Technical Analysis of a music video (1)

Cristinina Aquilera: Beautiful

For this piece of research I will be analysing two music videos, from this I hope to get inspiration from the camera work, general themes, symbolism and mise-en-scene, which I will be able to incorporate in my coursework project.

The performance of the main artist is only in one location, throughout the music video there are more locations. I like the idea of several locations, I also like the idea that the artist is only in one location. The mise-en scene within the location of her performance is very simplistic, the composition of simple elements within this scene, draw the attention of the audience to the artist and the music. This is a good choice as more focus is put onto the song and the lyrics which are being used. The location is a bare room, the walls are a greyish colour, and this represents a dull and moody theme to the music video. The windows are covered up with what looks like pages took out of a magazine; they’re one chair in the room. These props also represent a very dull and depressing theme to the video, this works very well with song itself.

From this scene I have decided to take the idea of the performance based scenes to be in one location, I have done this so that there is a focus on the musicians. Another reason for this choice is practicality, our performance based scene will consist of a band playing instruments, and it will be easier if this is based in one location. We will use at least three cameras within this scene, in order to ensure a good variety of camera shots and angles. Dark colours will fit well with the music video as it is a rock/new-wave genre.

The general theme of the music video is people who are not happy with themselves, and have problems with life. This is shown through the lyrics, mise-en-scene and camera work. At the end of the music video these characters come to terms with themselves and realise that they should be happy with who they are and what they look like.

There is a theme of symbolism within this music video, at the beginning of the video a dying flower is shown, this represents the people within the video, going through hard things in their lives. Such as bullying, gender problems, people discriminating against sexual preference and weight problems.

The people come to realise that they are beautiful and do not need to be sad or ashamed of themselves and their appearance. This revelation is represented through a cut of a beautiful, fresh flower.

The use of symbolism with this music video is a good idea, each individual which watches a music video with symbolism included in free to make their own assumptions. Different people within the audiences may come up with different ideas of what they mean. I like this idea of using symbolism, it gives me and my co-worker a chance to express certain issues simplistically, it also gives our audiences a chance to interpret our symbolism. 

CAMERA SHOTS/ANGLES
(All the camera shots which are shows different narratives are collaborated. A montage of shots is used to show the performance of the artist, and several story’s of different characters. The shots are not positioned to one story all at once, they are all mixed together).

There is a range of camera work used in this video, these help to show the message that the artist is trying to show. This is no matter who you are or what you look like you a beautiful as a person and should be proud. The different camera shots also help to build up the story of each character.

There is a long shot in which the prop of a mirror is used, the reflection of a girl sitting down in shown. This shot was used after the close-up of a dying flower.

A mid shot is used to show her looking in the mirror; this could be a connotation for anorexia/bulimia as people who suffer this are obsessed with their size and figure. People with anorexia believe that they are overweight even when they are not, this point in illustrated in the mid shot. The girl is positioned holding on to her stomach, as she does this it exposes the girls rib cage under her skin. This exaggerates the fact that the girl is anorexic. This may cause worry and concern from particular audiences

Another long shot is used, the girl is punching the mirror, and it smashes into pieces. This scene may be a connotation for the girl smashing her problems and realising that things have gone on for too long.

The last shot with this girl in, is a mid shot, she is not looking at the mirror, but directly facing the camera smiling. The message is that no matter how hard things get, they can always get better.

An establishing shot shows four girls pushing a girl onto the floor, next a reaction shot is shown of the girl screaming and covering her face with her hands. The camera shot shows the girl to be a victim of bullying and abuse, she looks scared and vulnerable. Alongside other shots in this narrative line, there are two close-ups of the girl's face. The first is after she had been attacked, she looks hopeless and scared. The second, which is the last shot which she appears in she is smiling directly to the camera, signifying that she is not going to give up because of bullies.

Camera angels help to convey characters in certain ways. There is a low angle long shot, it shows a boy dressed in a gothic style; black clothing, expressive hair and make-up ect. This camera shot portraits him as being threatening.

A high angle, medium close-up is shown of a young boy lying on the floor; he looks lost and fed-up. This angle works well to show to the audience that he looks/feels weak and vulnerable.

A high angle, birds-eye shot is used to show a girl lying on the bed, there are many props in the shot including a bed which she is lying on, magazines in front of her, and a fire place in front of where she is laying. The camera techniques used here evoke an enigma of what the narrative involving the girl is. As all the other storylines involved something upsetting, the audience would presume the storyline is also unpleasant. However, the use of props and lighting make the setting look calm and peaceful. Later on in the scene, other camera shots establish that despite the setting, this narrative is too not a happy one to begin with.

After analysing the camera techniques used here, I have decided to will to use some in particular to help the narrative of the music video appeal to audiences. The use of long shots help people to interpret what a character is like, body language, clothing, make-up ect. Close-up's will be excellent is expressing people’s emotions. The use of camera angles to convey a character is a certain way may be useful when filming and planning our music video. For example, using a high angle shot to represent someone as being vulnerable or significant.

 A long shot of the girl standing in front of the mirror, the girl is very thin and frail. The lighting in this shot is used to emphasis the girl’s body weight.