Analysis of Music Videos - Textual Analysis 2

I am analysing the 'in da club' music video by american rapper 50 cent. The single peaked at number one on the Billboard top 100 which was a success as it was the his first single. The video was directed by record producer Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo. This song belongs to the hip hop music genre. Similarly to most music videos from the hip hop music genre this video displays extravagant gestures of wealth such as expensive cars and jewelry, the artist rapping to the camera, scantily clad women, men's superiority over women and a 'thug' like exterior with the main artist.  There is a very strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, the lyrics are heavily based on the music video he raps about how 'you can find me in the club' and a majority of the music video is based in the club.
As with most music videos from the 'Rap' genre solo instruments are not illustrated in the music video however the artist is seen rapping whilst directly addressing the audience. The song is quite upbeat and fast paced with the video matching this with scenes briskly alternating between the artist working out in the gym, parting in the club and rapping in the studio
The artist is seen in various camera angles and camera shots including close up shots, as he is a new artist it is important for the record company to sell his image as well as the song he artist is given a 'thug like' and 'invincible' image in the video we see the artist being examined by scientists, when they open him up we see wires showing he is stronger and superior to the regular man he's like nothing no one has ever seen before
this is the first video from the artist but this video does relate to other videos the artists has produced since then, the videos follow a pattern in all his videos he's shown surrounded by women who are portrayed as inferior to him, misogyny is also a common theme in his video's, he is also seen wearing expensive clothing such as fur and expensive jewelry/driving an expensive car.
All the women employees in the lab scenes of this music video although not all scantily clad all have inferior jobs such as 'nurses', 'bar maids' and 'water girls' in all of these roles the women has to cater to the 'man's' (50 cent) need's in some way. You get the idea that the women in the club are put on sexual display as when they are dancing slow motion editing is used, slowing down the scene emphasizes their dance moves therefore emphasizing their bodies, this is a typical feature in Rap music videos. It could be argued that the artist is on sexual display as in some scenes he is shirtless and oiled up, the light him highlighting his muscular and toned body, as this was 50 cent's first music video, image was tremendously important because he needs to market and endorse himself and his music. There are references in this video, in the beginning of the video we can see 'Eminem's - Without Me' music video - playing on televisions in the background, another common feature of Rap music videos is for the main artist to endorse fellow artists from the same record company and this is what's happening in this music video. The music video is mainly narrative and performance based. Overall the 50 Cent - in da club video is more or less a typical 'rap' music video

Analysis of Music Videos - Textual Analysis

I am analysing the Gold Guns and Girls video by Indie Rock band Metric, the video was directed by John O'Mahony. The music video is heavily performance based and often cuts to shots of the band playing their instruments around New York City, the lead singer and the other members of the band appear to be dressed and styled in a very ‘indie’ way wearing tight jeans with messy hair these are typical features are typical of indie rock music videos. There is no connection between the lyrics and the visuals:

‘I remember when we were gambling to win everybody else said better luck next time. I don’t wanna bend let the bad girls bend. I just wanna be your friend, Is it ever gonna be enough?’

The lyrics here are talking about how she just wants to stay friends, and how other people around here can see the relationship will not work, at the end of the verse she says ‘Is it ever gonna be enough?’ meaning she is wondering if a friendship with him will ever be enough. Whilst these lyrics are playing we can see the band racing around trying to find their assigned instruments, so the lyrics here have nothing to do with the visuals.

The lyrics also have intertextual references to 1980 movie Scarface, the lead singer Emily Haines is talking through the eyes of Michelle Pfeiffer ‘I don’t wanna bend let the bad girls bend.’ This could be talking about how Michelle Pfeiffer didn’t want to give up her morals and leave her husband for Tony.

The music and the visuals have a connection, there is heavy drums playing a consistent beat throughout the entire song and the scenes in the music video cut to this beat, the music video also changes pace with the music, the band is seen racing around in pace to the music . There is also a drum solo, the main singer stops singing and the main instrument you can hear is the drums, this is shown through the visual where we see a medium shot of the drummer playing. 

Throughout the music video there are close ups and extreme close ups of the leader singer and various other members of the band. As there is no narrative it seems the record company is attempting to sell the track through the song it self and not so much through the music video. The band are shown as strong and independent, throughout the music video they are shown through low angle shots making them seem superior and strong. Also they are running quite fast and aggressively which also gives strong image. Other metric music videos are heavily performance based, always showing the band playing there assigned instruments and they always centre around the lead singer Emily Haines, they never have a heavy narrative the gold guns music video also follows this pattern.  There are no particular distinctive motifs or trademarks that can be seen from each video just the general things i have mentioned above. When the camera is focused on the woman, the camera is has a handheld feel also the camera is following the woman as she runs in a POV style, putting the artist on sexual display. Although camerawork implies sexual display costume and dance do not, and there are sloe no references to notion of looking.  

This music video has  no intertextual references to other music videos by this band or to any separate texts.

This videos is very heavily performance based and slightly concept based, it is not in any way narrative based. 

Star Image Analysis

I decided to analyse how a popular star's image has progressed over time in their music videos to gain a better understanding of how i could construct my artists image in my music video.

For my star image analysis I am analysing Michael Jackson ‘The King of Pop’, he entered the music industry in the 70s as part of the group Jackson 5. Michael Jackson is well known for his contribution to the Pop music genre.

Ben was released in 1972 and is Michael Jacksons first music video, his image in this video is that ‘angelic’ and ‘sweet’ the video is solely on performance and there is no flashy set or complicated narrative so the music company have solely used Michael Jacksons voice to sell the song.

In his later career Michael’s image has developed significantly, his videos have more substance with a balance between narrative and concept bases in the 1982 Thriller video we see Michael in character, comparing this to the Ben video you can tell Thriller had a much larger budget as it has much more Special Effects, Expensive Costumes and also more people starring in it. His image has changed and he is using different techniques and more money to sell his music.  It Is in this time era that Michael started to develop the motifs he is still well known for to this very day, one of his motifs is plain black loafer shoes and white socks which he is seen wearing in this video, another motif Michael was famous for was his dance moves, the ‘crotch grabbing’ move can be seen in several videos other popular motifs of Michael Jackson was well known for include the moonwalk dance move, him screeching ‘ow!’ in his songs and also his primate companion bubbles the chimp.


Throughout Michael Jacksons work close ups can be seen of him in his many music videos, this is to enhance his visual image, his image had changed drastically since his previous album release, his skin has drastically lightened and it was of great media interest. Hairstyle and costume are also used to support the star's image Michael Jackson was famous for his 'wet jerry curl' hairstyle, his leather jacket with zippers/studs/buckles and tight fitted trousers his music videos always had a really realistic aura and the Bad music video was shot in a car park all of these things are used to support the star image. 

Editing can also be used to enhance Michael Jackson's Image, slow motion editing is used to emphasize Michael Jackson's dance moves, this can be seen in the Billie Jean music video. His dance moves are emphasized because this is what Michael was well known for, and what he commonly uses to sell his music. His music videos usually cut to the beat which also enhances his dance moves. Camerawork is also used to reinforce Michael's image, in the Bad video low angels are used to give him a sense of superiority which also relates to his song and lyrics, close ups are also used in this Bad video to reinforce the star image. 


Michael Jackson shows his wider cultural significance through his music, he had great concern with the poor state of third world countries, we see this in earth song (1995)  he uses his music and his famous image to open the worlds eyes to issues such as poaching for ivory, deforestation, pollution and the effects of war.