5 Music Video Analysis'

The narrative structure to Beyonce’s music video “Irreplaceable” is a story of her ordering her boyfriend to leave after she found out he was cheating on her. The main theme of the narrative is female dominance as the character of Beyonce is kicking out her cheating boyfriend and showing no emotion except anger. This narrative truly portrays a sense of female dominance and strength, which would appeal to her female fans etc. The video does not really follow Propp’s theory, however, the make may be associated with a villain and Beyonce could perhaps be connected as the hero. Again, the video slightly follows the theory of Todrov, as perhaps only the attempt to restore equilibrium and the restoration of equilibrium is only shown.
Beyonce, the main character is wearing a series of outfits- such as jeans and a corset and t-shirts etc. This portrays realism, which would connect to the audience. Yet Beyonce also wears a pencil skirt and a bra with her hair in rollers, which again portrays realism and her character reinventing herself perhaps.
There is a big use of medium shots and long shots. These are used, again to create realism because of the situation and it also allows the audience to see key aspects of the narrative. There are also a lot of close ups of Beyonce’s face, which were perhaps used to show her emotion- which is essential for the character to connect with the audience and portray the right feelings. Not much camera movement is used, perhaps this is again because the director wanted to anchor a feel of realism.
The colour of the video is quite pastal and subtle. A lot of natural light is used to again portray realism, yet also to portray Beyonce as real, glowing and not artificial.
The editing of the video is quite fast paced, allowing the audience to view many scenes and connect them. The only editing used are straight cuts, which are generally used to create realism… to portray a real story.
The element of dominant female is quite common to the R&B genre. It also connects to the genre as R&B songs are dominantly about love/heartbreak and relationships, so the narrative connects to the soulful genre. The video also connotes emotion, like the genre usually does.
The target audience for this video would perhaps be the female gender as it connotes realism, the narrative would appeal to the gender efficiently. The music would also appeal more to the female gender as it is a female communicating it, as it is easier for female to connect with their own gender. I believe it would be also targeted at the ages of 15-40, as it is not only connects with older ages, but it is also an interesting narrative for younger ages, who wouldn’t have perhaps gone through the experience.
The mood of the video is quite serious because of the narrative and the camera shots/movement used. The video also expresses a lot about the artist, as although It is simply a narrative, it portrays her as being dominant and strong, which is key to a successful artist.





The narrative structure of Mariah Carey’s video “We Belong Together” is a story of Mariah singing and remising upon a previous lover and she is about to marry another man until he turns up at the wedding and they run away together. The narrative does not really follow Todrov’s theory or Propp’s theory as a hero/villain is not readily established. Yet the narrative does have a happy ending, which perhaps could be seen as the restoration of equilibrium as the two characters end up happy together.
Throughout the video Mariah is wearing quite flimsy clothes, big shirts and uses lots of sheets etc. This portrays femininity and also portrays Mariah as being attractive and pretty. Nearly all of Mariah’s clothes are silk which portrays expense and tenderness and it also strongly portrays femininity. Mariah’s hair is long and wavy and her make-up is subtle and natural looking, which adds to her portrayal of expense, beauty and femininity.
This also links up with the setting, which is a massive grande mansion, which is shown in a pan at the very beginning of the video (extreme long shot). This grand expensive setting links up to Mariah’s outfits as rhey both look expensive and gives the audience an idea of her class and wealth etc.
There are many medium shots of Mariah on furniture or lying on furniture, which portrays her as being quite sexual, as she is singing to the camera. This personalises the video and creates interest for the audience.
There are a series of medium and long shots, mainly used to create realism and showing the viewer the actions. The scenes are shown in a slightly slower motion than usual. This makes the video sexier and feel more emotional. It links to the R&B genre as R&B is commonly portrayed as being these elements.
Flashbacks are shown in the video of events happening previously. The flashbacks are shown in black and white. This helps define the flashbacks, so the audience doesn’t get confused.
The colour of the whole video is quite pastel colours, as the colours are quite subtle. Natural light is mainly used, perhaps to create a sense of realism and also to make the video more attractive to the viewer. A slower, subtle coloured video also matched with the narrative of the video effectively.
A fade is used at the beginning of the video. This was perhaps used to set the mood of the video and slow pace. Generally straight cuts are used, again to portray realism, as the video is very busy and a lot is going on.
Such camera movements as pan etc. are used perhaps to add detail and interest to the video, to show the action and to also add a “movie” professional element that would appeal to the audience also.
Mariah appears to be quite a weak and lovesick female in the video, which is another dominant element of female R&B artists.
The target audience for this video would perhaps be people of 15-40. I believe this as it is an interesting narrative for a younger audience and it is also a detailed love story for older audiences. I believe that the targeted genre would be mainly females, as they could relate to realism of the story and also males as Mariah is attractive in the video which would also perhaps draw them also to the music.





