music video analysis

1. Music video analysis
By Alice parker

3. Wrecking ball is a song sung and recorded by miley cyrus for her fourth studio album Bangerz
2013 It was released on August 25, 2013, by rca records.The video to go with the wrecking ball
track "Wrecking Ball" was released on September 9, 2013.
the video is heavily inspired by “nothing comares 2 u” by sean o’conner
at the start we see miley singing emotionally against a white backdrop and tears running down
her face where the music is more calm.
There are a lot of close ups of her body and naked flesh giving a big impact more so as everyone
perceived her as innocent and she is then exposing herself in the music video.
She could have used this as sex sells and also heartbroken songs although this is seen as a pop
balled by many. But this is normal for pop culture to flaunt physique and body shape.
Miley is a solo artist and so the camera is always focused on her apart form when there is shots
of just the “wrecking ball”.
This is partly a narritve driven video as the song holds a story and meaning which is her
heartbreak which corrolates to the lyrics of wrecking ball

4. colours
The colours in the video are bright in the way that they contrat (she wears complete
white with doc martin boots against the dark background of the walls).the mages
reinforce the song with the sense of the wrecking ball and breaking down her walls
in the video .her bright red lipstick is used to make her stand out against the white
and also with her piercing eyes tog ive it a bigger impact to the audience.although
this is a heartbreak song it can still be seen as sexual.

5. Visuals and music
• The changes of pace in the song is echoed in the editing as when it isn't on the heavy chorus
it is focused on her face with a close up shot and we see her crying and being sad.the white
clothes are a sign of purity although we know this isnt true
• The location doesn’t change in this video it is set in one place although we see different
stages of the destruction of it. We see her laying of the rubble left over and we also see her
swinging on the wrecking ball before the walls are destroyed.

6. Selling the artist
• Unlike a lot of pop artists miley doesn’t have a wide change of clothes but rather just chnages
out of hers as we see her in white underwear and a vest and naked on the wrecking ball and
on rubble apart from dr martin boots. The video features a lot of close ups of her mostly
when it gets to the more hurtful verses and she is crying so we capture her emotion. She is
always in the middle of the frame or the central main focus mostly due to her being the only
one there. This video shows off Mileys talents as we see her more vulnerable side much like
when she was younger and in children shows which is a contrast to her other videos such as
we don’t stop.

7. Product placement
• In the music video the only product placement found is dr martin boots. There are several
shots of just the boots and her legs drawing attention to her figure and the product .
• Male gaze
• The male gaze can be a big impact in this especially young men as she is around their age and
is showing a lot of flesh and being sexual throughout the video, although her hurt in the song
is apparent so it can distance them from the feeling.
• The fact she has had a tv show when she was younger can also off put men as they still see
her as that girl.

8. Andrew goodwins theory
Goodwin has 5 key aspects in which to analyse a music video
>The beats in the music or thought beats (the seeing of the sound) through the editing of the
music video. This key aspect does partly come into the wrecking ball video as when it gets to the
chorus and the wrecking ball smashes through the wall it in sync to the music
>narrative and performance are a big part of this music video even though the scenes barely
change the story is shown though the video in a metaphorical sense along with the lyrics .
>the star image is a visual aspect in music videos and does apply to this video,miley was already
a star as a child having her own show etc and growing up in the music industry and changing her
image through the years to now which is her rebelious stage almost where she shows a lot of
skin and flaunts herself to the audience which does get her a lot of young adult and teenage fans
as they can relate to her and her new heartbreak etc.
>the visuals relate to song with the wrecking ball and “breaking down the walls” and wanting to
“let you in” etc with the visuals of the wrecking ball doing just that and destroying her
surroundings which relates to herself and her emotions
>the technical aspects of the music video include the use of the camera which the video features
a lot of close ups and also pan shots.the camera work isnt too fast and goes with the mood of the
song.

9. Beyoncé Run the world

10. Run the world (girls)
>The song was written by a number of people.
>The songs written direction and development was fuels by Beyoncé who wanted a song which
implores a number of cultures and eras and a new sound for the audience and also for women
generally with the female empowerment.
>released 21 April-Run the World" was recorded by DJ Swivel and Pat Thrall at MSR Studios, New
York City, and was mixed by serban genea at MixStar Studios 2011
>there was a lot of controversy around the song as critics felt she should cover new topics and
not just feminism and female empowerment as they felt these have been done before in her
other songs such as “put a ring on it” and “independent woman”-destiny's child.mrs knowles
powered through and made this to the top 100 charts and had some high profile performances
which swayed the majority of critics.
>Knowles said: "I try to write songs that will bring out the best in all of us and keep us close
together. I think about saying the things that women want to say but sometimes are not
confident enough to say. I am going to continue to write those songs that give women strength”.

