Analysis of existing media: Music video

Lady GaGa - Paparazzi.

I have chosen to analyse this music video by Lady Gaga because she is an artist I want to focus my own music video on. She is edgy and original and has a different style to other artists in the charts today. I have chosen this music video is particular because it has a vivid story and is also very clever in the way it is done from the setting and sound effects to the camera angles and editing. The video starts of in the style of an old fashioned movie with establishing shots of the extravagant of a mansion which is the setting with sounds of the sea, seagulls and birds to let the audience know that it is peaceful by the beach. The shot then switches to inside the mansion and the music playing in the background also empahsisies the old fashion theme. There are a lot more shots showing the setting of inside and outside the mansion. The sot then changes to Lady GaGa and the man in the video lying on the bed talking to each other in French. There are then shots of random objects such as money as the two are kissing. Then the shots switch to the mans hands all over Lady GaGa. As he takes her on to the balcony, suddenly there is an effect which is like a camera taking picture, like a paparazzi. She then tries to resist him showing her off to the paparazzi so he throws her off the balcony. This is when the song finally kicks in with the video. There are pictures that flash up of a newspaper with headlines about Lady GaGa saying she is no more. Finally she comes out of a limo with a neck brace and she starts singing the song. There are quick flashes of her sitting on a big chair and different angles. This is used to make it look interesting and to keep the audience watching. Moreover, there is a long shot of her in the wheel chair with dancers dancing around her. Again, this is Lady GaGa's edgyness coming through to interest the audience. As the chorus comes in, more dancers come in and start a dance routine. There is also flashes of random objects such as a mannequin in a bath. The angles are quite low which shows Lady GaGa to have more power. The mannequins also look like they hve blood on them which represents her as she fell off the balcony. There is then shots of sexual parts such as lips and eyes and girls kissing each other. Again as the chorus comes in there is another dance routine. It then switches back to flashes of the sexual girls kissing and touching each other. In the break of the song, it changes to just Lady GaGa in one room with flashing lights. Again it is very sexual and random objects are shown such as dogs and more mannequins. Finally for the last chorus it changes to Lady GaGa and her 'boyfriend' sitting on a chair, as she places the magazine down it says 'The New IT Girl'. She then fixes her boyfriend a drink and drugs it. There are close ups of her lips and her making the drink. One of the last shots is him drinking the drink and a close up of him dropping the glass as he dies and a close up of her smiling. Then in the background, you can hear her ringing the police and admitting she killed her boyfriend. Then there are shots of the police turning up and taking the body away. Lady GaGa is then seen getting escorted by the police with all the paparazzi taking pictures of her. I really like this video as it different to a lot of other music videos today. The costumes in this video particulary stand out as they are one off's and unique. I think the song is really catchy and it has already got very far in the charts. It is obvious there was a big budget when making the music video because of the setting and amount of effort and profesionalism that has gone into it. I particulary like the editing as there are quick flashes, of different shots and random objects. This is one of the many techniques I hope to use in my own music video.