Case Studies

Hair- Little Mix

The music video begins with intertextual reference to Little Mix's album Get Weird which was released in 2015, a year before the music video of Hair was released. The video follows the heartbreak of one of them members, Leigh-Anne over the feature artist, Sean Paul. As she scrolls through her social media feed, she sees her apparent 'ex' with another woman on holiday.

In a split shot with all four members, Leigh Anne calls her fellow castmates/best friends over for a sleep over to get her mind off her relationship issues with the comfort of her friends. There is a clear narrative that is being followed and the use of different locations in one shot increases the engagement with the audience. There is also a loose intertextual reference to the movie 'Mean Girls' where there is a scene of the group of friends on the phone to each other.

The narrative continues, which follows the typical conventions of a music video that I would like to incorporate in my own video as the girls appear at Leigh-Anne's front door in their pyjamas, ready to spend the night. The over the shoulder shot from Leigh-Anne's perspective gives the audience a sense of comfort.

The girls have now reunited and are performing typical activities associated with a sleepover such as doing their hair and makeup in front of the vanity, which also coincides with the theme of the lyrics of the song, following Andrew Goodwin's music video conventions. Their confidence comes with the unity of being together and supporting each other in acts that reinforce their femininity and identity. 

Similar to a performance typically in rock videos, the group come together at the lobby of the house in which the entire video is set and lip sync to the lyrics of the video in an unserious fashion as they dance freely with no choreography unlike their other music videos with random beauty items such as hairbrushes. 

Despite the upbeat an carefree themes of the music video, protagonist Leigh-Anne still feels upset at the sight of her ex berating her through a post over the phone. Bandmate, Jade interjects and demonstrates the lyrics of the song, further following Andrew Goodwin's conventions of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. As an act of empowerment, she takes her phone and throws it away, bringing back a positive mood as the music video ends with the girls singing together on the bed ending their night with a lack of care or concern of anything outside their friendship. 

So What- P!nk

The first few shots of the music video is at a tattoo parlour, covering up the name with the word 'void'. This relates to the lyrics 'I guess I just lost my husband' as it is common for couples who break up to cover up the tattoos of each others name.

There is a more intimate scene with the singer and her husband throughout the music video as the song explores the themes in their relationship which she publicly shares. This contrasts the exaggerated and dramatic scenes in the song that brings a sense of sincerity to the audience.

There is a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics of the video which coincides with Goodwin's conventions of music videos as the protagonist is depicted to be carrying out acts of rebellion and violence as she says in the lyrics 'I wanna start a fight'. They are unrealistic scenes as they oppose the expected norms and values of how people are meant to be behaviour which makes the audience more engaged through entertainment.

In a parodic scene at the red carpet, the protagonist is shown to be naked in front of the paparazzi, showing the eccentric nature of rock stars and other celebrities at the time, constantly being in scandals for their controversy.

As a key convention in rock music videos, Pink also includes a performance aspect shot from the audience's perspective with a very dramatic setting with fire and a band and she sings to a screaming audience. She also uses very expressive body language and gestures with there being close up shots to her face and expressions.

Fetish- Selena Gomez ft Gucci Mane

The song Fetish by Selena Gomez explores themes of sexuality and sexual desire, with the chorus detailing the effects that attraction has on a lover. It also follows the themes of addiction, as if the attraction between two lovers is inevitable and the love between the two lovers has become a 'fetish'. Singer Selena Gomez revealed that she is a fan of horror movies and wanted the music video to be an homage of disturbing horror. The video begins with simple imagery of the singer I a pale, yellow dress with bag of groceries in both hands, as if she is assuming the role of a housewife. However, as events unfold, the scenes become increasingly disturbing as she carries out a range of strange actions. 

The video begins with a close up shot of blossoms in a tree with the sun in the back and clear skies to indicate a sense of calmness and tranquillity in the day. The shot pans out and widens as the camera descends into the neighbourhood that is seemingly empty. 

Cutting in between the shots of the neighbourhood, still in the first few seconds of the video are very short clips of Selena wet and in some sort of trance. The clips are very short and last no longer than two seconds as they appear a total of three times before she stares directly into the camera. It is not yet clear what these clips are depicting as they are all close ups or extreme close up shots, so the audience is left unaware of the events that are to unfold.

As the camera focuses on the neighbourhood, we are shown Selena walking alone in the neighbourhood with the sprinklers going off but nobody around. This gives the impression that the street has possibly been abandoned as there is also a broken down car with smoke coming out from it that was also present in the promotion photo of the song:

The music starts as the shot shifts to a close-up of Selena's face blocking the shining sun on her face as she begins to sing the lyrics of the song, following Andrew Goodwin's conventions of a relationship between the audio and the visuals. Her arm is already wet with no visible source of water; foreshadowing the events of the video.  

As the bridge of the song unfolds, the disturbing scenes begin to unfold as she enters into the house that already has broken glass and strawberries in which she eats the glass. As the second verse begins, there is a shift in atmosphere with the tension beginning to rise uncomfortably as shown with the singer throwing her groceries into the wall, perhaps as a means to release her inner desires and unveil her true self. 

Throughout the music video, there is loose intertextual reference to the 1981 film 'Possession' in terms of the styling to create a horror-film inspired aesthetic in the video. The use the intertextual reference is less for the audience to identify with the media product, but to create a visual aesthetic and narrative of 'the good girl gone bad'. 

There is also a representation of a woman with full autonomy and control over her sexuality and desires in the music video. Unlike most artists who typically wear more revealing clothing to show their sensuality, Selena opted for full length dresses that still were able to portray these themes with the use of water or translucent material. 

As a music video for a pop song, Fetish opposes most conventions as it has an unclear narrative and storyline which leaves the audience in confusing with a lack of understanding about the message of the video. The use of horror inspired disturbing scenes challenges the features of a typical pop song that has very one-dimensional characters and emotions displayed as the protagonist of this video is complex with an unknown objective. 

There is a notable colour palate which lends into the aesthetic of the video which is something that inspires me for my own video and how I could use colour or different types of cameras in order to have a mixed used of texture in the visuals of my music video.