Crimson Wright

Music Video Analysis

It can be said that the short-form music video of today took its life from the musicals of the 1950s, where the often extravagant performances were synced up with the over lapping and clear audio of the actual song. They first began to appear in the mid 60s, with early performance clips such as The Animalss House Of The Rising Sun and then The Beatles in their film A Hard Days Night, but the music video industry didnt really take flight until the 70s. Even then it cemented itself as a clear way for songs to gain notoriety - for example, the release of David Bowies clip for Ashes To Ashes in 1980 helped him score his first number one in over ten years. The iconic video for Queens Bohemian Rhapsody released a little earlier in 1975 certainly helped to pave the way for the popularity of these promotional videos. Television shows such as Top Of The Pops would play the clips of the most popular songs in the charts, and as a result of that publicity and the appeal of the videos, viewers would go on to buy the songs - which would result in the video being played again the following week. As an aside, being able to simply play the short films saved on on guests having to actually make room in their schedules to appear on the show. However, in 1981 the most important event for music videos emerged: the launch of MTV, a channel that showed these little films for twenty four hours a day. Combined with this, technology was developing quickly and musicians began to produce videos cheaply and easily, as well as with the addition of brand new visual effects.

Michael Jacksons music video for Thriller was released in 1983, and is arguably the most successful and influential music video of all time. Indeed, it set a new standard - at fourteen minutes in length, it contained a full plot, exciting and memorable dance sequences, beautiful visual effects and of course a performance of the song. If one were to ask any ordinary person what they think of when they hear the name Michael Jackson, they will undoubtedly think of Thriller, Smooth Criminal, Scream and his many other hugely famous music videos. They helped to convey his image in an interesting way, helped bring his music to peoples attention, and helped to pave the way for him

Crimson Wright

to become one of the hugest artists of all time. A potential example of his influence on Lady Gagas work is the above picture; it is not dissimilar to the dance moves displayed in the video for Telephone - its likely that her dancing is a twist and re-interpretation, dragging Thriller into her postmodern wonderland. Since Thriller emerged, music videos have become more expensive, more complicated, and with the internet giving people easy access to these clips, they have become one of the key ways for musicians to promote themselves. Ultimately, the music video has changed from a basic, low-budget uninteresting way to show a song - they are cinematic, high-quality, incredibly expensive short films, and key to the way that music is spread among the masses, key to establishing the appearance and iconography of an artist. Many a fascinating musician has risen to prominence this way. Using a remarkable a combination of sound, image and innovative marketing, they have managed to elevate themselves above the average music star. Of course, there was Michael Jackson, but also Madonna, and David Bowie - stars who have been or were around for years and who have left a lasting stamp on society. Through changing themselves and their music, they even managed to stay relevant into the present day. One of the most recent stars to achieve this kind of status, in a startlingly short three years, is Lady Gaga.

Real name Stefani Germanotta, the singer-songwriter Gaga is a native New Yorker of just 25 years old and yet at the time of writing she had sold an incredible 45.2 million records [1] (she has an estimated, uncertified amount of around 64 million [2]). To put that into perspective, since 2008 she has sold 10 million more records than Christina Aguilera has in a career spanning more than a decade. She has achieved this in a number of ways - through her chart topping punchy electropop, her ever-evolving, updating, and sometimes startling image, and through connecting to her audience. Her rise to fame in 2008 was at first extremely unremarkable. She came into the pop world not dissimilar from many of the other pop princesses of the 2000s - with long blonde locks that were most distinctly similar to Christina and Britney Spears, with a look that also brought other songstresses such as Madonna and Kylie to mind. At first, she seemed wholly ordinary.

