The first video I have chosen to analyse is Best Thing I Never Had by Beyoncé and directed by Diane Martel. This music video is definitely one of my favourite ones from this artist. She varies between genres and styles that she uses, but for this one particular, it probably falls into the genres of R&B and pop. This video is both narrative and based on performance. The video shows us her getting ready for her wedding and when she is actually at the wedding. The lyrics then completely contradict the video and she is singing out her not being with the person anymore and she was so close to loving him and how lucky she is that she got away. In the video she happy, but the lyrics tell us different. The main example of this is when she is at the alter happy and him putting the ring on her finger and at the same time the lyrics say ‘You turned out to be the best thing I never had’. Everyone knows her for being a Curvy Houston girl with her curly hair as being part of her look.
The beat of the music does in most cases match the video, at the beginning when she is in her dressing room getting ready the music is slow and calm and so is the video. The video doesn’t really change pace trough out, it is more or less the same pace apart from at the end when they are married and are at the party at the end, everyone is dancing, but the dancing they are doing is very different to the music we can hear, it doesn’t match up. In the video there are many close ups of the artist, all where it shows how happy she is. At the same time the video also shows her. The outfit she has on displays her body in a sexual way, walking round in a corset with not much on is promoting herself as an artist rather than her music. By containing exhibitionism, it helps to attract a much wider audience as men would also like to watch this, as well as all the women fans that she has. This video particularly is probably aimed at a very wide audience, as the music is quite calm, and so rather than Beyoncé’s other songs focusing towards a younger audience, this song is likely to attract elder generations as well. Beyoncé’s personal motif is probably her figure. The image that the video puts across of Beyoncé is very lady like, pretty and feminine. Her displayed in her corset doesn’t put across the same idea that other artists in the same outfit might deliver.
This video is in some ways very similar to her other ones. The lyrics definitely are similar to her others as lots of them sing about love and boys and heart breaks. She is a very emotional singer and puts it across in her lyrics. The video itself also can be compared with her other videos, her outfits and style of dancing similar in all her videos. She has her legs out most of the time, and big dance routines in most aren’t something which appears. In many of her videos she stands in one position and dances.
The camera shots are completely different all over, there are close ups of her face and certain props such as the ring and her head dress. But there are also long shots of her walking down the isle, her dancing in her dressing-room and her in her wedding dress running across the golf course.
The next video I have then chosen to analyse is Domino by Jessie J. This video is also from a similar genre (pop), although it is a very different song, it is more upbeat, fast and would most likely attract a much younger audience. Jessie J herself is very young and so her videos are very different to Beyoncé’s. Jessie J is very ‘edgey’ and likes to be different. In some ways she could be compared to Lady Gaga. The video focuses solely on her. It is based on performance entirely. You don’t see any other people in the video at all. It’s focused on herself standing there and as the video moves on her outfits change and backgrounds change. This video shows her on less sexual display than Beyoncé’s video but it does in some ways therefore attracts boys as well as girls. The camera situates itself in one single position the whole time as the video doesn’t move on anywhere else. Due to the video being based entirely on performance, the artist is promoting herself and her individual motifs as well as her music.
Jessie J’s dancing through out the music video completely matches the beat of the song and the same for the lyrics, it is all in sync and the words in the lyrics matches up with her expressions. As we see her singing it as the video is playing, we see her doing gestures which goes in time with the lyrics. Her videos are all very similar as her style is very individual and different to many other music artists. She is quite distinctive and her own style makes her different from everyone else.
I think that part of the reason as to why the two videos come under the same music genre but are both so different is mainly due to their age. Jessie J is a very new and modern artist and so everything in her videos is very up-to-date and NOW. Unlike Beyoncé who has been around for so long (but still just as good, if not better), she is older therefore presents herself in a very different way, due to the fact she is now a lady.
Both videos use different styles and techniques which they have adopted themselves and best suit to, both being just as effective.
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