Textual Analysis- Meghan Trainor- All About That Base (Pop/Doo-Wop/R&B)

Textual Analysis- Nina Nesbitt- Stay Out (Acoustic)

(Here is Nina Nesbitt's Music Video which I will be analysing)


(Go full-screen to view clearly)

Textual Analysis- Iggy Azelea- Fancy (Hip Hop)

First of all this music video is basically a replica of the 90's film 'Clueless' however he artist has adapted it in her own way with subtle changes so that it fits the hip hop genre. The video has used many shots as the same as in the film, mise en scene is virtually the same as well. However unlike the 90's film clueless where the main characters persona has the 'good rich girl' persona, in this music video Iggy portrays the exact opposite as she is flicking her hair and has a confident persona. She is also dancing whilst wearing a short skirt which suggests that she is doing that for 'sex appeal' and not to portray the rich girl image. This intertextual reference brings in a wider audience compared to if Iggy Azelea was to not have done it as it brings in fans from the film 'Clueless' and also fans of Iggy Azelea therefore creating a wider audience. It also means that viewers and the target market are left to make up their own interpretations as to why she has done this and made the entire music video an exact replica of the film clueless.
Although almost all the music video is a parody of the film 'Clueless' here are just a few similarities but there are many more throughout the video:

The music video when referring to Andrew Goodwin's theory could be seen as an amplified music video this is because the lyrics to the music video don't exactly match the lyrics but the idea that she is 'fancy' is amplified throughout the video. Therefore it could be seen that the target market to the music video are people who like to create their own meaning of music videos for example, why has she chose to reference to 'Clueless'. I think that she has done this because the album in which the song is taken off is called 'The New Classic' therefore as 'Clueless' is a 'classic' 90's film and the artist herself is quite new to the music industry she could be trying to get across that she is 'The New Classic'. I believe that this music video could be seen as some what unconventional in the hip hop genre but I think that this is because the artist her self is quite unconventional to the hip hop genre as she is a white female rapper therefore the music video needs to be different and make her stand out in order for her to be marketable.

Throughout the music video there is a narrative which is shown through the intertextuality however in connections to the song lyrics the video doesn't exactly match therefore leaving it up to audience interpretations. The video however has the artists in the music video singing throughout the video which helps adds to the idea in which is amplified throughout it is that she is 'fancy' this is because when the artists are singing you can tell that they're trying to portray a persona of being 'fancy' and confident and better than everyone else. This is shown through the use of mise en scene for example, in a long shot of one of the main singers in the music video at 0.41 she is sat at a table with 4 other people in which they're looking at her which means all the attention is on her even though there isn't a close up shot suggesting that she is the dominant one in the scene even though she is dressed as a posh female and she is sat with males who are stereotypically considered as the dominant ones. This could then suggest in the wider sense that she is not just the best and considered the most dominant in the music video but in the music industry, emphasising the narrative of the song. In addition by having her singing in this scene and also not having a close up it shows that the singers are like leaders of groups to show she has people around her which could be considered as a 'posse' and even though she is in a long shot the fact she is singing draws attention to her and the artist becomes even more domineering and the powerful one in the shot.

When the singer Iggy Azelea is singing next to the court she is also dancing in a way which objectifies women (all the people dancing at this point are women) however it could be considered that the women just become more domineering. The fact that the women are all wearing sporting attire suggests that they have power and strength physically thus emphasising power which seems to be a theme throughout the music video. There are also other references towards wealth, power and status, at 1.18 there are 3 people in a car which could be considered as a luxury car and also the car is deep red which has connotations of wealth and power, there are also three people in the car one of the people in the car is the singer and there are two other which could be considered as her 'posse' all of this signifies power and wealth which thus adds to the narrative of the song.

The editing is quite fast paced due to the song being fast paced which helps create effective cuts which go with the rhythm of the song which can make it seem more entertaining. This is predominately all throughout the song. An example of this would be where the artist are at a party at 1.36 not only do the cuts go with the rhythm of the song but some shots are in slow motion this gives the effect that time is slowed down. I think that this is done to demonstrate skill and style as it is slowed down as people are dancing, it makes it clearer to the audience the expression on peoples faces which over exaggerate that they're having a good time. The fact that this happens after the artists arrived at the party suggests to the audience that the people at the party are having a good time due to the artist being there. Thus suggesting that they're better than everyone else and have power as they're able to make everyone else have a good time.