Crimson Wright

Then, ten months after its initial release in April 2008, her single Just Dance suddenly hit the top of the charts everywhere. She describes the song in an interview with the Guardian in late 2009, saying that record saved my life, stating that I got on a plane to LA to do my music and was given one shot to write the song that would change my life and I did. I never went back. [3] In an age driven by social media - Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to name a few - the music video has become ever more important. Music videos are passed around, torn apart, turned into .gif animations, made into complex graphic art, discussed and theorized until there is no second left that is untouched. There is no small doubt that all of Gagas videos attribute to the fame of the songs now - every music video she has produced in recent months is an event, with teasers and trailers released weeks in advance to draw viewers in. Through her manipulation of the media, she seems to have transformed herself into a zeitgeist for the 2000s, barreling in at the end of the decade to represent the advances of technology, fashion and the media. Its likely that as 2012 stretches on, she will become a spirit of the 2010s, as well, keeping up with and using the media to the point that twitter will become synonymous with Lady Gaga and her millions of followers.

However, back in 2008 when the video for Just Dance was filmed, it was no event. It was not even especially remarkable as a music video once it garnered attention. It was directed by Melina Matsoukas, who remarked to African website Global Nation that music videos do not need to be filmed with expensive equipment in order to be of high quality, going on to say, A good video has the right visuals, a well conceptualised story and should be exciting and elicit reaction. [4] Her work is described by WatchLookListen as, chalk full [sic] of bright colors or crisp black and white images, smooth spotlights, and tasteful retro video models. [5] Whilst all that is true, what was created for the Just Dance music video was nothing short of conventional, even pushing it to border on the cliche. The genre and manner of the video is something weve seen all too often before, mainly in similar music styles of pop and hip-hop/R&B: its a party. The mise-en-scene is revealed almost immediately as Gaga pulls up to a party (in a limousine with

Crimson Wright

her feet dangling out of the window, no less) that seems to have just ended - drunken, passed out people litter the floor, and she even steps on the back of one unfortunate party-goer as she walks in. The narrative of the song is relatively simple, a non-linear mix of party and performance. When she begins to sing, the party comes back to life around her. She appears in one scene with a blue lightening bolt stuck to her face beneath her eye; a clear homage to one of her inspirations and idols, David Bowie (in particular, his Aladdin Sane persona). The video is edited together all in very quick cuts - numerous angles, numerous scenes from performance to party. It displays her dancing with friends, flirting with people of all genders (a preemptive nod to her identity and involvement with the LGBTQ* community), performing with and without a microphone, in various costumes and states of dress - the sort of editing that is typical of many party styled videos, fast editing to reflect what is supposed to be a fun and fast atmosphere. Somehow, though, in a video that is stuffed to the brim with the trite and over done, Lady Gaga manages to stand out. In a hint to the fashion-filled future that awaited her, she sports a bra made up to look like a disco ball - a stand out addition to an otherwise ordinary skimpy outfit - and in another scene, a short striped stress with a large collar - something different to the vision of skin-tight outfits that were familiar with. She seems to represent youth, individuality and plain fun throughout the video - a stereotype, and a very conventional one at that, but all the same there are small efforts to make her really stand out, to reject the codes and ideas of every typical party anthem. Where she flirts, she does not go with any of the attendees of the party - a small change, but in a day and age where many songs and videos are focused on the themes of sex and romance (even at a party), its something nice to see no romantic partner come into play as part of the storyline or catalyst. In fact, Gaga stands out a woman on her own in the video. She isnt there for anything other than to have a good time. Above all, its a purely fun video, and whilst it strays into the territories of being inebriated (particularly lyrically), it is pure and simple fun. For a video of its kind, it somehow manages to be almost innocent - playful. Its almost a nod to her later ventures into becoming a post-modern artist, the way that she draws attention right to the conventions of this genre whilst subtly subverting them. The feeling of any sort of innocence isnt one that Lady Gaga kept as her career furthered. One of the subsequent singles from her debut, Love Game produced a particularly sexual video, both in visuals and song. Still, it kept a very strong good time, party vibe, in keeping with the general theme of her entire first album. Much influence was and still is drawn from those who came before Gaga had the presence and fluid sexuality of Prince, the blonde locks and daring of Madonna, the quirkiness that helped make David Bowie. She was something new and something old, all at once - and people were interested.

