Music Video Analysis

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson: Analysis

Genre Characteristics

Billie Jean seems to be a Pop/R&B style music video and so seems to follow those characteristics but with a large basis on a narrative and having  dose of showmanship mixed in along with Jackson’s own flair. Pop and R&B music nearly always has an upbeat tempo that’s catchy and makes you want to dance along with it. Something that Billie Jean definitely has with it’s continuous beat throughout and the tempo.

Image Motif

This video has a lot of moments of showing Jackson as a star. He’s shown literally turning everything he touches into gold, for example the Tiger and the Homeless man into wearing a suit. His dances are definitely aimed to show his star qualities of being able to do a very difficult dance moves that has eventually been recognised to be one of his signature moves.One of the main scenes that particularly show the notion of looking is when the camera in the window is taking a shot of the man sneaking up behind Jackson and the print out showing just the man and the pole with Jackson missing

Between the lyrics and video

Michael Jackson doesn’t use very over the top and focused lip-syncing. The main focus of the videos are on his dancing ability and synchronizing certain parts of the music video to the lyrics; for example when the lyrics say ‘round’ it goes in time with Michael spinning around. The lyrics’ portrayal is more done so through visual replications rather than lip-syncing. For example when the lyrics talk about him not being the baby’s father, which something Michael Jackson was actually accused of in real life, you can see a suspicious looking man walking past behind him looking at him with an accusing stare. A strong link between the music and the video is shown through the iconic scenes in which when Michael takes a step the floor lights up where he steps. This relationship is also shown through his dancing which has been made to perfectly go in time with the music.

Too Good At Goodbyes Analysis

Reflection of genre in the video:

The song’s genre is pop which is reflected in the music video through the conventional heavily performance based video. Another conventional pop feature in the video is the heavily focused-on lip-syncing.

How the lyrics relate to the image:

In the shots in where the lyrics talk about a significant other there are pan shots of couples who appear to be in a melancholic mood signifying that they may be breaking up. Then the shots where the lyrics talk about Sam Smith himself, the shots mostly just feature Sam.

How the artist is presented to sell their music:

The artist is presented in such a way as to show that he’s been through a lot which is reinforced through the way in which there are various close ups on Sam’s eyes which puts a focus on his current feelings. These close-ups also serve to show his youth which attracts his audience’s attention.

Are females represented voyeuristically?:

Throughout the entire video there are no overly sexual representations of women, instead they are presented in a more innocent manner which serves to represent young couples.

Narrative structure:

Towards the beginning of the song, the video shows couples that appear to be in a melancholic state and possibly breaking up. When it gets towards the chorus, it shows people alone representing the effects of the breakup. Then towards the end of the song, the video shows the couples we saw at the beginning of the video however now they are happy.