Annotated version of my Music Video

Miley Cyrus - 'Party in the USA' Analysis - Vernallis

Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA 

 



Vernallis' theory suggests that The star of the music video should be the main focus throughout however, there is usually a background of performers in a performance video. In this case, Miley Cyrus is the singer therefore, all eyes are on her, even though she has people in the background dancing behind her. Vernallis doesn't think this takes away from the main artist as long as there is the right kind of staging so Miley here is placed at the front to make the audience aware that we should be watching her.  

Another of Vernallis' theories is that the lip sync should be obvious to the audience, therfore there should be close ups of the artist to show them singing the song as she believes that this reels the audience in which makes them by the video because it makes the artist more engaged with the performance if they can see Miley singing the song.

Party in the USA is edited to the beat as the change in melody cuts to the scene of Miley on the swings which matches the tune of the song very well as well as matching the lyrics 'Feel like hopping on a flight' whilst she swings back and forth.   

Rihanna - 'Distubia' Analysis - Vernallis

Disturbia - Rihanna

Vernallis' opinion is that the lip syncing is one of the most crucial things because the purpose of the video is to sell the song, and more importantly advertise the artist. Here we can see a close up of Rihanna which is selling the artist as she is the main focus of the entire video. Also, the close up allows the audience to engage with her and enjoy the song more if they can see the visual of her singing it.

This video immediately echoes Vernallis' theory of editing to the beat as we can see in the opening of the music video. This creates more of an attraction to the song and the video because it is likely to look a lot better to an audience if the video is edited to the beat of the song.

Furthermore, Vernallis stated that the artist in the music video is constantly on camera, with extras being placed into the background so the focus is still on the star of the video. In this video we can see Rihanna as the main artist as she is pretty much the only person shown throughout the entire video, however there is the part where she is singing to the manakin and this is the point where she still remains the main focus. The staging is set up in the performance part of the video in such a way that still makes us focus our attention on Rihanna.

Vernallis Analysis for Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"

Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"

Analysis of Rihanna - "Only Girl In The World"

Analysis of Rihanna - "Only Girl In The World"

I have chosen to analyse Rihanna's song to represent Goodwin's theory on the key features which distinguish the music video as a form. 

This video highlights Rihanna's use of a relationship between visuals and lyrics which is shown when Rihanna says "night" and the image automatically changes to a dark scene with fireworks to also compliment the lyrics of her being in love. Here we can see that Goodwin's theory is exemplified as the visuals are illustrating the music.

There are many close-ups used in this video which is very common in music videos as they really show the accuracy of the lip syncing which has been done during the editing process. Rihanna's video doesn't do extreme close-ups of the eyes or lips which slightly contradicts Goodwin's theory however, the use of close-ups of her entire face emphasises the emotion of the lyrics.

Rihanna's song has the lyrics 'Only girl in the world' where she has the sun shining to cover the intricate details of her face and make her look like she's floating with happiness. This is a lovely shot as it really reflects and amplifies the lyrics of the song. The mise-en-scene here doesn't necessarily fit in with the song however, it's open to interpretation which I really like because it shows that you can do anything with the video and you don't have to follow typical conventions by using the lyrics to write the narrative of your entire video.

These images signify the feelings and emotions which are shown through her increase into the air and her actions to show she's the only girl for the man she's singing about. Once again this follows Goodwin's theory on illustrating and amplifying the lyrics matching the visuals.

Analysis of Stay by Rihanna

Analysis Stay - Rihanna



This video is one I would like to analyse as it is the genre I am looking into creating. I really like the visuals in this video however the lighting although it fits in with the narrative, I don't think it is the best that could have been used here. There are many shots from this video that I would consider replicating in my own. 

The video begins with a piano introduction which is played andante at quite a low pitch to set the mood of the song. The image is of water which has been slowed down to create a nice droplet effect also reflective of the tone of the piece. it then continues to show Rihanna getting undressed which helps build the narrative as we work out she's going for a bath and the first shot was the bath running. The pace of the video is all quite slow which could represent an unmotivated person and by the lyrics 'I want you to stay' we can infer that it's referring to a relationship and the man is walking away. 

The close-up of her in the bath not only shows her emotions, it creates a soothing feeling as bathing can be extremely relaxing. This could be seen as her way of calming herself. The expression on her face tells the audience that she is in deep thought and is not happy. As the words come in, she isn's shown to be singing which could signify the deep concentration on whats going on. 

Rihanna is presented as almost naked to represent her exposing her emotions. It could be said to imply she's putting her heart on the line and this is done my revealing her body as a metaphor for her emotions. 

The camera angle here suggests she is being looked down on as being vulnerable due to her revealing herself however, this is not presented in a provocative manner. The bath is used as a way of releasing her feelings into something. It's partly concealed and the water represents the feelings floating about and festering inside of her. The name of the song 'Stay' is clearly presented here when she holds on to the bath like she doesn't want to let him go. 

As the male character enters he is shown to be sitting on his own in a dark room talking about the female character. He appears to be lost about what to do about her. He doesn't know whether to stay or leave. The lighting is extremely dark here but the daylight shining in could represent him hiding away from the real world and the situation or decision he has to make. He is fully clothed which opposes Rihanna's miss-en-scene which could symbolise the concealment of his feelings.  His lyrics 'Not really sure how to feel about it' shows his indecisive nature and his ability to shut his feelings away. This contradicts Rihanna has she is lying naked letting all her feelings out. 

The song ends with Rihanna singing 'I want you to stay' and she slowly descends her head into the water but only slightly. This could symbolise her giving up on him or that she is so lost in her feelings that she does't know what to do.