After analysing this music video I am able to understand the conventions of the hip hop genre and therefore if I was going to then make a video from this genre, these are the genre conventions which I should include:

• Having an intertextual reference to make the music video stand out and make the video have a deeper meaning.
• Have the artists singing throughout the music video. 
• Have the artists seen with people around them which could be considered their 'posse' and also with expensive items which all signify power which is a common them throughout the music video.
• The artists should be seen in sports wear to signify power and strength.
• The artists should be seen to be dancing and wear short/skimpy clothes which objectify women as this is also a convention of this genre.
• Have many cuts which go with the rhythm of the song and also slow motion to show skill and expression.
• Have long shots used to signify power to show that the artists have many people around them and they're then the dominant ones in the scene.

Textual Analysis- The Beautiful south- You Keep It All in (Pop Rock/Rock)

The music video which I decided to look at from the genre rock/pop rock was 'You Keep It All In' by The Beautiful South because it is quite an old music video it was released in 1989 and even though it is an old music video it reached great popularity at the time that it was released and it was a successful music video reaching 19 on the BillBoard Modern Rock Tracks Chart during 1990.

The first thing that I noticed about this music video is that the artists become the story teller in the music video. At 0.13 there is a close up shot as the artist begins to sing this is so that the viewer becomes established with the music artist. The singer isn't looking at the audience as she is illustrating the lyrics by singing to the man who is sat down the lyrics at this time are 'You know your problem' meaning that the viewer has the understanding that the song is about the male sat down. When referring to Goodwin's Theory of Thought Through Beats where you understand what the lyrics are in your head. The artists mode of address is a story teller because we are listening and the singer is telling us a story. The fact that we know who is singing due to the close up and the use of lip syncing adds to the stars image as her voice is a trademark of the band and it makes it easy for the viewer to identify who is singing and they're more likely to carry on watching and listening is they like what they see and hear. The close up shot is also used to show the emotion of the singer and how she feels towards the person in the music.

The narrative of the music video is not 100 % clear as we only get to see the lyrics matching the visuals for half of the video. At 0.27 there is a change in location and there is a long shot of a performance from the band this feature makes the audience become familiar with the band and who is singing and therefore all the band members get some attention from the audience and get recognised there is also different closeups of each singer so that the audience get an understanding of who is in the band this also gives the feel that the audience is on the same level as the band members and the audience are able to connect to the song and the video. The fact that the main narrative is still at the heart of the music video and the performance and narrative overlap makes the idea behind the video obvious and seem more believable and understandable to an audience.

The narrative is also not 100% explicit to the target market therefore when referring to Goodwin's Theory the music video is an amplification music video as there is references to the meaning of the song throughout but sometimes it doesn't make sense. For example in the first scene there is a couple of guys playing 'leap frog' and there is also someone dressed as a penguin in the music video. This is before any of the lyrics have even started therefore holding a hidden meaning suggesting that the target audience are older more mature music fans as they're left to make their own interpretations as to why this is included in the music video. The fact that the people in the first scene are wearing a school uniform and playing leap frog give connotations of youth and innocence and also someone dressed as a penguin has connotations of understanding and acceptance because penguins as animals live in groups so they have to have acceptance from the rest of the group this could suggest that the penguin is either isolated from the youth playing leap frog or accepted by them which is why is wearing a suit. This could be before the lyrics match the visuals to suggest to the audience a sense of innocence as the lyrics are about problems in a relationship after a few year of being together, the band could be suggesting this innocence to emphasise how dramatic it all changed to not being happy in a relationship. So when referring to Levi Strauss Binary Opposites Theory there is a change in mood from happy to sad as the boys are playing leap frog and enjoying themselves and the man and woman in the relationship aren't having a happy time. However other viewers could also interpret this completely differently hence why the music video isn't 100% explicit.

