Thursday 14 June 2012

Analysing a Music Video: Neyo So sick


Image: we are instantly presented with a black male character again dressed in a fur coat (looks expensive) additionally the setting looks secluded and away from civilisation. This suggests they are on private land. We experience a slow cut to a female character who is presented as 'beautiful'. The cuts, are shown to be cutting back and fourth from the male actor to the setting to the female character. This underlines the basic narrative. The setting is covered in snow, this could be seen as significant as snow is white, and white connotes purity and naivety. This could mirror the male character profile.  We also get a view of a different city, in which there are lots of lights in contrast to the first setting we see, it seems to be more open. The fact that we see these two settings suggest there is a distance between the characters. The costume of the characters reflect the setting they are in such as the fur coat the male character is wearing. However the female character is wearing shorts and a short top at one point, this could be significant to how the female is being represented, as an object being presented 'beautifully'.

Editing: Throughout the whole video, there is a moving image of mountains surrounding the setting  with the moving image of the narrative in the middle. This creates an idea of what the setting is like but also tells the narrative of the music video at the same time. Grey scale is used within the frame, again I feel that this type of edit is occurring often within popular R&B songs. The cuts are slow, and this reflects the pace of the song. The song seems to be of a slow pace reflecting the Artists mood as he expresses deep emotion about his love for someone.

Genre: This music video fits into the genre of R&B as again the main male character of the video is black. This again is a re-occurring image that is presented in these types of music videos. Again similarly to the previous videos I have researched a grey scale is used within the frame suggesting that this colour is a norm for this type of genre. Again money is presented, specifically through costume, setting and props within the video. For example the artist is in a mid shot in a jacuzzi with a 'bling' necklace and a designer hat on. This shot suggests the type of money the artist has.

Connotation: The secondary level of communication within this music video is the lyrics. The lyrics describe a story, about how the character is feeling, if it wasn't for the lyrics I don't think as an audience we would understand the moving image on screen, as the focus is on the black male character where he reveals his love and we see him throughout the stages of his breakup. The main focus is on this character in particular with cuts to his ex lover. This suggests the song is about a breakup.

Target audience:  For me I feel that this music video is aimed at young adults, the lyrics express a negative emotion through a love song. Commonly music is a major part of young adults' lives as they turn to music to express but also feel emotion. I feel that this song enables this type of audience to do so and experience what the artist is saying.

Mode of address: The tone of the song is sad, and the slow pace of the song reflects this. The cuts within the music video give us a different perspective of what the artist is saying. The artist however does directly talk to the screen (ie: his audience) this is through his direct eye contact as though he is talking to his audience personally. Again throughout my research this is a common aspect within these music videos.

Narrative: I don't feel there is elements of Propp's theory within this music video or elements of Todorov's theory. As whatever the artist is singing about the problem is not resolved by the end of the video. This does not follow the conventions of Todorov's theory. Propp's theory suggests that every narrative has characters that have functions. This does not seem to be the case in this music video. Steve Archer's theory 'often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song, sometimes the artist especially the singer will be part of the story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time'.  This relates to this music video as cuts are presented showing the different angles of the artist narrating and the story being told.

Post modernism:  I believe there isn't any inter-textual reference to any other forms of media.

Representation: T
he main character of the music video is of a black ethnicity, this represents the type of music that is being conveyed and where it originates from. Again the theme of love is conveyed but it is in a negative context as the artist states  he is ' so sick of love songs' but yet this is ironic as his song is a love song. The class that is being represented is possibly upper class, as the lifestyle seem to be of a high standard, where luxuries such as are jacuzzi in his house. In contrast to reality this is not the same for a ordinary person with an ordinary job.


The story of the music video seems to be a male character who has experienced a breakup, through the mid shots and close ups of his face, we start to understand his facial expressions and the emotions he is expressing through his song. These specific elements attract target audiences as the song and music video portrays real emotions in which every person goes though this means an audience member can relate to the song and the music video. The theme is so strong however within the song, that near enough anyone could relate to what he is saying in his lyrics

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