Analysis of Music Videos

Analysis of Music Videos

Camerawork:

Some music videos use a variety of camera angles and this helps make the music video seem more professional, however some use only a few different angles and movement.

Childish Gambino - 3005

• This music video uses a constant angle that is a mid shot of C.G and a bear sitting in a Ferris Wheel.
• The music video is a constant recording, however like films such as Birdman, there are secret cuts in the video, this is to help with the destroyed bear after each chorus. After each chorus the camera pans upwards into the sky, and this is where the cut takes place.

Logic - Nasty

• Throughout this music video there is a lot of low angle shots looking up at him, this is a standard shot in most low budget rap music videos to show how powerful they are and their dominance in the industry. 

Logic - Super Mario World

• In the opening shot of Logic's 'Super Mario World' there is a drone shot of a factory that some of the music video takes place. 
• There are also a lot of quick movements from the video, for example quickly zooming in on Logic (showing his status as a star) when he is on a private jet. This shows that he is rich and powerful and can afford it.

Editing:
Kendrick Lamar - Humble
There are a lot of quick cuts in the video and one scene in particular where the camera pans around him while he is rapping. This movement is in time with the beat and makes for an interesting transition.


Childish Gambino - 3005
The editing in this video is very minimal as it is only C.G and the bear in a fixed position with an apparent continuous recording. However this makes it seem simplistic and makes the artist seem more ordinary and through the 'star theory' makes them seem ordinary but talented.

Sound:
Childish Gambino - 3005
Like many songs the only sound from the video is the sound and this means that there is no music from the actual video.
If the music video was more of a narrative video then it is more likely to have dialogue and sound from the actual video.

Mise-en-scene:
Childish Gambino - 3005

• Costumes - C.G is wearing ordinary clothing to show the simplistic nature of the music video. The teddy bear is wearing a hat to show a more human side to the object as it slowly gets destroyed. The other people in the video are extras in the background who, like C.G, are ordinary people on the Ferris Wheel.
• Setting - The setting of the music video is on a Ferris Wheel and this makes the video more relatable for the audiences as they too can ride a Ferris Wheel with a bear.
• Lighting - All of the lighting in the music video comes from the actual Ferris Wheel and not from any other stage lights. This makes the video seem more authentic and less staged then it would otherwise.
• Props - The only prop in the video is the bear that slowly gets more and more destroyed as the video progresses.

Narrative:

Eminem - Stan

The story of 'Stan' is about a fan who is obsessed with Eminem. The actual song is letters from this fan and when the letters aren't answered he puts his pregnant girlfriend in the boot and drives off a bridge. The last verse of the song is Eminem answering the letters before realising that he was the man who drove off the bridge.

Themes:
Childish Gambino - 3005
The theme of 3005 is about Childish Gambino's loss of innocence after starting his rap career. He started out as an actor and comedian who wasn't taken seriously with his music but as he made more music and starred in more TV and movies he got a star persona and therefore had to lose his childishness and innocence to become a rapper. The bear is his innocence and after each chorus he does the more destroyed the bear (his innocence) becomes.

Singers:

Childish Gambino:
Childish Gambino, or Donald Glover, is an American actor, comedian and rapper who has starred in TV shows such as Community (which he produces and writes), films such as Spiderman Homecoming. He has become more of a star after his EP and because of this has two different personas, one with his acting (a more cheerful bubbly character) and one for his music (a straight faced more reserved character). After releasesing his first album he only really connected with his audiences through his music videos.

Michael Jackson

• In the music video 'Billie Jean' the video has a lot of different moments of showing how much of a star he is. There is one scene where he makes a homeless man wear a suit through his touch, and this makes the audience watching him show how much of a star he is by the fact that he can change lives with a touch.
• He also does a lot of dance moves that only he does, for example when he did the moonwalk it was a signature move for him.