Semiotic Analysis of Music Videos
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded in 1887, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company.
The typical target audience for columbia records is an american audience as most of the artists that they have signed are american. The record label tends to market their artists well worldwide making them well known.
The typical target audience for columbia records is an american audience as most of the artists that they have signed are american. The record label tends to market their artists well worldwide making them well known.
Tyler, The Creator - Who Dat Boy
As the climax reaches after the sparks cause and explosion leaving the character staggering across the flower-strewn street, with its symbolic connotations to a white middle class lifestyle, atypical to the usual urban, deprived settings or luxurious settings typical of the hip hop genre. Using a combination of tilt and pan the character is followed through the street. The drained colour palette brings attention to the audience as it links to the thriller and horror genre, however this is highly contrasted with the increased vibrancy of bright colours.
The representation of ethnicity is shown by having a white male face grafted onto his own, there is a definite intertextual reference to the concept of blackface. Demonstrates the inequality between black people and white people in America. An oppositional reading could be that this is needlessly offensive. However, it could be that the dominant ideology is to offend the audience. Moreover The video is deliberately offensive in many ways, from the use of grotesque imagery to the confusing narrative structure. This deliberately challenges audiences, and provides the target audience with the gratification of social interaction through the opportunity to discuss negotiated responses. The controversial nature of the video, in particular the exploration of racist stereotypes could function as clickbait for audiences. Designed to entice the audience through it's gruesome subject matter.
The opening shot is a features the main rapper Tyler lying down in a metal bunk bed with another person doing push ups below him. It captures Tyler lying down staring at the bunk above him with the light on. This makes the audience believe that he is possibly day dreaming. The colours green red and blue are present, with red and blue standing out more prominently giving us an insight as to what these colours may mean in the future of the music video. The colour green stands out as it is a typical army/military colour and the army/military genre is emphasised through the bunkmate doing pushups and the lockers. The overall setting of the music video takes place on a naval ship which can be seen through the established shot when Tyler looks outside of the window far out into the sea, connoting a sad mode of address. Zooming out to a lover in the middle of the sea in a bright yellow raincoat
The costumes in the music video consists of a pair of red trousers and white shirt with a red beret. Whereas the main character Tyler wears a flower pattern overall with a yellow beret. The colour scheme of red connotes love and warmth, as the rapper talks about his loved one and all the things he loves and hates about his lover.
Applying Goodwin’s theory the lyrics match what is shown in the music video quite literally as whenever the rapper mentions ‘eye’ he points toward his eye. The instrumental with the combination of the bass math the gestures and facial expressions of the protagonist in the music video with the marching matching the rhythm of the bass. However the conventions of the music video are quite atypical to that of a Hip-Hop genre song with long takes and bright gentle imagery constructed with the carefully selected soft but vibrant colours.
The general narrative represents a love story with the frustrations and limitations of a relationship with a navy soldier and his lover. It captures the frustrations of not being able to see them as the lyrics reminisce in what they remember what they look like. With a sense of voyeurism with the lover on the lone boat being the only female seen in the entire music video. Tyler also promotes his clothing line, Golf le fleur as all the clothing and costume seen in the video is his own line of clothing possibly leading audience to interest them capitalising of more revenue he could earn from promoting the brand name. Furthermore using cameos such Taco, and A$AP Rocky, could bring in more potential viewers as they may be long known fans of these artists. Hip-hop also appeals to the youth who look up to idols which means companies love to use rappers and artists to sell merchandise or albums such as the clothing brand selling clothing with rappers on the front who are endorsed by them.
Parlophone Label
Parlophone Records Limited was a German-British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as The Parlophone Company Limited, which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a jazz record label.
Its industry targets the target audience of 30-49 year old as bands such as the Beatles, Queen were in the same record to which they can relate to more and have a specific type of music tastes which targets a specific niche audience.
The music video opens up with a rose blooming and then faded into the next scene. A violin and vocals are then brought in from the lead singer. As well as the violin, there are a variety of other instruments that are used, cymbals, chimes keyboards, synthesizers, bass drums. The lead singer himself does not does not dance but his gestures and facial expressions help the him to narrate his song.
