Music Video analysis - PARTYNEXTDOOR

To gain a better understanding of music videos I am analysing a number of music videos from the genres of hip-hop/rap and pop. These genres are what I am considering making my music video for. By analysing these music videos I hope to gain some ideas for what I can include in my own music video and what makes a successful music video. Also I am hoping to find out what I think isn't successful in a music video so I can adapt or avoid these in my own ancillary text.

 

I have chosen to analyse PARTYNEXTDOOR video for his song Come and See Me.

This video sticks closely to some conventions of a hip-hop video. There are females who are subjected to the 'male gaze'. Also, there is a large group of males in a 'gang', another convention of a hip-hop video. Gold jewellery is featured heavily in this video which is used to symbolise wealth, something that I learnt from my research into hip-hop videos. 

 Camera:

 At the start of the video there is a match on action of the kettle boiling and then to the female actor holding a cup of tea.

The main shots used in this video are mid shots and pans. These type of shots are often used in music videos but close ups and extreme close ups are usually used more often. There are lots of shots of the actors faces which adds to Dyers theory about star image.

Editing:
The pace of editing in this music video matches the slow tempo of the song. Between 2:31 and 2:47 the cuts in the footage matches the drops in beat in the song, something that I will try emulate within my own video in the post-production stage.

Sound:
There isnt a strong link between the lyrics and video itself, in terms of words matching actions but the stroyline of the video matches well with the music video. The song is about a man never going to visit a woman that he has a relationship with which is sometimes shown in the video, like at the end when the man goes to visit the woman. 



Mis-en-scene:

The clothing of the male actors in this video is very stereotypical and follows the conventions of a hip-hop video as they are wearing dark clothing, hats and gold jewellery. The females in the video are wearing provocative dresses and lots of makeup, this adds to Mulvey's theory of male gaze as women are being used as sexual objects in this music video.

The lighting in this music video is dark, making it conventional to a hip-hop music video as they are often in dark settings. It is also conventional of having the setting of a party with alcohol.