This is the video to Beyonce’s song “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it). It is quite an unusual video and perhaps slightly challenges the normal stereotypical video for an R&B single. The video consists of Beyonce dancing for the whole video, with two dancers one on either side of her.
Beyonce is dressed in a black one shoulders black body and the two dancer are dressed in similar costumes. Beyonce’s costume is slightly different, to distinguish her as the leader. Her hair and makeup are quite flamboyant and harsh, using dark colours around her eyes to create a fierce energetic, yet perhaps dark persona. Beyonce is also wearing a metal arm bracelet which goes all up her forearm and on her hand, which links to the lyrics and also portrays dominance.The costume extremely accentuates her figure and reveals a lot of bare skin. This portrays femininity and gives her character a sexy side. The dancing is quite sexy and alternative, which makes the video different and interesting for the audience. It is also unusual to see Beyonce dance like this. It also engages the audience as all three females dance exactly the same, in time with each other, which perhaps makes it enchanting and enticing for the audience. The dancing and costume perhaps reveals a
fun, more sexual and more aggressive side of her. This would also draw the audience in as it appears to be a different side to Beyonce’s persona.
The camera shots and movement are extremely complex in the video. The camera is constantly zooming in and out and cutting to different angles of the dancers. This constant movement makes the video unique and perhaps individual. It is almost as though the girls are robots, as the camera movement portrays them as being energetic and enticing. Long shots move into close ups, which adds interest to the video and also allows the audience to see Beyonce’s facial expressions whilst she is dancing which is always fierce, which portrays a sense of energy on her behalf.
The editing is extremely fast paced, which matched with the pace of the song and dancing. The quick straight cuts add enigma and excitement to the video and set the mood and tone.
The lighting also contributes in helping the editing and the movement and shots of the camera. The video is in black and white, but the background flashes from black to bright white, which creates a hypnotic feeling for the audience as it is unpredictable and fast paced. The whole studio is one colour, therefore it is like the girls are dancing on nothing, as though there is no floor, which adds to the fantasy element further.
The dancing in the video really relates to the faster R&B, as R&B is usually associated with such dancing as this, in moderation. The dominance of the female is also linked with the genre.
The target audience would perhaps be all ages and both genres as the video caters to everyones interest, as it is hard not to be drawn in by the video. People of all ages would probably want to watch it as it is so unique and one of a kind. Both male and female would be also drawn to it as it caters to both gender wants and needs.


Alicia Keys- Fallin'...