The music video depicts the band performing against a blurry, warped version of Eugène Delacroix's painting La Liberté guidant le peuple. This is the emphasise the cultural significance of the song’s title as Chris Martin is explaining the story behind a French painting. Furthermore the clever use of editing applying a cracked filter over the video makes it seem as it the painting has come to life. This is cleverly used to make it as if the video is the painting itself and makes the audience interested and fascinated over good use of the editing. Moreover this is a conventional music video as it is a performance based, this brings to the audience of what they may also be like on the stage at a concert promoting themselves. The singers are left with the task of simply moving their mouths to the lyrics of the song, ensuring that they are on time. As a result, this simplifies the editor’s job as editing is used to match up the lyrics to the song.
The costume of the main singer in the music video has a uniform similar to that of the french revolution soldiers. The colours red, white and blue match that of the french flag and conveys a
patriotic sense.
Applying Goodwin’s theory the lyrics we are illustrating the meaning behind the French painting Viva La Vida by Frida Kahlo this highlights the use of intertextuality. Furthermore the singers gestures and facial expressions match those of the lyrics. This is a story about death. A person believes he has everything going good in his life, and when he died he was shaken, and everything bad he has done flashed to him and he realized all the bad things he has done. This is reflected when at the end of the music video the whole band begins to fade away.
The first few seconds of the video are quite fast paced even though the song is slow however, it cuts in time to the music and the narrative is able to quickly begin so it still goes with the song. It also makes it look dramatic and creates enigma as the audience wonders where the elephant is going and what it will do when it gets there. There is iconography to London in the video. Coldplay is well known for being a British band and the video shows well known icons that are related to London such as the telephone box and the underground. This both sets the scene and associates the band with London. Its media industry attracts the target audience of 30-49 year old as once again it includes famous bands such as The Beatles and Gorillaz which are old and well known bands to which has a similar music genre to Coldplay attracting more audience and other fans in. It attracts a variety of ages due to its consistent style of music and lyrics usually consisting of catchy rhythms and lyrics or songs with deep meaning expressed through their music videos and lyrics. Its media industry targets the target audience of 30-49 year old as this song was well marketed and distributed across the world as it is well known despite it being an old song.
Some of the shots in the video are quite cinematic. For example, the cinematic shots of the aeroplane and the island are shown during an instrumental of the song. The shot combined with the music creates a calming atmosphere and makes the audience feel relaxed after watching the elephant escape from the zoo. The audience also feel relief that the elephant got away and has made it to the island. The mood that the atmosphere gives changes to a more positive feeling. When the elephant is in the tube station with the flash cards asking for money, he’s just standing with the lyrics in his hand however when he’s in the new location, he’s asking for money by dancing and putting on a show for the people showing how much happier he is. The music builds up when the elephant is reunited with the rest of the elephants which the audience can assume are the rest of the Coldplay band.
There are intertextual references to film in the music video. The beginning of the music video is set out like the opening credits of a movie. It states who the film was made by, who’s in the video and the name of the song. There are also cinematic shots in the video that aren't usually used in music videos but in movies. There is a relationship between the text and the image in the opening credits when the song title appears. The word “Paradise” is written in big, bold writing so it stands out and the audience can clearly see that that’s the name of the song.
The music video for Paradise is a narrative and conceptual video.It uses visual elements to get across the meaning of the song. The video tells the narrative of an elephant escaping captivity to go back to the wild, however the song is about a girl realising her life isn't what she expected and wishing her life was perfect, which would be paradise. The narrative is a metaphor for what the song is really about. The video starts with a mid shot of the elephant in a cage. The mid shot allows the audience to see the elephant as well as the setting that it’s in. Because the elephant is centre of the frame, the audience sees it and develops a connection with it. the elephant mask has no expression on it, but the audience gives it an emotion, even though they can’t tell what it is. This is because of mise-en-scene.
