Music Video Analysis

TelephoneLady Gaga and Beyoncé

Music Video Analysis

Lady Gaga’s song telephone I feel is telling a story and is a narrative music video, this can be shown by the length of the video and the poster for the song on the right. The length of the original song is 9.30 with the first 2.50 minutes being talking and basically telling a story, there is also dialogue and clips of a scene that could be a film throughout. The poster/picture on the right looks like a poster which would advertise the film it’s got the ‘actresses’ names and the title of the song also, images from the clip.

Adding to the idea of this music video being a narrative it opens with an image of barbed wire to set the scene like any other movie would do, it then shows the image shown on the left; this is shown how a movie would be shown. It is stating the production company that produces the video or in this case music video.

A few images later it then shows the image on the right, this is of another company that helps produce it and shows the video itself, just like a film would. The videos establishing shot is of the setting this opens like a movie would; it shows the audience where they are and helps set an atmosphere. The images we are shown are of a run down area which is related to the theme and images of the rest of the music video.

Dress Codes of dress reflect mood of the song

A convention of a music video is how they dress and if it reflects the mood of the song. Both Lady Gaga and Beyoncé wear very little in their video and example of this is on the right. Their outfits are strange and different to what we would normally see, this could make the video iconic. The videos may be an idea that they are rebelling to being in the prison. However we do see the prison guards wearing revealing tops or no tops at all, also when they put lady gaga in a cell they strip her from her clothes, this shows her having a loss of power compared to when we see her enter the prison is a fancy dress. The outfits Lady Gaga dresses in through this video shows her fashion conscious personality; she makes an outfit out of tape(>>), chains and glasses out of still smoking cigarettes. We see both Lady Gaga and Beyoncé wearing clothes with the USA flag on it, maybe showing that they are representing their country, also may be a clue into where the video is set.

Lyrics Establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning

The song actually starts with Lady Gaga singing her conversation down the phone, there’s an announcement in the prison cell “Beyoncé on the line for Gaga” then the telephone starts to ring and Gaga answers “Hello, hello, baby, you called? I can’t hear a thing, I have got no service in the club you see you see.” We get the idea from the telephone that she is trapped and the only communication to the outside world is through the telephone. The whole song is her conversation down the telephone, the telephone is the iconic subject and is related to the title “telephone”. The chorus is directly linked to the song title; “Stop callin’, stop callin’ I don’t want to think anymore, I've left my head and my heart on the dance floor”. As the lyrics are talking about her being in a club we may get the feeling that she is lying to someone about being in prison, “I have got no service in the club, you see, you see.”

MusicTempo often drives the editing

The tempo of Lady Gaga’s Telephone is fast and upbeat, the dance routines that are made up to go with the music (chorus mainly) are fast and edited to the music, this means that each move is quick and precise. A lot of cuts and jump cuts are used from scene to scene to fit in with the tempo of the music; the images also shown sometimes relate to the lyrics being sung.At the beginning before the song starts we here a radio playing faintly in the background, the song playing is one of Lady Gaga's songs this keeps the tempo upbeat throughout as it’s the same genre of music.

Going back to dress code as you can see in the two pictures on the right of the page Lady Gaga is wearing hats with telephones on , which is relating to the song and showing her quirky sense of fashion.

GenreMight be reflected in types of Mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and

editing styles

As I have mentioned ‘Telephone’ is a narrative music video and this is shown through the ending credits, the introduction and various pieces of dialogue in between. The main location of this song is in the prison as seen below here they dance and sing also we the action of prison life. A shot through the CCTV image is taken to give us the impression of the ladies being watched (voyeurism) or even by the Males watching the video, known as the Male Gaze. Another location used is the kitchen, this creates more of a story as has her making a sandwich like in everyday life, she then starts dancing and singing like the rest of the video which brings us back to the song if we got carried away with the story itself. The way this music video is edited incorporates both a story and the song aspect including performances from the artists. The video is edited so the song is part of a conversation at first (down the phone), then through the rest of the video we are shown both links of the performances and the story. An example of this is at around 4.20, we see her signing the song and performing to the audience it then cuts to the story and we see her being released from prison it then cuts back again to the song but in a different setting.

Camerawork and EditingHas an impact on meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in

the representation of the artist/band

The main transition used from scene to scene is cuts, this keeps the continuous flow needed for continuity editing. The most common form of editing in music videos is fast-cut montage; this is what this video uses. Every shot is cut to the beat of the music with each shot being quick and precise. The video has been edited so the story integrates with the music, dancing and singing.

A lot of close ups and long shots are used. Close ups dominate and show emotion and power towards a character. The Camera focuses on the artist Lady Gaga and frames her in the middle of the screen to show importance. Each shot is quite quick but the shots do sometimes have a longer duration when filming the artist this may be because they are singing or show they are the key object. When Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are in the car a two shot is used to show them engaging in conversations, also mid shots and close ups are used here to show emotion and make us really focus on what they’re saying. A lot of the shots are at eye line and very occasionally do we see the camera at a low angle to show power.

The apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by

being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of, and inviting, a sexualised gaze

Exhibitionism

Lady Gaga and Beyoncé who feature in this video are both seen as ‘sexy’ women by males, so this encourages the Male Gaze. The outfits worn in this video also encourages men to stare more as there is very little of them. Some females also may aspire to be like them and imitate their dance moves and various other performances, also may even dress like them. As the definition of Exhibitionism states this video is showing and inviting (causing) a sexualised Gaze by the audience, male or female.