11. Colours and clothing/selling the artist
In the video Beyoncé wears a whole lot of different outfits,
some of her clothes gives the impression of royalty or leader
ship(standing next to the lion in a deep red) and in the desert
with stark white on holding animals to show her power and
control as with the outfit that reflects the light looks like
jewels adorn her. These all contrast again some of her more
simpler outfits such as when she's on the horse she's in
plainer clothes and when she dances with the other people
in the video she's almost brought down to their level due to
the cloth changes with the simpler material and less of it
covering her. Beyoncé's clothes are tasteful and the amount
of skin they show can be sexualised but also seen as
empowerment along with the message of the song.

12. Visuals and music
We see strong visuals throughout the song especially with the culture changes and the different
shows of clothing and social standing
With the message of female empowerment the visuals represent well women fighting against the
patriarchy and men. With the men being “army” like and brutish and wanting to force the
women to adhere and women being peaceful and taunting the men almost.
When it comes to the chorus Beyoncé is usually with her backing dancers as once force and we
see both the men and women sides reacting to one another almost like a duet.
The landscape the are in is harsh with the hot climate and they all dress accordingly apart from
the men in heavy gear. The climate goes along with the song as it shows women can survive
anywhere. The song is to inspire women for bigger things from the ground up much like Beyoncé
has done for herself and although this is primarily aimed at women both men and women dance
to this .

13. Product placement
In this video there isn't much product placement that stands out. Though during one dance scene
we see a close up of shoes. Beyoncé wears Stilettos a shoe that emanates fierceness as well as
the backing dancers wearing dr martin boots with shows hardiness in the harsh climate.

14. Male gaze
• This video is aimed at women that can spire to bigger things and not to let men bring them
down, Beyoncé and her backing dancers are sexualised but it feels in a way that they're
making themselves stronger for it with the purposeful way of doing it to take over men. The
males will feel that this over expressed strongness of women and the sexualisation of them
to be wrong. The women use this sexualisation to their advantage in this.

15. Andrew Goodwin
• Thought beats-the editing in this video keeps to the beat especially at the start when
Beyoncé is dancing with the men and using her body to set the beat.
• The narrative of the “story”/song is females ruling the world and how we run everything
which is shown throughout the video with the constant chant of the chorus “who runs this
motha” and girls repeated several times also. This gives the song a hypnotic feel along with
being a dance beat.
• The star image applies heavily to Beyoncé as she is an idol for a lot of people as she is a
“star”. Beyoncé is a respected woman and mother and doesn’t flaunt her fame the way other
pop artists may do to get a bigger following.
• The relation of visuals to song is also heavily applied with the discreet almost apocolypitic
scène which is hardy ad hard to survive in.
• The technical aspects of the video is a lot of shots are filled with broght lights projecting
down onto the star and her “girls”.

17. Kangaroo court-capital cities
• A kangaroo court is a judicial tribunal or assembly that blatantly disregards recognized standards of law or
justice, and often carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides. Merriam-
Webster defines it as "a mock court in which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or
perverted".
• Kangaroo Court is a song by American indie pop duo Capital Cities. The song was released as a digital
download in the United States on June 7, 2013
• The video tells the story of how people are subjugated within society for being different and how people
feel the need to change to be accepted. This shows how we scrutinise ourselves and also how we view
one another.

18. Colours, clothing and selling the
artist
• The colours in most of the starting scenes are drab that reflect the mood of the main
character. The club “kangaroo court” doesn’t let zebras in and subjugates them so the main
character disguises himself as a horse with the use of hair dye. The suit shows how he has
gained confidence in himself.
• The shot of his car shows how his new transformation now matches his aesthetic .
• the view of the bouncer shows how the world now perceives him.the new ID now means he
isn't an outcast and fits in with society.

19. Visuals and music
• The visuals show us how he is now more confident with himself as is heard in the song and
the scenes are less drab and the lighting is seen as more friendly .he is the centre of
attention when sliding onto the dance floor. A woman's eye is caught by him and he is now
seen as being attractive. The narrative is shown throughout with being an outcast and then
suddenly being accepted only to have it backfire on him in the end.

