Textual Analysis of music videos

On January 23rd 2009 Lily Allen released the first single of her second album entitled "It's Not Me, It's You.". The single was entitled "The Fear" and the promotional video for it was directed by Nez (The Streets, Kano). The single is classifed in the Pop genre by both iTunes music store and Amazon Digital Downloads.

The song opens with the line: "I wanna be rich and I want lots of money." As Lily Allen mimes this line she is shown in a long shot which shows the viewer that she is in caravan. Therefore, in this instance the visuals amplify the lyrics as typically someone living in a caravan dreams of having more money. Life living in a caravan is not potrayed as being partically luxurious because her washing is hung crudely on a line to the left of her and her furniture and curtains appear dated and old because of their floral pattern.

Just before the chorus Lily turns around, re-enters her caravan and is suddenly transferred to what appears to be a room in a large house. She is shown mostly in high angle shots throughout the chorus as she sings "I don't know what's right and what's real anymore." Therefore, the use of high angle shots to show her amplifies the lyrics in portraying her to be a victim, scared and confused. However, as it is a music video and is therefore designed to promote the artist as well as the song, Lily is also shown through mid shots throughout the chorus so that her beauty and image can be sold as well.

In the first verse after the chorus Lily sings: "Life's about film stars and less about mothers." at which the point the visuals straight cut to a close up on old childrens toys. They look untouched hence again amplifying the lyrics of the song that life is less about mothers now - toys and childhood, the needing of mothers, has been left behind.

Lily sings: "I am a weapon of massive consumption" as she is shown in a long shot skipping into a room full of wrapped items. The visuals again here amplify the lyrics as Lily sings about being a mass consumer she is surrounded by lots of items: therefore portraying that she buys a lot of things and is a mass consumer.

Again, for the chorus Lily is shown mostly in high angle shots portraying she is little and confused. Therefore, the lyrics she sings: "I don't know what's right or what's real anymore." "When will it all become clear?" are amplified through the use of this visual.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hbm4G_7rGzQ

The second music video I chose to analyse had the embedding of the video disabled by request and so therefore a link to the video is provided above.

On the 15th November 2004 Avril Lavigne released her third single from her second album entitled "Under My Skin". The single was called "Nobody's Home" and is classified in the pop genre by both iTunes and Amazon Digital Downloads.

The video opens with a blurred close up of a girl gazing, looking lost, into the sunset. The fact that the shot is blurred connotes her state of mind: confused and hazed. The fact that this shot is a close up means no information is given about the girl, who she is and why/where she is. This intrigues the viewer and makes them want to watch on.

Director Research

Jonas Åkerlund

"Swedish filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund is known for his hard-hitting, frenetic and often violent takes on the darker side of humanity. The world's most controversial music video director, he has worked with the biggest names in the industry.

He started out as a drummer in seminal Swedish heavy metal band Bathory but switched to film editing in the mid '80s. He says, "I realized that cutting images together with music and sound effects was much more creative than banging the drums in a band, so I quit right away."
He moved into directing and has since worked with artists including U2 ("Beautiful Day", shot at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris), Metallica, the Smashing Pumpkins and Moby.

Perhaps best known for his work with Madonna, on "Ray of Light", "American Life" and the documentary "I'm going to tell you a secret", Åkerlund hit the headlines when the out-of-control "Smack My Bitch Up" video for the Prodigy was banned by MTV." "

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/10/11/stockholm.biog/index.html

As stated above Jonas Åkerlund is famous for his controversial videos and through having seen many of his videos you can see why.

The video for Christina Aguilera's song "Beautiful" which was released in 2002 contains images and short clips throughout of controversial images which would not usually be seen as socially acceptable for television. The video contains visuals of an extremely anorexic girl, a socially rejected alternative dresser, a transvestite getting dressed, a gay couple kissing and extreme bullying.

His most recent video for Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" single contains visuals of her being thrown of a balcony, poisening her boyfriend, engaging in a lesbian 3 way kiss and visuals of dead models.

However, his most controversial video of all time is considered to be his video for The Prodigy's 1997 single "Smack my bitch up" which was banned by MTV and the BBC for containing strong scenes/visuals of drug taking and violence.