The opening shot of the music video makes use of a slow zoom down a dark corridor, leading to a bedroom. Inside the bedroom a typical setting of a teenager is established with a poster of a young Leonardo Dicaprio on the wall, shoes and clothes on the floor with someone sitting in the chair crooked, tampering with something as we see sparks flying out. This relates to the audience as they may recognise this setting when they were teenagers and the Romeo + Juliet poster further reinforces the representation of white, middle class lovestruck teenagers.The light is focused on the person sitting on the chair making the audience realise that they are the main focus in the shot. This is further emphasised with the bright vibrant blue that the character is shown to wear. The slow zoom combined with an eerie synth ,lasting 33 seconds, bringing tension and a sense of enigma of what will happen with the sparks building to a climax puting the audience in an uncomfortable mode of address. Furthermore The video makes explicit intertextual reference to the 1960 horror film Eyes Without A Face, directed by Georges Franju. Hip Hop videos often make intertextual references to films, but they tend to be more popular and well known. By referencing a cult classic, the video to Who Dat Boy reinforces it's outsider status.
As the climax reaches after the sparks cause and explosion leaving the character staggering across the flower-strewn street, with its symbolic connotations to a white middle class lifestyle, atypical to the usual urban, deprived settings or luxurious settings typical of the hip hop genre. Using a combination of tilt and pan the character is followed through the street. The drained colour palette brings attention to the audience as it links to the thriller and horror genre, however this is highly contrasted with the increased vibrancy of bright colours.
This juxtaposition links the chaos that is happening through the narrative of the music video, the use of mixed vibrant colours are usually a sense of happiness and hope but in this music video constructs an unusual element hinting the rappers creative sense of uniqueness.
The audience would be more intrigued and convinced with unique music video and drawn to the unusual imagery and artistic creativity. In terms of the narrative the editing is one long continuous take as Tyler moves to the front door contrasting to that of typical hip hop videos, generally featuring fast paced editing. In addition there is a bird's eye extreme long shot tracking shot of Tyler’s escape vehicle with a hard cut to a completely different location and scene.
Tyler, The Creator - See You Again
The opening shot is a features the main rapper Tyler lying down in a metal bunk bed with another person doing push ups below him. It captures Tyler lying down staring at the bunk above him with the light on. This makes the audience believe that he is possibly day dreaming. The colours green red and blue are present, with red and blue standing out more prominently giving us an insight as to what these colours may mean in the future of the music video. The colour green stands out as it is a typical army/military colour and the army/military genre is emphasised through the bunkmate doing pushups and the lockers. The overall setting of the music video takes place on a naval ship which can be seen through the established shot when Tyler looks outside of the window far out into the sea, connoting a sad mode of address. Zooming out to a lover in the middle of the sea in a bright yellow raincoat
The costumes in the music video consists of a pair of red trousers and white shirt with a red beret. Whereas the main character Tyler wears a flower pattern overall with a yellow beret. The colour scheme of red connotes love and warmth, as the rapper talks about his loved one and all the things he loves and hates about his lover.
Applying Goodwin’s theory the lyrics match what is shown in the music video quite literally as whenever the rapper mentions ‘eye’ he points toward his eye. The instrumental with the combination of the bass math the gestures and facial expressions of the protagonist in the music video with the marching matching the rhythm of the bass. However the conventions of the music video are quite atypical to that of a Hip-Hop genre song with long takes and bright gentle imagery constructed with the carefully selected soft but vibrant colours.
The general narrative represents a love story with the frustrations and limitations of a relationship with a navy soldier and his lover. It captures the frustrations of not being able to see them as the lyrics reminisce in what they remember what they look like. With a sense of voyeurism with the lover on the lone boat being the only female seen in the entire music video. Tyler also promotes his clothing line, Golf le fleur as all the clothing and costume seen in the video is his own line of clothing possibly leading audience to interest them capitalising of more revenue he could earn from promoting the brand name. Furthermore using cameos such Taco, and A$AP Rocky, could bring in more potential viewers as they may be long known fans of these artists. Hip-hop also appeals to the youth who look up to idols which means companies love to use rappers and artists to sell merchandise or albums such as the clothing brand selling clothing with rappers on the front who are endorsed by them.
