The music video for Beyoncé – Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) will be broken down into different aspects from Mise-en-scene, camera shots, music video style, narrative and editing. This will be giving the brief analysis of the music video.
The music video itself isn’t really a narrative as such within the music video as it’s a simple video made with just the necessities needed such as the artist and possible back up dancers. This style type of music video is more Performance Based than Narrative Based while looking at the screen and having the visual image as the singer herself is singing the song. Whereas if the lyrics are involved and some actions indicate a slight narrative which can easily be seen. This style of video is effective and efficient as Beyoncé herself performing is a good video as majority of the population enjoy watching Beyoncé. Having her on screen singing the song is enough which means the music video itself doesn’t really need a lot on screen, with it being a simple music video to make with just three people and a plain white background, the artist stands out and is an eye focus for the viewer. Holding her left hand up a lot which she sings the lyrics ‘put a ring on it’ indicates marriage. It’s a small narrative for some people to see fit how they take it as an audience.
1. A long shot is mainly used within this music video to catch all three women. This is a music technique which is often used in majority if music videos and also plays a nice big part in some of Beyoncé’s videos which is voyeurism. Using the long shots it shows the sexy full potential that Beyoncé and her back up dancers have. Showing off their legs and wearing clothes which don’t cover everywhere, this aim is to take on the males approach of target audience. Also using the long shots, it shows the dancing which is the main focus as there is nothing else on the screen. Using a zoom in mid shot from a long shot, is effective as it seems to focus on the artist herself, yet again being the main target within the screen. Using these mid shots on the music video is a good technique as it helps the audience see focus on the artist singing the song. The fact the camera has wide shots to see every aspect of the women, is helping the music video along in my eyes because of the fact it shows young, sexy women who girls all over the world can idolise and get inspiration from whereas males see young sexy women who they can fantasise over.
The music video is a plain white set with the camera set in just plain black and white. The artists and the back up dancers are clearly seen on the screen even though the music video is in black and white, they themselves are wearing dark clothing which stands out upon the plain which background. There are no props as such used within the music video apart from one thing which is on Beyoncé’s wrist, It appears to be some kind of metal hand device which is significant as the lyrics say ‘put a ring on it’ which is symbolical as it can be implying marriage and the metal hand device is on the left hand which is the correct hand to put an engagement ring on.
The target audience for this music video can be for both genders. The target age for the audience within this music video is from around 14-20+ as Beyoncé is an artist which is admired by the majority of people varying from an age. Setting mainstream artists like Beyoncé set a certain target audience, meeting their target audience; they also get an audience which goes from an even younger age as there is nothing too explicit within Beyoncé’s music. This is very good as the artist herself will be getting more money of profits from products being sold in shops as such as she also seems like the correct sort of role model.
The editing moves at a steady pace in time with the dancing being done with the dancers and the artist herself. In movement with them, they seem to keep their eyes on the camera majority of the time as if they are giving direct eye contact and engaging with the audience.
The music video Rolling Stone by The Weeknd is a music video with a strong meaning which goes out to near enough everyone who supports him. He also reinforces this true meaning with the use of camera shots and technique within the music video. Using a Preformance Based style of music video, it helps the video in more ways than one.
The story to this music video is very significant because of the artist himself. The artist within the music video has finally revealed himself after so long of doing music which everyone knows about and listens to, and this is the first ever music video that he has been in, other than that he has been a niche artist who has been mysterious and now he is dedicating that single song which he shows himself on to all of his fans who have been with him before his identity was revealed and before he got noticed. The woman behind him is never revealed, her face is never shown and in each of the pan out, she seems less attached to the artist, which seems symbolical showing the change that he might approach while reaching the fame which is significant to the song. But he reinforces that he still cares about all of the fans that he had before he got noticed, all the people who would just listen to his music without seeing a face are people who seems most important to him as they helped him get the recognition he needed. In a personal opinion, i feel this is dedicatiomn to all of his fans, he still wants all of his fans to still listen to his music and mentions he hopes hes not different and he doesn't want to change how he is. By the help of his fans, they had helped his name recognized from a very effective publishing form for someone to get noticed, word of mouth.