This is the video to the hugely popular song by Alicia Keys, “Fallin’”. The video starts off with a fade in of a retro type stereo, zooming in and the music playing is another one of Alicia’s songs and then a hand reaches in a turn it off. It then switches to a zoom of Alicia In a grand room playing the piano… and then the song starts. This creates a powerful beginning to the video and establishes her talents.
The narrative of the video is quite straight forward as it is of Alicia singing about a past lover who she doesn’t know is right for her or not, yet she is still falling for him even though he keeps on hurting her. The narrative doesn’t really follow either Propp or Todrov’s theory as there are not enough characters to establish in the video to apply a theory. The idea that Alicia is a black soul singer living in New York, really expresses the R&B elements.
Alicia is wearing quite casual clothes and makeup although the style is quite dated now; it was popular when the video came out. This would portray her as an attractive and average woman, who is singing about love (which is another common genre within a genre in R&B). The setting around her is well off and urban, which would also portray her as a average woman, which portrays realism which would inevitably allow her to connect to the audience but mainly females.
The colour of the video generally is quite bright, which would attract the audiences attention and make it look high quality. The editing of the video is quite slow paced as the clips are generally slowed down, and fade ins and straight cuts are used. This is perhaps done to match to the beat of the music and the genre, yet it also gives it a R&B element as it makes the video smooth and soulful.
Many extreme close ups and close ups are used of Alicia’s face whilst she is singing the hard notes-this was perhaps used to stress the emotion to the audience. Various tracking shots and medium shots are used showing her walking down the street. This is used to establish the setting and perhaps connect to the R&B genre.
The mood of the video is quite slow and sad, because it is portraying heartbreak and the beat of the music mirrors this.
At the end of the video, Alicia appears to be visiting her boyfriend in a prison, which would connect with the music and lyrics.
I believe that the target audience for this video would be from teenagers to around 50. This is because the music video portrays quite an adult love story, which perhaps would be only understood by adults or teenagers. The music is quite catchy, which would attract a demographic of a variety of ages, yet I still think because of the adult story line, the song was targeted at teenagers and above. I also believe that the video would be targeted and enjoyed by all genders, however, because of the content and the narrative, I strongly believe it would connect preferably with the female gender.

Justin Timberlake- "Like I Love You"...



The narrative to Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” is quite straight forward. It consists of crowd of young people gathering at a car park and at a party venue. There is no apparent narrative other than Justin is trying to get a females attention. The video also consists of a lot of dancing… which is a common trait to the R&B genre and videos. There is no apparent application of Todrov’s theory, as there is not a set story, it is just simply a party and dancing. Neither is their apparent application of Propp’s theory as the video mainly focuses on Justin, partially the girl he wants and dancing.
The video is set in a parking lot and at a party venue at night time, which would portray wild, adventurous young people, which would attract young viewers and would enhance the common stereotypical ideology of young people. Justin is wearing casual yet “cool” clothes, which fit into his R&B, street image. This portrays him as being quite attractive and trendy to the audience. Justin is usually positioned central in the frame and also central in the dance routines. This allows him to stand out from the crowd and really portrays him as being the leader of the group, which suggests his popularity. Lots of medium shots, close-ups and long shots are used in the video, which enables the director to show the viewer; Justin’s facial expression, which allows the audience to become engaged with the video and be drawn in and the whole dance routines, the situation and establishment of the setting. The editing is faced paced and the transitions are simply straight cut, which mirrors the tempo and the structure of the music, as the quick beats connect to the quick straight cuts. This also portrays realism to the audience, so it could be portrayed as a real life situation, not just made up. Justin is portrayed as a good dancer, which is perhaps a good element to have as an R&B artist as dancing is closely related to the genre, for example, Beyonce and Usher etc are big R&B artists who dance in their videos. By enabling Justin to show off his dancing, it portrays him as being confident, sexy and determined which would perhaps relate and attract the audience.
The mood and tone of the video is quite direct and upbeat, created by all the micro element, such as the camera movement, editing etc. All these elements allow the video to be catchy, attractive and fast paced, which creates excitement and enigma for the audience, which is a good trait.
The love story portrayed would attract women mainly as they can relate to the situation and imagine them in that position. Perhaps the narrative and music would mainly attract the male audiences. I also believe that this video would appeal to 10-30 years as it the content is perhaps specific to a certain generation, as this type of dancing, music and storyline would perhaps only appeal to a certain generation.