Music Video Textual Analysis
Introduction
I am analysing ‘Lana Del Rey – Born to die’ video that is directed by Yoann Lemoine, the music video is Alternative, Indie & Pop genre, the video includes very few characteristics of the genre other than being very individual and different to the music videos we’d see everyday, the effects used also help us recognise the genre of the video without listening to the actual music. the clothes worn help us too, lana is co-starred in the video with ‘boyfriend’ bradley soileau, they are featured at the beginning both standing naked hugging with the american flag in the background waving slowly, which is something particularly different to what we would expect to see in your everyday music video.
What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?
In the video, we learn its a love story about a girl (Lana) and boyfriend (Bradley), its about finding someone that made her happy and how it was so different she had felt before in her life. most of the lyrics and the video flow together, as she demonstrates being in love she sings about it too. examples of this are; “lets go get high” when she is smoking cannabis. “let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain” when she is kissing him. “we were born to die” she sings whilest in the video whispering the words into his ear. “lost but now i am found” whilest she says lost she is lying alone on the bed, & when she says “but now i am found” a shadow passes across her and her boyfriend suddenly appears. when she says “you like your girls insane” she circles her finger by her head, which people generally do to signify being mad, crazy etc.
What is the relationship between music and visuals?
the music is mostly slow throughout, and the video is too, the actions and movement of the people in the video and the camera movement is also slow. at the begininning of the video there is a single instrumental solo, which lasts for about 15 seconds. the video speed is consistent throughout with the lyrics, although the beat doesnt get particularly faster.
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
The video portait Lana as being a particularly romantic character, very much in love & strong minded as she believes we all were born in order to eventually die. all of the artists videos are pretty similar, which helps the audience get a idea of the artist and also the music she creates. there are no motifs that have been used in her past videos, cd covers or posters used.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
Throughout the video a relationship with lana and her boyfriend is shown. they display a very tense, sexual atmosphere but never is anything explicit shown. at the tense moments the camera is very close up to the characters & we feel the sense of tension.
Are there intertextual references?
There are no obvious relations to any other music videos the artist has done in the past or any other things.
Is the music video performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based?
The video is very much narrative based as it tells a story of two people that are in love, the lyrics tell the video as it goes along.
Conclusion
The video is overall intended to stand out and look different to any other, the whole video and sound of lana’s voice is quite different and individual, to usual mainstream videos & its difficult to know what to expect, like her old videos she has a constant flow of being different, unique and individual.. we learn the video isnt just music and lyrics and there is a story behind the music, if you study it closely you learn it isnt just about her believing that she thinks we were ‘born to die’ but it actually is quite deeper than that, she cleverly uses lyrics that are relatable to the audience enticing them to be interested in the song as they understand it more. the clothes that she wears also helps us understand the genre, in this case its mainly alternative and individual and the clothes that she wears are not what you’d expect to see in your everyday mainstream video, everything she wears is quite daring and you’d expect to see particularly ‘different’ people wearing what she does.
Introduction
I am analysing ‘Lana Del Rey – Born to die’ video that is directed by Yoann Lemoine, the music video is Alternative, Indie & Pop genre, the video includes very few characteristics of the genre other than being very individual and different to the music videos we’d see everyday, the effects used also help us recognise the genre of the video without listening to the actual music. the clothes worn help us too, lana is co-starred in the video with ‘boyfriend’ bradley soileau, they are featured at the beginning both standing naked hugging with the american flag in the background waving slowly, which is something particularly different to what we would expect to see in your everyday music video.
What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?
In the video, we learn its a love story about a girl (Lana) and boyfriend (Bradley), its about finding someone that made her happy and how it was so different she had felt before in her life. most of the lyrics and the video flow together, as she demonstrates being in love she sings about it too. examples of this are; “lets go get high” when she is smoking cannabis. “let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain” when she is kissing him. “we were born to die” she sings whilest in the video whispering the words into his ear. “lost but now i am found” whilest she says lost she is lying alone on the bed, & when she says “but now i am found” a shadow passes across her and her boyfriend suddenly appears. when she says “you like your girls insane” she circles her finger by her head, which people generally do to signify being mad, crazy etc.
What is the relationship between music and visuals?
the music is mostly slow throughout, and the video is too, the actions and movement of the people in the video and the camera movement is also slow. at the begininning of the video there is a single instrumental solo, which lasts for about 15 seconds. the video speed is consistent throughout with the lyrics, although the beat doesnt get particularly faster.
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
The video portait Lana as being a particularly romantic character, very much in love & strong minded as she believes we all were born in order to eventually die. all of the artists videos are pretty similar, which helps the audience get a idea of the artist and also the music she creates. there are no motifs that have been used in her past videos, cd covers or posters used.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?
Throughout the video a relationship with lana and her boyfriend is shown. they display a very tense, sexual atmosphere but never is anything explicit shown. at the tense moments the camera is very close up to the characters & we feel the sense of tension.
Are there intertextual references?
There are no obvious relations to any other music videos the artist has done in the past or any other things.
Is the music video performance-based, narrative-based or concept-based?
The video is very much narrative based as it tells a story of two people that are in love, the lyrics tell the video as it goes along.
Conclusion
The video is overall intended to stand out and look different to any other, the whole video and sound of lana’s voice is quite different and individual, to usual mainstream videos & its difficult to know what to expect, like her old videos she has a constant flow of being different, unique and individual.. we learn the video isnt just music and lyrics and there is a story behind the music, if you study it closely you learn it isnt just about her believing that she thinks we were ‘born to die’ but it actually is quite deeper than that, she cleverly uses lyrics that are relatable to the audience enticing them to be interested in the song as they understand it more. the clothes that she wears also helps us understand the genre, in this case its mainly alternative and individual and the clothes that she wears are not what you’d expect to see in your everyday mainstream video, everything she wears is quite daring and you’d expect to see particularly ‘different’ people wearing what she does.
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