1. The camera shots within this music video fit perfectly with the editing. There are camera shots in different sense as the camera itself pans out starting from an extreme close up or close up in certain cases. The camera shots go from close up to mid shots before cutting back into a close up/extreme close up of the face again. As this happens, we see only the artist himself and never see the face of the other person. It’s as if the artist himself is the only important person within the camera shot and it wants to reveal him and just him, nothing else within the screen even though there isn’t much to be seen within the shot itself. The effect this video has in my opinion is very good effect as the music is slow and has a nice steady pace to it which gores with the editing and camera shots applied. With the panning out slowly, reveals a wide shot with the artist in. It’s like he is exposing himself for the first time, which is true but he wants to show the world what he’s about. If people watch the video and see it how I see it, with the significant meaning of it being about who he is and his fans, then this video in itself is excellent with the simple way it has been portrayed.
The mise-en-scene is another simple video. The set is the artist sat within a chair upon a white background. It isn’t the most outgoing video but within the narrative, the plainness of the video has meaning. Using the black and white effect on the video give the sense of sadness from the song as the colour itself is dull and not vibrant giving the audience a happy feeling yet it sees that the colour of the video makes the listeners listen to the lyrics more as there isn’t much on the screen to look at. There is no props used as such, only a chair which he is sat on to lower himself from the woman stood behind him as if he isn’t worthy to stand up above her.
The target audience has been specified to a certain kind of people. As the artist before this video come out, and as it is the start of establishing his fame, the target audience is all those people who like and listen to his music and this can vary from any kind of age as his fame as just started to develop. But from a marketing point of view in how mainstream target audiences follow, I would say the main target audience for this is from peoples ages 16-20+.
The music video can either be classed as Narrative Based or Performance Based. Both of the artists Drake and Jamie Foxx sing the music and are within the music video. It seems to tell a story about how the main protagonist the camera focus’s n (Jamie Foxx), it seems to tell the story that every time he goes to find a new woman, he goes for the same sort of woman. The lyrics get interpreted within the music video as the lyrics go on the woman seems to follow what the artist is singing. He seems to be trying to change the girl so the same mistake doesn’t happen twice. In some aspect of the music video, I feel like the situation the artist seems to be in is a situation which majority of people, once in their life have come across so many times which seems highly important to the audience. Doing the same thing each time is telling the story which never seems to end. A good song with a good video which people can relate to is highly good for the fact they are more likely to watch the music video and listen to the song.
The camera shots used within this video vary from the way it’s been filmed, telling a story, the shots go from close ups to mid shots to long shots. Each of these is pieced together. Within the video, a shot reverse shot is used which can reinforce the fact it’s a Narrative Based video. Using wide – shots to show everything within the screen, it shows all of the mise-end-scene used. In certain parts of the music video, the editing has been taken into consideration carefully as some of the actual pars are in slow motion which seem like a vital part within the music video. As the girl breaks things which are glass, slow motion occurs, as well as Jamie Foxx falling through a window in slow motion. It seems like he is falling forever within the music video as there are different cuts in the music video which show him still falling as he never seems to hit the floor. In my own interpretation, It seems like everything he does with people is just never ending. It continues to go on and on. The cuts within the music video are very straight forward. Using a fade to introduce the other artist (Drake) into the music video is done effectively as its been placed in the corner of the screen using a mid-shot where Jamie Foxx begins to fall.
The mise-en-scene within this music video is more or less like a fairly wealthy person who lives in a sort of luxurious house, with all of the expensive looking things give admiration to the viewers as they want a house like that and it’s also what’s expected of the artist within the music video. The set seems to be set up on how the artist is more likely to live his live with the top class expenses.
With the music video being R’n’B and mainstream, then the target audience for this is rather easy to figure out. With the target audience being from people ages 16-25+. The artist Jamie Foxx himself is well known and popular around that kind of age group for his singing and also his acting. Drake himself is very popular to and well known from near enough that age group from people younger and even older. He appeals to the majority of the age groups. Majority of the people my age listen to Drake or at least know his songs because they are played on the radio or by friends who they are around.