Crimson Wright

One gets the impression that as her success bloomed, she was allowed more free reign over her choices, musically and visually. Beyond The Fame, Gagas fashion began to warp, becoming more high end. Photo shoots were more elaborate, and she began to make a real name for herself. In this time as her personal style blossomed, so did her unusual and intense relationship with her fans. She presents a sweet and open personality, and she is warm and interactive with her supporters. Her relationship with them only evolved as her career went on - instead of retreating from them, she seems to only grow closer to them, using her fame to promote anti-bullying, with an active twitter presence with currently over 20,000,000 followers, and she also stood up as an outspoken member and ally of the LGBTQ* community. With the launch of her second effort, the 8 song extended play The Fame Monster, came her two year tour The Monster Ball, a shocking and stunning performance at the VMAs that really showed off her determination to be a work of art as well as an artist, with Bad Romance, topping the charts in 18 countries and the album itself coming to be a total of 36 x Platinum across several countries such as Ireland, Russia, the United States and Indonesia (as certified by the respective countries official boards). The Fame Monster was a drastic shift for Gaga - the dance anthems continued, but the tones turned dark. Its visible simply in the titles of the songs: Monster, Dance In The Dark, Bad Romance. In reflection of this, Lady Gagas fashion became vicious and dark - it would be skeletal outfits, or shock yellow hair, or deep coloured eyeshadow laid on so thick that it was a wonder she could still see. She was toying with the conventions of horror that we have come to know - the things that we find frightening or disturbing, but she made them something more - she put her own spin on this style and on the codes of it, subverting the norm in an interesting way. In genres, a modern musician most likely to use horror as a tool for their image would be a rock artist - think Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, bands and musicians prone to disturbing images to correlate with the sound they have created, an already dark sound. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga has created herself as a post-modern animal, jarring electric pop against harsh, sometimes frightening imagery - she rejects what is normal and creates something new for herself. As a post-modern artist, Gaga juxtaposes the old and the new - her influences and her music, settings against her appearance, and aspects of her appearance against one another. She takes from a million places, a bricolage of ideas from past and present, and turns it into something that people havent seen before. It was the shift between appearing as a quirky pop princess and becoming something more true as an artist. Her fashion reflected the underlying sounds of her songs - dark, gothic appearances to match the darker beats, the bright, spunky track of Telephone was matched with twisted, bright outfits. She made the transition that it can sometimes take artists years to achieve, and even then sometimes it can go badly. She seamlessly changed her look and her sound in one fell swoop, and instead of alienating her audience, they - and the mainstream media - embraced it whole-heartedly. If nothing else, it became a fortunate case of any press is good press. The more that the media highlighted the eccentricity of her outfits, the more the general populace heard of her, and the more popular she became.

Crimson Wright

Of course, her single Bad Romance would not be anywhere without its music video, evidenced plainly by the fact that it won an astonishing 10 prestigious awards - a Grammy, and 9 out of its 10 nominations at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. Sleek, stylish and creative, the Francis Lawrence directed piece stands at over 450,000,000 views on YouTube. The genre of the video is horror, a little bit of sci-fi. Its a dramatic change, well-lit, brightly and cleanly shot in a fashion that is the polar opposite of the hand-held, comfortable and safe style of the Just Dance video. The high key lighting in the video not only both contrasts with and complements the dark lyrics (including lines such as I want your love and I want your revenge, and Alfred Hitchcock references aplenty in the second verse) and the plot of the video, but also matches the electronic, modern feel of the backing music. With jerky dancing that has been hailed as reminiscent of Michael Jacksons Thriller, the video carries the codes and keys of horror in it, although in a distinctly different way, once more showing Gagas drive to be different and reject the norm - the signifiers of horror are in the fierce fire that overtakes the bed at the climax of the song, in the mere idea of humans being sold for trade, and even taps into one of the things that unnerves people as a whole: a lack of eyes. Through this, she entirely dehumanizes herself. In every scene, Gagas vision is obscured or altered in some way - covered with meshes, opaque sunglasses, blinded entirely by a headdress, eyes weeping with tears, hidden by shadow, and in one scene, unnaturally enlarged. Without eyes, you cant see intent, you cant see where someone is looking or read the emotion behind them. To see someone crying and unclothed - as Gaga is in those scenes - provides a level of vulnerability that makes people uncomfortable. Eyes that are too large give the feeling of being watched, and they dont seem at all human - in fact, to some they even bring to mind the image of grey aliens, with their huge eyes. The mis-en-scene is a bath house - clean, crisp, white all over. Its almost too clean, lacking a personality, holding connotations of hospitals even in the way that Gaga first appears in a tight white