In the performance parts of the music video there is certain iconography to show that the music video is of the pop rock genre as all the band members appear to be playing an instrument this is something that you're unlikely to see in a pop music video for example, you wouldn't expect to see a lot of band members playing instruments in a pop music video as this is not a conventional feature of the pop genre. In addition during the performance  the bands clothing could be seen as style inspiration to fans of the pop rock genre or fans of the band, the band all seem to be dressed in the same code of dress as they're all wearing dark colours and denim this could be the style of the time within this genre or just the bands style therefore audiences could have the ideology that dressing like the band is considered 'cool'. The bands main singer is wearing glasses through the whole performance the fact he is wearing glasses suggests he could be considered mysterious as you cant see his eyes and as he is the only one wearing them it makes it clear to the audience who the main singer is and therefore more attention is focused on him and it adds to the stars image.

The lighting in the music video is quite dull and the colour scheme is dull this both reflects the mood of the song and that its singing about serious issues. For example in the performance parts of the music video the back drop is a dark green blue tone these dark colours have connotations of hate and envy these dark colours are dominating colours suggesting a sense of confidence this could suggest that when the video switches back to narrative the woman feels hate towards whoever she is singing about and she is confident, this all adds to the audience being able to create their own meaning of the music video. Although the lighting and colour scheme throughout the music video shows that the video is quite serious, the song its self is moderately upbeat and through the use of editing when the beat changes the editing quickens up. The music video has a non linear format due to scenes being repeated and also the changes between narrative and performance scenes, this could be done because the band would probably want to be more unique and the non linear editing adds to some confusion of the immediate meaning of the video therefore making it harder for viewers to create their own interpretation hence why the target market for the music video is more mature music fans. Although the video can be lead as slightly confusing to some audiences there is in fact a narrative which is presented tot the viewer, in order for it to be clear to the viewer that there is a narrative there has been many straight cuts used to  maintain a narrative.

Overall after analysing this music video the conventions of the rock/pop rock genre are:

• Having clips of the band performing with cuts to the narrative. Within the narrative they portray a certain story line and act as the story teller or are portrayed as if they're showing their own experiences. The performance helps the viewer feel more connected to the band.
• Sometimes the lyrics do match the song and yet sometimes more random things happen this adds to the overall meaning of the song and makes it more meaningful and interesting. What I have found with this music video is that the video is based around everyday issues that other people relate to like love relationship etc. so that even though the video is random it still has universal significance and makes it easier for audiences own interpretations.
• The clothing worn by the band is viewed as fashionable by fans of their music. Their clothes are not revealing like in pop music videos for example, a lot of denim is worn and can be viewed as casual which gives the impression that the artists are laid back.
• The lighting and colour scheme is quite dull and verisimilitude to real life.
• There are close ups of different singers in the band to make it apparent who is in the band and also in performance scenes there is shots of instruments to suggest that they're a rock/pop rock band.

All these things I would need to take into consideration if I was to make a music video of the rock/pop rock genre as these things are the genre conventions and are what an audience expects to see and thus making the music video successful.

Introduction to Textual Analysis's

In order to kick start my research I am  going to be looking at specific music videos in terms of different genres that are my favourite music videos from the genres and I am going to do textual analysis's of them so that I can further understand how they're made and what the conventions are of certain genres. I am doing this as I don't know what genre I want to do just yet and therefore by doing this step in research I can gain a stylistic influence on what I want to do later on in the research and planning process of creating a music video.
Firstly in order for me  to identify what genre of music video the music videos I am analysing are I have made a quick mind map of the different genres and subgenres of music videos. I have done this to get the understanding that certain genres can be grouped together therefore music videos have more than one genre which means there will be certain codes and conventions for certain genres and subgenres therefore I will analyse a video from each genre so that I can get an understanding for the codes and conventions of certain sub genres/ genres so that when it comes to deciding on a song for my music video I know that the video will feature certain codes to make it familiar and conventional to a certain audience.


 The music videos I am going to be closely analysing are:
Rock/Pop rock- You keep it all in- The beautiful south
Indie/indie rock- My Kind of woman- Mac Demarco
Pop/Doo-wop/R&B- All About That Base- Megahn Trainor
Hip Hop- Fancy- Iggy Azalea
Acoustic- Stay Out- Nina Nesbitt