The document provides an analysis of Dua Lipa's music video for her song "Don't Start Now". It discusses the concept and themes of the video, including the singer telling her toxic ex that she has moved on. It notes the video depicts Dua Lipa passing through a club and masked ball to reflect the lyrics about feeling free from her past relationship. Critics commented that the video has aesthetics like a commercial, allowing more access to the performer, and uses choreography to visualize lyrics like dancing with others.

1. MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS
In the following slides, I will be
analyzing ‘Don’t start now’ music
video in detail, respective to it’s
visuals and meaning behind the
production.

2. Track Title: Don’t start now
Artist: Dua Lipa
Genre: Pop
Record Company: Warner Records Inc.
Produced by: Ian Kirkpatrick
Music Video Type: Performance based
Concept: The singer is telling goodbye to the boy
who has been toxic for her. Now that it is too
much trouble, she’s finally decided to move on
with no thought of turning back. She is letting go
of her past relationship so as to feel stronger than
ever. Dua Lipa sings of heartbreak, but she is not
sad anymore. She gives out very positive vibes
right at the start of the song saying that she is
quite over the past wounds. She does not shy
away to admit that the heartbreak might have
changed her, but that is life. The best part is that
she is not lamenting on the same pedestal she was
left stranded when he took away from her life. She
has come further so far.

3. Ideology:
There are a number of different themes operating throughout. One is an idea which
many other female pop singers have also been making songs about recently, which is the
songstress being better off without her ex. Then there’s also another one that sort of has
been popping up lately. That is now that the singer’s ex sees her chilling without him,
and he gets bitter as a result. And in some way, shape or form he must’ve made Dua
aware of such, as the title is a summation of her overall response to his anxiety. And
what she is telling him is “don’t start now”. She is not keen on the idea of being
sympathetic to her ex. In fact Dua insinuates that he was actually the one who called off
their relationship. And her description of the whole association comes off as if it was
toxic, at least from her perspective. Indeed the singer is able to brag that not only is life
better without dude, but she was able to get over him so quickly that even she’s amazed.

4. Representation:
Back to Dua’s original description of this
song, she is indeed celebrating a
transformative change in her life. But such
is not the subject which the majority of the
lyrics are based on. Rather in all bluntness,
she is telling her jelly ex-boyfriend to stay
the hell away from her. Or stated
conclusively, the aforementioned
transformation has resulted in her becoming
a happier person. And in the midst of such,
she has realized that it was her ex who was
actually sitting on her happiness. So now
that Lipa is free of him, she is totally
uninterested in entertaining the idea of
getting re-involved.
She is basically representing real-life
romance that Dua Lipa was a part of, when
she was involved with Isaac Carew. He is a
celebrity chef whom Dua dated from 2015 to
2019. In fact they just split up in June of
2019.

5. Audiences:
The target primary audiences for this music
video would female from early teenagers to
people till the age 30 years, likely to have a
breakup. The upbeat track is a reference to how
Dua Lipa has overcome heartbreak and is in a
better position on her own, so this lyric based
music video basically points towards hope of
better future.

6. John Stewart:
John states that the music video has the aesthetics of a TV commercial, with lots of
close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star’s face. He sees visual reference in
music video as coming from a range of sources, although the three most frequent are
perhaps cinema, fashion and art photography. According to him the video allows more
access to the performer than a stage performance can. The mise-en-scene, in particular,
can be used to emphasize an aspirational lifestyle.
‘Don’t start now’ depicts the singer passing through both a basement club and a masked
ball. The care-free environment and Dua’s wardrobe reflects the lyrics of the song and
the message she is trying to convey to the young generation.

7. Steve Archer:
Steve states that a carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist’s
performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualization. So in this
song the has been followed in quite a few places such as when she sings:
“If you don't wanna see me dancing with somebody…”
She is shown dancing with her friends in the club.