Crimson Wright

outfit. Its featureless, smooth alien. At the same time, its expensive looking, obviously a rich installment. Gaga and her troupe of dancers emerge from pods, and between dance sequences and shots of Gaga in various high fashions, the plot emerges: she is being sold, auctioned off to the highest bidder, against her will as demonstrated in two sequences where she fights back. The sequence can be considered a metaphor for the music industry - an industry that has often been compared to prostitution and sex trades in regards to the treatment of the artists. A reader of the Guardians website recently said that, Going into the music business is like going into prostitution - the money sounds good and the hours are flexible but they don't tell you about the smack or the reduced life expectancy. [6] The narrative is infinitely more complex than the video releases of her previous effort. This video displays a surprisingly real, closed narrative: Gaga wakes, she bathes, she is dragged off to perform for her bidders. Upon being bought, she goes to bed with her apparent new owner, only to kill him. In the end, she relaxes in her carnage. A brutal, sharp storyline, it is broken up by the strong appearance of surreal settings through out the strange pods she seems to sleep in, a scene where she stands with diamonds suspended around her, a setting where she dances, elongated and emaciated and beast-like with her spine pronounced, and of course when she kills her owner and the room sets alight and she subsequently lies on the charred bed with his charred skeleton, casually smoking a cigarette as her pyrotechnic bra goes off. With such an out there concept, the representation can only fall on the antagonists of the video the bidders in the bath house. Whatever Gagas intentions may have been, there is a possibility for the negative stereotyping of Russians, as the currency used within the video is displayed as Russian rubles, indicating that the bidders are of that nationality. Russians are all too often depicted as the bad guys, and whilst there is historical basis for such a label - the Cold War, for example - there is no longer any reason such an attitude should continue. Casual watchers of the video already immediately decide that the Russian bidders are of the mafia - a stereotype that seems illogical and that surely the Russians are sick of. Its still a remarkable step away from the representation of people partying - a million miles away. Its far grander and more cinematic - a mere indication of what was yet to come in Gagas video career. What was to come, of course, was another transformation, another step in the evolution for Lady Gaga as she left behind both the bubbly pop princess of The Fame and the gothic-inspired tunes of her Monster era. It was a new time - the time of Born This Way, her third release, where she showed not for the first time her ability to be a truly versatile artist. The build up to the reveal and release of Born This Way lasted a long time - literally months - and by then, every move she made was an event. The first reveal of the song came when she sung a line from the chorus of the titular song at the same MTV Music Video awards where she picked up

Crimson Wright

a multitude of awards (including the nine for Bad Romance). The first full performance of the song came at the 53rd Grammy Awards where she emerged from an egg-like vessel (a very literal interpretation of the phrase Born This Way - eggs provide the connotations of birth, and many animals that are born from eggs are almost fully formed - snakes, sharks, chickens). The track - and the fashion that inevitably followed it closely - is heavily 80s influenced, drawing back to songs such as Madonnas Express Yourself. Lyrically, the song takes on the extraordinarily positive message of accepting yourself no matter your identity - crucially, she does not limit this to the colour of ones skin or ones sexual identity, but branches out to the gender identities in a move that not many artists have done. This is incredibly important - in the mainstream, far too many people seem to forget that LGBTQ* stands for more than lesbian, gay and bisexual - the other letters standing for transgender and queer (with the * denoting identities, sexual or otherwise, that are not covered in the abbreviation) are far too often ignored, or even degraded. It is one of the things that has warmed Gaga to her fans and her massive LGBTQ* following: she acknowledges and loves everyone, regardless of their identity, she seems to genuinely desire for people to love themselves and know she loves them too. One of her famous quotes from The Monster Ball is, When you are lonely, Ill be lonely too - she truly displays an affinity for understanding people both young and old who feel somehow as if they have no place, and she expresses the best she can through a four-minute song that they all matter.

