Dance wiv Me - Dizzee Rascal

Song: Dance wiv Me

Artist: Dizzee Rascal

Year of release:  2008
Director: Luc Edwards

 

Genre: hip hop, nu-disco

Characteristics: bar, women, revealing clothing, pimps, DJ booth.

 

Relationship between lyrics and visuals: Dizzee sings about a woman he has found at a bar and how he wants her to come and dance with him. The camera focuses on the woman’s body in her revealing clothing, especially when Dizzee sings about how attractive she is. The music video is definitely focused on the male genre as the shots include lots of young, thin and attractive women.

 

Relationship between music and visuals: the song begins with a DJ mixing songs together the visuals back up this by a DJ standing in a bar with headphones on, mixing songs. The song continues to sound like it is remixed by a DJ live and the music video compliments this may making it seem like they are all dancing to the DJ live at the bar. The background dancers all move in time to the beat which makes the music seem even more realistic that it’s live.  

 

Close ups of artist: there are a few close ups of Dizzee and Calvin Harris, mainly just showing their facial expressions and reacting to what’s going on around them. There are also close ups of the women and their body’s which is apart of the male gaze theory that this video includes.

 

Performance based: this video is mainly performed based as it involves Dizzee dancing with different women at a local bar, surrounded by pimps and women. Calvin Harris acts are the barman and watches the situation rather than getting involved in the dancing etc.

Youtube hits: 11 million

All the Small Things - Blink-182

Song: All the Small Things

Artist: Blink – 182

Year of release: 2000

Genre: pop, punk

Characteristics: live audience, dance studio, arena, airport, beach, fans.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the song is written by Tom DeLonge who initially wrote the song about his girlfriend (later wife). The lyric ‘roses by the stairs’ was inspired by a real night where DeLonge came home from recording to find roses laying at the top of the stairs. The lyric ‘you’ll be at my show’ is reflected in the music video as the fans in the audience are all mainly female. 

 

Relationship between music and visuals: the song begins with the introduction of a band playing the guitar and drums at a fast pace. The video also includes fast pace shots of the band playing their instruments in a studio and underground arena. The same beat continues throughout the song, towards the middle of the song the beat slows down, with this the pace of the music video also slows down along with the music.

 

Close ups: there are a few close up of the artists which include their face’s singing and also to show their missing teeth/ fake teeth, which ads to the humour element of the video. Other close ups include the screaming fans in the audience, and of the bands body’s.

 

Performance based: the video is performance based as it involves the members of Blink182 singing and dancing around different sets and locations. The humour aspect is added to the music video as the boys from the band wear false teeth and/or black marks on their teeth to make it appear that teeth are missing. The male members also appear naked on a beach, wear nothing but their underwear on stage and eat flowers in parts of the video. This idea makes the artists appear a bit crazy and odd which can be a good thing for a brand image. The video does not appear to have storyline, but mainly a group of ideas.

 Youtube hits: 25 million

Super Bass - Nicki Minaj

Song: Super Bass

Artist: Nicki Minaj

Year of release: 2011
Director: Sanaa Hamri 

Genre: R&B, hip hop, pop

Characteristics: Barbie, pink, fake, plastic, doll inspired costumes, shirtless men, UV lighting.

    

Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the songs lyrics tells a story by Nicki about a boy she has a crush on, and wants to be intimate with him, but instead takes on a playful approach. E.g. dressing up as plastic dolls and living the ‘Barbie lifestyle’. Nicki songs about a boy she has a crush whilst being surrounded by half naked men in a pink-watered pool. The music video focuses on the female gaze as well as the male gaze as it includes revealing outfits from both the male and female dancers.

 

Relationship between music and visuals: the song begins with a high pitched automated introduction, almost like something you would hear out of a child’s TV programme theme song. The sound of childlike music is compared to the close up of Nicki with her pink and blonde hair, long fake eyelashes, bright pink lips and tight pink clothing. Nicki is dressed as Barbie, and the music video attempts to copy Barbie’s lifestyle which includes a bright pink plastic car and plane and also lots of men who also appear to look like plastic Ken dolls. The childish music continues throughout the song, mixed with a low bass to create the ‘Super bass’ idea to the song.

Close ups: the music video contains many close up and extreme close ups of Nicki and her male dancers. For Nicki the close ups mainly focus on her facial features, which show her Barbie-like and fake appearance. As for the male dancers the close ups are focused on their unnaturally toned body’s and immaculate appearances. This is a focus for the female gaze theory.

Controversy: recently over the last couple of years the fashion and modelling industry has been notorious for trying to make beautiful black women look white Caucasian. They do this by lighting women’s skin, dying hair blonde and giving black women blue contact lenses to wear. The whole idea was seen as unnatural and caused anger in the black community as the idea of trying to change a women’s race made them seem inferior. Nicki is dressed up as a Barbie doll in her music video Super Bass and her make-up has changed her appearance completely in the video, including lighting her skin in post production. The idea of changing a women’s eye colour, hair colour and skin colour to look Caucasian seems hugely controversial and betraying her own culture and identity.

