In my third and final star analysis i will be looking at Jessie J's video 'Who's Laughing Now' directed by Emil Nava. For me this song has two main genres that have clashed to create the song, i believe these are Hip-Hop and Pop. The song is based around Jessie taking a look back and laughing at all of the people that never believed she would be able to make it in the music industry, and now she is having the last laugh. Characteristics that help me to believe that the song falls into these genders include, the bright colours of pinks, blues and yellows and also the school setting lead me to thinking about the pop side. For the Hip-Hop side characteristics include; the hand movements and looking towards the camera from Jessie herself between 0.57 - 1.15.
There is a very strong link between the lyrics and the visuals as the both the song and the video tell a very clear story. The song is telling us about how Jessie J has been able to beat the people that always told her that her dream wasn't going to happen. And the video shows us a video of a girl being bullied at school for what she looks like and then those bullies wanting to be friends with her once she had made a name for herself. Examples of the strong link between lyrics and visuals include at 0.29 - 0.38 show a clear link as for when they say "pull my hair" and "took away my chair" both actions are preformed by the bullies. Another way in which lyrics are amplified include at 2.27 - 2.28 the line is "your like way to late" shows jessie j pointing to her watch and laughing. Giving the audience the impression of, if you had of taken the time of day to speak to me back then, then maybe i would have time for you now.
The video is very much cut along to the beat, this again shows to me an element of a pop video where the video runs along very smoothly. There seems to be a continuous pace throughout the song that only seems to change twice, once for a very more 'rap/Hip-Hop' type effect which takes place at 2-19 to 2-38. Straight after this the beat and pace drop dramatically to a calmer effect (2.38 - 2.48) after this the song graduates back up to its original pace giving the effect that the main character in the video is in some kind of day dream about whats happening to her. I also believe that there is no instrumental pieces in the song which again seems to give me greater belief in the two genres that i have choosen for the song,
I believe that the record company are trying to sell the track through the concept of the song and the video. I believe that they are trying to encourage young people that if you have a dream you can do it, and if people believe that you can't, then prove them wrong. With the uses of lines such as "who's laughing now" and "let the haters hate". There are a majority of close ups on Jessie J herself, and they have also styled the main character in the video to look like her so the video is based upon a real story that has happened to her. For me the image that is being sent across about Jessie J is that she is quite a 'tough cookie' and isn't going to let what people say bring her down.
Most of Jessie J's videos all have the same style including, Do It Like A Dude, and Price Tag. They all seem to have that outrageous and different style that Jessie J wants to represent. Including things such as hair, make-up and costume. Alot of her music that she has written about aswell seems to all relate to real life experiences or things that are going on in society. For example Do It Like A Dude is written about how males seem to be more dominating, and how woman can be just the same if not better. She likes to use alot of hand movements and gestures in her videos which i believe contributes to the Hip-Hop effect which is carried out throughout.
For me Jessie J isn't on sexual display in her videos, she is used more as a role model image. Her costume and make up all seems to be kept tame. Although there are a lot of close-ups and mid shots of her singing, but i believe this is because she is sat down in the video.
I believe this video is partly narrative based, partly concept based and performance based. Narrative based and concept based play the biggest roles with the performance based covering the least. As i said previously i believe that the concept and narrative play the biggest roles due to the message that they are trying to get across to the younger generations. Also i think that Jessie J is trying to get across that she knows she has done well for herself and showing that anyone can do it if they try.
In conclusion, i like the idea of the concept and i would like to be able to make it as clear as it has been in this video in my own music video. I also like the idea of having somebody else tell the story in the video with the singer taking parts for small parts of it. Things that i feel could have been improved in the video would have been to have had more use for the different adults in the video inlcuding, the teacher, the canteen lady and the cleaner. I think they should have been given more of a role in the video if they were going to be there, if not they seemed that they were there for the sake of it. Overall i do feel that the message it brings across beats any of the negative aspects that it may have.
No comments:
Post a Comment