Of course, with a music video, the limitations of the song length no longer apply. The video for Born This Way is over 7 minutes in length, and as with Just Dance and Bad Romance it was the perfect kick-start to that era of her career - the perfect introduction to who she had become for that time. A science fiction/fantasy epic that was advertised with countdowns and teasers everywhere before its release (which was, of course, almost immediately impossible to get to thanks to the huge

Crimson Wright

amounts of traffic it generated), Born This Way begins with a two minute narration by Gaga herself on the subject of what she calls The Manifesto of Mother Monster. (This in itself is a reference to her show The Monster Ball, and a speech she makes in a short interlude film on the nature of her fans: This is the manifest of Little Monsters. Theres something heroic about the ways my fans operate their cameras - so precisely, so intricately, and so proudly, like kings writing the history of their people. [] They are the Kings and they are the Queens, [] and I am something of a devoted jester. [7] It goes to show just how deeply Lady Gaga understands the nature of herself and her fans - her existence as a pop star, who is not above her fans but rather playing for them.) The narrative is abstract, skewed, complex and hard to understand, but revolves around the LeviStrauss theory of binary opposition - it concerns the birth of a race which bears no prejudice, no judgement, but boundless freedom, conflicted with the presence of choice - and the dilemma of good and evil - in the universe. The idea reflects the ideals of Gaga and the song itself; albeit in a complicated, surreal, 80s-television-inspired way. The video itself in the end carries an open narrative - the majority of it is dance and performance sequences cut up with shots of Gaga as the Mother Monster and Gaga as the representation of Evil. The video is incredibly post modern - it is all about taking the old and creating something new. The entire video screams of 80s videos and films. Theres something faintly reminiscent of Ridley Scotts 1979 movie Alien, there are bold references to Michael Jackson - she entirely breaks these things down into something very brand new, something both in the now and on the cusp of the future. In keeping with the song, if you go behind the scenes it is revealed that Gagas dancers in the video were from all walks of the spectrum, of different races, genders and sexualities, but - quite crucially - in the video you could not tell one from the other. They were represented as a unit, brothers and sisters cut from the same cloth (indeed, they are all implied to have been birthed from the Mother Monster). The representation is all wonderfully positive - the only ones not represented were the disabled, but the song appears to mostly exist as an LGBTQ* anthem so it was not done for a lack of love, respect or concern, although it isnt as if dancers who are disabled dont exist. The fact is that Lady Gaga has massively evolved over the short three years that she has graced the music scene. Like those who came before, she grew from humble, unimportant beginnings in the industry - think Madonnas debut single Everybody, which received little critical acclaim upon its release in 1982. She has many years of career left in her, and many more years to develop and change, either with or one step ahead of the times. A unique figurehead, Gaga represents something different - she is both a massive star and in touch with the people who made her, the loyal fans she so endearingly calls Little Monsters. She represents people from all walks of life, people who are fans of all kinds of genres, people who are different, and a freedom within that, creating herself into a deity-like amalgamation of everything popular and not. She is weird, undoubtedly, and content to be, something that has become glaring-

Crimson Wright

ly obvious in her videos over time, as she has changed from a party girl to the mother of an ideal humanity.

References [1] RIAA (US), BPI (UK), Bundesverband Musikindustrie (GER) - and another 15 countries that can provide official records which total up [2] http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/08/12/lady-gaga-los-angeles/ [3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/sep/06/lady-gaga-popandrock [4] http://www.nation.co.ke/magazines/buzz/-/441236/468006/-/item/1/-/jo324sz/-/index.html [5] http://watchlooklisten.e-fans.net/?p=46 [6] http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/14674479 [7] http://ladygaga.wikia.com/wiki/Manifesto_of_Little_Monsters