20. Andrew goodman
• Narrative and performance-the story told through the video is close to
what the song is about and is expressed well in this.
• The star image cant really be applied to this due to the character not
being the “star” and or singer .
• The relation of visuals to the song is very accurate portraying the hurt of
the character overall as well as his story of not being accepted in society.
• The technical aspects of the camera work range from big pan shots to
close ups of the main character as well as close ups of the love interest to
draw our attention to her

22. Beautiful dirty rich-lady gaga
• It was released as a single from the album on September 16, 2008 It is an up beat
song that uses heavy synthesizers, and is about Gaga's experiences as a struggling
“star”/artist in the Lower East Side. It has been complimented on the lyrics and the
fun beat of it. many critics enjoy it and feel it is a great dance album and well
organised. Her inspiration of the song was from when she was doing drugs and
seeing the rich kids in her area asking form money from their parents which they
brought drugs with and she believed wherever you came from you can be
beautiful, dirty or rich.

23. Colours,clothing/selling the artist
• The colour that pops up most in this video is red creating her as a strong image
and contrasting to the green of money and the black that the dancers are wearing
as well as the groggy backgrounds. She sells herself as strong even when she was
lost at the beginning of her career and has made this song to be a fun and good
natured song. Later in the video she is wearing more bright colours that goes along
with the heavy sounds and synths

24. Visuals and music
• The visuals are of gaga having fun with friends and freaking out much like
everyone likes to do sometimes. Her actions and dances are hectic which
goes along with her known personality as well as her self belief you can do
anything. The video is dark and yet bright giving a club feel with the
grogginess and also her bright clothes and makeup. Gaga flaunts herself
around and shows her fun vibe along with her backing dancers play
fighting and hanging out in a party environment.

25. Male gaze
• The male gaze is strong in this as gaga flaunts herself and her money around
making her the upmost centre of attention to males and females. She doesn’t
show a lot of skin but her outfits are attention seeking in themselves although
they are more tame than other clothes she's worn or presented to the media

26. Andrew Goodwin
>the thought beats are on key and the editing is on time to the beats and her
dancing.
>the narrative is driven through song of having a crazy lifestyle or being lost
>the star image is strong as gaga is a big person in a room and gets everyone
talking she wears clothes that are conservative but also dresses with a lot of
flesh showing adhering to the male gaze.
>Technical aspects-nearing the end of the video the camera work gets more
hectic to go along with the beat and tempo of the song. The camera is
constantly on the move but gaga is always the focus of it.

28. Niki minaj
• Superbass
Niki minaj is a well respected female artist and
rapper according to niki the song is of a
playful romance between a man and a woman
and features niki rapping over a harsh beat.
The video was done in March 2011 by director
Sanaa Hamri. It has sold more than 4 million
digital copies making niki the first female
rapper to earn such a status.

29. Niki minaj
• Superbass
Niki minaj is a well respected female artist and
rapper according to niki the song is of a
playful romance between a man and a woman
and features niki rapping over a harsh beat.
The video was done in March 2011 by director
Sanaa Hamri. It has sold more than 4 million
digital copies making niki the first female
rapper to earn such a status.

30. Colours,clothing/selling the artist
Niki is featured in an alluring way to men and women In the form of “eye
candy”.at the beginning of the video niki is in a leopard skin jumsuit which is
open in the front revealing a lot of cleavage which is a very open
sexualisation.in the next couple scenes we see her with planes and
muscley men showing shes surrounded by lavish things and the best things
to have in life showing her star lifestyle.her next outfit we see are “cute” with
a white vest which clings to her skin and the showing again of her cleavage
and a small pair of shorts and dr martin boots with again shows all of her
assets to the viewer.she dances with backing dancers which are all girls
with the same hairstyle and clothes as her making her more realtable as not
only her can be that way but anyone.she is then seen with a lot of have
clothed men next to a pool in a revealing outfit which attracts the male gaze
to her and the camera also focuses in on her making her the centre of
attention especially when shes pouring a pink substance down herself.we
see her again in the same outfits doing a dance routine much like other pop
artists and making a statement out of her body along with the beat being
editied along to the time of her body and dancing.

31. Visuals and music
Niki is rather different than other regular pop stars she does make a parada out
of her body and her sexualising it but she also seems to have more fun knowing
what shes doing is alluring and funny.she is seen as cute and can suddenly
switches and puts of faces sometimes diverting the male gaze as they fin some
of her manurisms not very alluring.the music has been featured on games and
won awards and features a heavy beat which it has been editied in time to.her
star imagery is strong but she can also relate to a normal person with how you
shouldnt let men control you or let them tell you what is acceptable to be
percieved as attrative or not and tobe your own person.the camera work is very
consistant on moving in on nikis body showing a lot of her flesh and close ups of
hr face especially when she distorts her face.the only product placement featured
is the dr martin boots featuring on all her female backing dancers