Performance based: the music video is mainly performance as it involves Nicki running around her own Barbie world which includes pink rocks, water, walls, outfits, cars and planes. The video also contains Nicki dancing with the male version doll of herself and the lyrics focus on her relationship with him.

Youtube hits: 200 million!

Womanizer - Britney Spears

Song: Womanizer

Artist: Britney Spears

Year of release: 2008
Director: Joseph Kahn
 
Genre: pop, electro pop

Characteristics: Britney playing different characters. Wigs, costumes and locations.


Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the chorus is sung by Britney, she sings about a man who womanizes lots of women. The video reflects this by having Britney dressed differently in each scene, portraying lots of different women in different situations flirting with the same man. Britney sings about the same womanising man throughout the whole song. The video has a protagonist male character, who is used in every scene and so is meant to be portraying the womanizing man who Britney is singing about.
 
Relationship between music and visuals: the song begins with a siren playing which essentially means danger. This noise is matched with Britney lying naked in a sauna, which links to the two together that Britney has an element of danger. The video then jumps to another scene and the beat is quite slow, the music still has a siren sounding quietly in the background, whilst Britney moves her hips in time to the beat of the song. The siren plays quite loudly in the background through the rest of the song. This signals danger and is matched in the video with the different characters of Britney flirting and provocatively dancing with the male.
 
Close up of artist: there are many close ups of Britney in this music video with are mainly just beauty shots of the singer focusing on her face. There are also close ups of Britney’s body which are purposely for the male gaze.
 
Performance based: this video is mainly performance based as it just involves Britney and her different characters seducing the same man from each scene. The video focuses on Britney sexy and provocative behaviour and her dancing and outfits are performance based only.

Youtube hits: 83 million

Hey Ya! - OutKast

Song: Hey Ya!
Artist: OutKast
Year of release: 2003
Director: Raymond Wilkins
 
Genre: alternative hip hop, funk


Characteristics: Live crowd, green, stage, live band, screaming women, 70s, black and white TV
 
Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the lyrics talk about Andre and about the girl he wants to be in a relationship with but she doesn’t feel the same. The music video focuses on Andre and the multiples of himself performing a concert to a screaming crowd of women. The women are running on to the stage, fainting and going crazy to see OutKast.
 
Relationship between music and visuals: the music is quite simple and contains an electric guitar, piano and drum kit. There is no edited music and sounds simple which is also reflected in the video, as it is simply eight versions of Andre playing instruments on stage. The loud screaming of girls is playing constantly through the song to get the effect that the performance is live. This drowns out some of the music. Whenever there is clapping in the song, there is also clapping on stage rhythmically with the band playing instruments.  
 
Close up of artist: there are a couple close ups of the different versions of Andre playing the different band member characters that mainly just show him singing and performing.


Intertexual references: Andre performed the music video in comparisons to The Beatles by mimicking their 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  
 
Concept based: as the band mimickers The Beatles performance of The Ed Sullivan Show the video is mainly concept driven, and has taken the idea of someone else and made it their own.












Youtube hits: 12 million

Sound Of The Underground - Girls Aloud

Song: Sound of the underground

Artist: Girls aloud

Year of release: 2003

 

Genre: Pop, dance pop

Characteristics: Dark, electric guitars, cage, underground train platform, un-glamouress, crop tops and heavy make up.

 

Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the chorus ‘sound of the underground’ is the main aspect to the music video, as the band members all sing in a grotty underground train station. The metal cage the band members are singing in throughout the music video also portrays the dull, dark and neglected area the underground train station is. ‘waters running in the wrong direction’ lyric is portrayed in the music video through water dripping off a dirty light bulb in reverse from the underground station.  

 

Relationship between music and visuals: the song starts with electric guitars and then the tempo and the beat increases, and becomes more sharp and edgy. The visuals to the music video match up to the sharp and fast beat of the song as the band members are collectively singing in what appears a dark and dreary cage in a underground tunnel. The drum beat slows down whilst the girls sing the verses around different parts of the underground and the beat then picks up again when they sing the chorus in their cage.

 

Close up of artists: there is no major close ups of the artists as the main type of shop is a medium shot with the girls torso included in the shot. The only major close up in the entire video is that of the light bulb dripping water, which focuses on the lyric, waters running in the wrong direction.

 

Performance based: as there is no real plot or concept to this video, it is mainly performance based. This is because the girls are performing in a dirty underground station, in black and cheap looking clothing. Along with their heavy, dark eye makeup, the whole image is portrayed of the band as being quite dark, sexy and mysterious. The whole music video contrasts highly with other female groups videos, as the norm is very glamouress and perfect, which this video is not.

