Analysis of a Music Video

Sanam Harrinanan

David Guetta- Hey Mama ft Nicki Minaj Hey Mama was released in 2015 in the pop genre, originally made by David Guetta featuring Nicki

Minaj.

Conventions used: The music video is based in one location which is a desert surrounded by people dancing in colourful clothing with bright colours and tribal props. Within the music video, the footage does not link to the lyrics. The lyrics of the song is based upon Nicki Minaj claiming she can be a good girlfriend/wife, which is shown when she says; “Yes I’ll be your woman, yes I’ll be your baby”, which is the first lyrics used in the song. However this is show by people dancing around in the desert which does not link to the lyrics. Throughout the music video there is a lot of notion looking done by Nicki Minaj and some of the other dancers in the video, this is where they are directly looking into the camera. The genre characteristics relate the genre of pop as they are many bright colours, loud and also focuses on love and relationships. Camera work/editing: There are a variety of camera shots which are used in this music video. Many of these are long shots to show the dance routine in which people were doing or to show the scenery. There are also medium shots used and close up shots to show Nicki Minaj singing. As well as that there is fast paced editing to go with the fast paced song and lots of jump cuts to show its a face paced song.

Sound: The sound is continuous with no breaks or interruptions throughout the music video.Narrative/ performance: The narrative of Hey Mama is about a woman who is claiming her love for a man by saying she can be there whenever he needs her. Lyrics such as “Yes i’ll be your girl, forever your lady”, “Yes i’ll do the cooking, yes i’ll do the cleaning’, show that she is willing to do whatever is needed to do to please him. There are many close ups used in this music video to show the artist and their talent which helps with the performance of the video.Representation: The artist represented as being outgoing, loud, a happy person who wants to be with a guy. The music video shows this through the lyrics of the song, there are also characters who kiss to symbolise the love between Nicki and the guy she wants to be with.Institutions: Hey Mama was created by David Guetta, Afrojack, Giorgio Tuinfort and produced by the record label Parlophone and Atlantic Records and was distributed onto the music album called Listen. Values and ideology: Through the lyrics we can see that Nicki Minaj is trying to get the message across to a guy that she wants to be with.

Ed Sheeran- Thinking out loudThinking Out Loud is a pop genre song which was released in 2014 by the artist Ed Sheeran.

Conventions used: Thinking out loud is based in one location which is a big ball room draped with long curtains and a chandelier. The music video is based on two people dancing romantically together which means the footage does link to the lyrics as it is based on love. Lyrics such as “So honey now, take me into your loving arms” are shown by the two characters dancing slowly with close bodily contact wrapped two one another by hugging. There is no notion looking within the music video, this shows how in love the two characters are and that they only have eyes for each other. This is a typical pop genre video as it has the generic genre characteristic such as it is based upon relationships. However it does not have bright colours and it more subtle to fit with the theme of romance and love.

Camera work/ editing: Within the music video there are scenes which are shot for a long time and has slow camera movements such as a slow pan, tilt or zoom in. Having these camera movements done slowly helps to capture the love and passion between the two characters and helps to portray their emotions more. There is a range of camera angles such as, long shots, medium shots, close up, two shot and birds eye view. All of these allow the audience to see the love between the characters from different angles and have a better idea of what the scenery is like. The editing does not cut from one scene to another but instead runs smoothly and slowly to help portray the love in the video. There are also transitions such as dissolve or fade used to go from one action to another to create a sense of love and emotion for the audience to enjoy.Sound: The sound is continuous with no breaks or interruptions throughout the music video.Narrative/performance: The narrative of this music video is about a man who is stating his love and affection for a lady. This is shown through numerous lyrics and dance moves in the video. “Me, I fall in love with you every single day”, is just one of the lyrics used to show the love Ed Sheeran feels towards a lady. As well as that we can see through the performance of the video the love in this story. This is shown from the close body contact, slow dancing and strong eye contact.

Representation: The representation of this artist is shown as being romantic and in love. Ed Sheeran is represented as the type to express his feelings through his music. This is shown through routine dance in the music video and the on screen chemistry between the two characters. Institutions: Thinking out loud was written by Ed Sheeran himself and Amy Wadge and produced by Jake Gosling. The record label which helped to create the song was Asylum and Atlantic records and distributed into the album ‘X’.Values and ideology: Through the lyrics we can see that Ed is trying to get the message across to a lady that he has feelings for her and will love her till “we’re seventy” as stated in one of his lyrics.