POP
- Patri
- Oct 13, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 5, 2019
Video can either be performance based (singer singing with or without equipment), narrative based (story that follows lyrics) or a concept video (based upon an idea or believe); but most of the time they are combined.
Mise en scène varies depending on the focus of video it can be fashionable (promoting brands and vibrant colours), stylish (can be extravagant, following the artist's style) or mainstream (target audience, teenagers, they can relate to it and therefore attract a mass audience). The lighting in the foreground is high-key either natural or non natural in order to focus on the artist and give a positive vibe to the viewer; for the background the lighting is low-key as it is less important. The make up used for males is natural, practically non-existent and invisible to the audiences' eyes as it follows society's stereotypes. For women it is used to look more attractive (use of the male gaze where females are sexualised). The props are mainly related to the lyrics and the setting varies depending on the narrative of the video. It can be a famous place such as London or Paris…; a stage; a relatable place to teens such as high school or malls , so they feel closer to the artist.
Ariana Grande - breathin
Iconography is present in the music videos of this genre in the choreography which in many cases it is sexualised as unlike the genre of Rock, Pop music tends to sell the artist to the audience rather than the actual music. They try to create and model an artist to suit a certain role using Richard Dyer’s Theory, which states that they have to re-build/re-model an artist to look like a star and suit the mass media's idea of "perfection".
The narrative uses Todorov's theory which states that it can either be linear, which means that the events are portrayed correspondingly to the order in which they occur; or non-linear, meaning that the events portrayed do not match the order in which they have taken place. It could also match the lyrics and create a visual storyline. Due to the target audience being from 14 to 27 years old they tend to be based around love and partying as they are the most common topics at that age.
Without Me - Halsey
The editing is key in this music videos as it helps to build the narrative using flashes between before and after a certain event. Normally it is given the case where it follows the pace of the music in order to make it more effective and make the viewer feel exactly what the songs is trying to transmit. There is also a clear use of tints and filters to enhance certain parts of the video clip or people.
The camera uses a variety of shots. The use of close-ups on the artist is key in order to transmit the emotions of the song and lyrics. Long shots are used to show the performance or to accentuate the narrative by positioning the viewer. There is also a use of point of view shots in order to get inside the artist's mind and feel exactly what they feel. The camera also tends to hang longer on female bodies and objectifies them as sexual objects. This is achieved by using close-ups of their revealing clothing which is what men usually stare at with more detail. Shows how they are looked upon by a Male Gaze → voyeurism.
Little Mix - Work From Home
Intertextuality is very important in pop videos as most inspirational ideas for settings or narrative itself come from films of paintings. For example the music video "Fancy" by Iggy Azalea is inspired by the film Clueless as it is set in the same decade. It uses exact frames from the film such as the one where the main actress is walking down the school corridor with her dark skin friend. The music video replicates the film perfectly as it uses the same mise-en-scene (for example the clothing). Another example is "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift which is inspired in the Tron Legacy film as it has clearly been inspired by the use of led lights.
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