the viewer feeling like they are
looking at something they shouldn’t.
• This mirrors voyeurism in other music
videos such as Madonna ‘Justify my love’
which caused controversy when first
released.
• We see Miley using everyday objects in a
sexual way. This suggests that she is
being sexually objectified.

8. Rapid cuts
• The music video is edited in time
to the beat. The background beat
is heavy and deep, each beat is
matched to a rapid cut. This
makes the video aesthetically
appealing for the viewer. The
rapid cuts display a range of
sexual shots which keep the
viewer engaged as each shot
exposes more of Miley’s body.
During these fast paced shots
Miley is often seen staring directly
into the camera giving the viewer
a sense that they are involved in
an intimate moment.

9. Build up
• There is a build up in the
music throughout the video, a
lot of slow motion is used
during the beginning of the
song. As the beat increases
this is paired with shots of her
on a wrecking ball. Using
objects that are usually
stereotyped as male objects,
could suggest that she is trying
to manage her relationship
problems by being strong,
rather than be vulnerable and
emotional.