In this investigation I am going to be looking at the Alexandra Burke music video All Night Long, I will analyse this video by comparing and contrasting it to Andrew Goodwin’s common features of music videos.
In this music video it is immediately clear that there is a link between the visuals and the lyrics of the song. Alexandra’s song is about dancing and partying all night long and this is clearly illustrated in the video as a large party is being held during the night and it shows no sign of stopping or decreasing in size. However unlike some music videos, ‘All Night Long’ does not illustrate every lyric, it just highlights the lyrics and meaning as a whole. Therefore it does not focus on an individual object when it is illustrated in the lyrics. Corresponding to there being a link between the lyrics and the visuals, there is also a clear relationship between the music and the visuals. This is achieved through the visuals following a similar route and concept as the majority of pop music videos. Alexandra singing to the camera, dancing with backing dancers, making several costume changes and throwing a party for many of her friends, are some of the common features of pop music videos.
The artist of the song, Alexandra Burke, is seen as the main celebrity in the video, and cinematography plays a big role in making sure the consumer is aware of this. Therefore there are many close ups of Alexandra singing and smiling into the camera. This is a common representation of celebrities, especially in their music videos. All of these shots are following the concept of the Male Gaze, which are the shots directed at men. The lighting also contributes to the male gaze theory, as although the party is set at night, the lighting always seems to hit Alexandra’s face perfectly, therefore I feel a key and fill light have been used in the party scenes. This Male Gaze theory in the video avoids voyeurism, and the feeling that we are watching the artist without them knowing.
Alexandra has created her own star iconography as a role model for the same young audience she gained during the X Factor talent show. At this party there is no sign of any alcohol, although the artist (Alexandra Burke), and all of the people in the video are clearly above the age of eighteen. I feel they have done this to appeal to Alexandra’s target audience, which I feel is young teenage girls and boys. Therefore Alexandra is acting as a role model in this video, highlighting to her target audience that to have a great time alcohol does not need to be drunk at parties. I also feel that this element could be aimed at the parents of her target audience, as they will be reassures that Alexandra’s videos are not having a bad influence towards their children. Also as Alexandra won the family entertainment show X Factor on ITV1, her videos need to comply with the target audience she had when competing in the X Factor. As all of the people in Alexandra’s video are enjoying themselves, it implies that this is what young adults do, and that everyone has to party some of the time.
The video is made up of many quick, short shots of the party which gives us the impression that the party is fast moving and buzzing with people, without even concentrating on the mise en scene within the shots. The mise en scene of this video is very busy as there seems to be entertainment acts such as fire eaters, clowns, and a DJ, and also young people destroying and making a mess in the mansion; by having giant pillow fights and jumping in the pool. This music video; containing many fast paced shots is quite typical of pop music videos, as the tempo of these songs is usually fast.
To add something unusual to the music video, ‘All Night Long’ begins and ends with the night being filmed through a hand-held camcorder, and the diegetic sound can also be heard. It also states at the beginning ’50 cameras’ ‘1 all night party’. I feel these sections at the beginning and end of the song make it unique and different from other videos, I feel it also makes the video feel modern and contemporary as I feel it is becoming more common of people to take pictures and film occasions, just because it is simple and easy to do.
I feel that this music video for Alexandra Burke follows many of Andrew Goodwin’s music video Codes and Conventions such as following characteristics of the pop genre, being links between the lyrics and images and developing own star iconography. It is also clear that when producing this video, all 5 aspects of a media product were considered; cinematography, editing, mise en scene, sound and lighting. Each have been carefully manipulated to fit the genre, pace and narrative of this video.
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