Parlophone LabelParlophone Records Limited was a German-British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as The Parlophone Company Limited, which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a jazz record label.
Its industry targets the target audience of 30-49 year old as bands such as the Beatles, Queen were in the same record to which they can relate to more and have a specific type of music tastes which targets a specific niche audience.
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
The music video opens up with a rose blooming and then faded into the next scene. A violin and vocals are then brought in from the lead singer. As well as the violin, there are a variety of other instruments that are used, cymbals, chimes keyboards, synthesizers, bass drums. The lead singer himself does not does not dance but his gestures and facial expressions help the him to narrate his song.
The music video depicts the band performing against a blurry, warped version of Eugène Delacroix's painting La Liberté guidant le peuple. This is the emphasise the cultural significance of the song’s title as Chris Martin is explaining the story behind a French painting. Furthermore the clever use of editing applying a cracked filter over the video makes it seem as it the painting has come to life. This is cleverly used to make it as if the video is the painting itself and makes the audience interested and fascinated over good use of the editing. Moreover this is a conventional music video as it is a performance based, this brings to the audience of what they may also be like on the stage at a concert promoting themselves. The singers are left with the task of simply moving their mouths to the lyrics of the song, ensuring that they are on time. As a result, this simplifies the editor’s job as editing is used to match up the lyrics to the song.
The costume of the main singer in the music video has a uniform similar to that of the french revolution soldiers. The colours red, white and blue match that of the french flag and conveys a
patriotic sense.
Coldplay - Paradise
The first few seconds of the video are quite fast paced even though the song is slow however, it cuts in time to the music and the narrative is able to quickly begin so it still goes with the song. It also makes it look dramatic and creates enigma as the audience wonders where the elephant is going and what it will do when it gets there. There is iconography to London in the video. Coldplay is well known for being a British band and the video shows well known icons that are related to London such as the telephone box and the underground. This both sets the scene and associates the band with London. Its media industry attracts the target audience of 30-49 year old as once again it includes famous bands such as The Beatles and Gorillaz which are old and well known bands to which has a similar music genre to Coldplay attracting more audience and other fans in. It attracts a variety of ages due to its consistent style of music and lyrics usually consisting of catchy rhythms and lyrics or songs with deep meaning expressed through their music videos and lyrics. Its media industry targets the target audience of 30-49 year old as this song was well marketed and distributed across the world as it is well known despite it being an old song.
Some of the shots in the video are quite cinematic. For example, the cinematic shots of the aeroplane and the island are shown during an instrumental of the song. The shot combined with the music creates a calming atmosphere and makes the audience feel relaxed after watching the elephant escape from the zoo. The audience also feel relief that the elephant got away and has made it to the island. The mood that the atmosphere gives changes to a more positive feeling. When the elephant is in the tube station with the flash cards asking for money, he’s just standing with the lyrics in his hand however when he’s in the new location, he’s asking for money by dancing and putting on a show for the people showing how much happier he is. The music builds up when the elephant is reunited with the rest of the elephants which the audience can assume are the rest of the Coldplay band.
There are intertextual references to film in the music video. The beginning of the music video is set out like the opening credits of a movie. It states who the film was made by, who’s in the video and the name of the song. There are also cinematic shots in the video that aren't usually used in music videos but in movies. There is a relationship between the text and the image in the opening credits when the song title appears. The word “Paradise” is written in big, bold writing so it stands out and the audience can clearly see that that’s the name of the song.
The music video for Paradise is a narrative and conceptual video.It uses visual elements to get across the meaning of the song. The video tells the narrative of an elephant escaping captivity to go back to the wild, however the song is about a girl realising her life isn't what she expected and wishing her life was perfect, which would be paradise. The narrative is a metaphor for what the song is really about. The video starts with a mid shot of the elephant in a cage. The mid shot allows the audience to see the elephant as well as the setting that it’s in. Because the elephant is centre of the frame, the audience sees it and develops a connection with it. the elephant mask has no expression on it, but the audience gives it an emotion, even though they can’t tell what it is. This is because of mise-en-scene.
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