Youtube hits: 1 million

5, 6, 7, 8 - Steps

Song: 5, 6, 7, 8

Artist: Steps

Year of release: 1997

 

Genre: pop

Characteristics:  Sun, beach, America, swimwear, quad bikes, holiday, sand, bar, dance routines, simple dance moves

Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the girls in the pop sing about their dream man they have met and how much they want to be with him, whilst they dance in synch to obviously rehearsed dance routine. These dance moves are very simple and are nothing harder than an average person could perform. When the male singer begins his verse some of the lyrics match the clips from the video, such as ‘hands clapping’ and ‘body spinning’. Other wise the video mainly consists of male and female band members dancing on a beach and having a good time.

 

Relationship between music and visuals: the music to the song sounds very western with the violins playing in an old fashioned way. This ties in well with the lyric ‘obsession for a western’. The beat is fast with a high tempo which works well as the men and women are travelling to the beach.  The music is very easy to dance to, and is simple and allows the video to focus mainly on dance routines and teenagers having fun on the beach. The same beat continues for the whole song.

 

Close up of artist: there are multiple close ups of the different performers in the band. The same style of close up is used, where the camera focuses in on the singers singing. There are no male close ups which shows that the close ups are just focusing on the females beauty rather than the males.

 

Performance based: there is no storyline to this video and is simply just male and female friends/couples having fun on holiday, enjoying the sunny beach in America and doing whatever they want. The rehearsed dance routines that are constantly used add to the performance.

Youtube views: 661 thousand

Scream - Michael Jackson

Song: Scream
Artist: Michael and Janet Jackson
Year of release: 1995
Director: Mark Romanek
 
Genre: R&B, pop


Characteristics: Black and white, manga, space ship, studs, black PVC, artwork, sculptures
 
Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the lyrics at the start of the video are quite angry and powerful, which is reflected in Michael and Janet’s facial expressions and body movements especially when Michael sings ‘these lies are disgusting’. When Michael sings about confusion the video is edited to make the viewer feel confused, with the rotating camera lens and Janet and Michael walking up the walls, and lying on the ceiling etc. ‘you make me wanna scream’ lyrics is visualised in the video by Janet and Michael clasping their hands over their ears screaming. An edited shake on the clip makes the clip seem even more confusing.
 
Relationship between music and visuals: the start of the music video begins with the sound of buzzing electrics, fusing of technical equipment and a high pitched sound like the boiling of a kettle. The visuals in the music video match this sound as the space ship is switching on and all the electrics are beginning to start. As the beat to the song picks up Michael and Janet start dancing around the crazy, white space ship. The screaming sounds reflect on how strange the music video is, with Michael running up walls and dancing on ceilings. The music gets much more quite and Janet whispers her words as Michael sits on a mat doing yoga.
 
Close up of artists: there are close ups of Michael and Janet at different points in the video. Such as when they are sat in the space ships pods at different points during the video.

Performance based: Michael and Janet Jackson are dancing around an extravagant spaceship. Their dance moves reflect their crazy behaviour. The spaceship includes a gallery which contains very famous and expensive pieces of work and sculptures by famous artists. This is one of the main reasons this music video is one of the most expensive of all time. The music video ends with the two going crazy and screaming because of the weirdness of the spaceship with reflects their crazy lives.

 

Youtube hits: 21 million

Better Off Alone - Alice DeeJay

Song: Better Off Alone
Artist: Alice DeeJay
Year of release: 1999


 


Genre: electronic dance music


Characteristics: Dessert, heat, rocks, sun, Middle East, car breakdown, mirage, dizziness, protagonist male


Relationship between lyrics and visuals: the song doesn’t have many lyrics as it is from the dance genre. So the few lyrics are mainly repeated throughout the song. A woman singes ‘don’t you think you’re better off alone’ and the video displays jump cuts from a man lost in a dessert and a woman sitting at home looking remorseful. The man in the desert looks very small compared with the vast quantities of dessert, which makes him look even lonelier. When the woman sings ‘talk to me’ the lost man in the desert looks like he can hear the voice and is looking to respond, so he can talk to the woman.

 Relationship between music and visuals: the song mainly has a techno beat and so contains very few lyrics. The beat of the music is faced paced and has a feel of movement to it. Which works well with the video as the male is travelling in his safari land drover, when the car breaks down the beat changes to a slower paced beat which reflects the males’ mood. The beat changes again as the man walks alone into the desert. The beat is fast paced again, like it was before when he was travelling in the car.
 
Close up of artist: there are a few close ups of the artist but mainly only shows half of her face, the back of her head, or her hands. You never clearly see the artists face which leaves a mystery to the viewer.
 
Narrative based: as the man wonders through the desert lost and alone, there are close ups of his broken dog tag necklace. As the mysterious female sits at home she holds the other half to the dog tag lovingly in her hands. As the man feels dizzier he hallucinates himself and this other woman kissing, holding each other. This confirms that at some point these two were in a relationship. The broken dog tag is meant to be significant in the video, as a broken dog tag on a man represents that they have died and the other half is returned to that persons family or partner. So in fact the man in the video is dead and is remembering him and his lover, and the mysterious woman was mourning him.

Youtube hits: 9 million