Analysis of Two Music Videos

Hotline Bling is a RnB song that was released in 2015 and is a concept based music video which stars the singer, Drake as well as some female actors. Camera movement was fairly simplistic and minimal which I believe correlates with RnB and American Rap music videos. This is because I the artist wanted to remain centre of attention during the video, however, female dancers also feature in the music video but do not gain a lot of attention. This could be considered to be flaunting hyper-masculinity as Drake is to be seen in focus during the majority of the music video. Most of the camera shots consist of mid/long shots of Drake showing off his own merchandise and wearing very bold colours. It could be argued that he is wearing his own clothing to advertise it or just to show his own success in the music industry. The mid to close-up shots show the facial expressions of the artist during the song. They mainly show him "feeling" the beat of the song, mainly screwing up his face at the chorus and the beat drops in the music video. As for editing, the transitions were fairly smooth as the main transition that was used was a jump cut. The jump cuts used kept the music video consistent, meaning that it correlated with the concept based video, as it didn't need to be difficult to follow due to the lack of story line. As for special effects, slow motion was used a lot when the female dancers were being shown, this was to encourage camera lingering, the Male Gaze and the Audience Gaze. 


For the colours of the music video, there were very simplistic yet very prominent. The colours included red, green, purple, blue, yellow and grey. These colours were extremely visible throughout the music video and added a relaxed ambience to the music video, therefore is reinforcing that Hotline Bling is a mix of RnB and Modern American Rap. These technical elements presented to the audience that Drakes music is mellow, calming but soulful. Also, it also presents to the audience that Drake's Hotline Bling video is showing Male Gaze throughout because the lighting encourages the audience to gaze at certain parts of the body during the music video. Even thought there isn't any dominant ideologies, Hotline Bling and Drake in particular is an icon of modern American rap/RnB. You can see this through his attire of his own clothing line, meaning that he is successful enough for fans and audience to buy products designed by Drake. Also, wearing very expensive jacket from Canadian Goose, which shows the wealth of the artist to the audience which is reinforcing Drake's iconography. Furthermore, the audience reception would be positive, due to the conventions of this music video being in line with general conventions of an rap/modern RnB music video. The gratification that the audience gain from this music video is the enjoyment of watching the women dance which is from the perspective of a heterosexual male.



Congratulations by Post Malone ft. Quavo was released Jan 23rd 2017, is one of the most popular songs of this year. For camerawork, the movement was rather static as the several locations of the music video didn't need the use of pans or the use of dolly's. The movement was mostly panning slightly up from the mid section of the artists bodies to their faces or panning slightly across to find the location of the character. I think the limited movement in this music video allowed the audience to easily follow the events as such that unfolded during the music video. As for camera shots, use of close ups and extreme close ups were quite apparent to show facial expressions and in several cases show both artists, Post and Quavo, smoking. The use of extreme close ups when smoking was very effective as the slow motion shot of smoke escaping their mouths was parallel to the speed of the music which was aided by the camera shot. Shots also included were mid shots, over the shoulder shots and long shots.

Throughout the music video, the most common type of cut was a very subtle jump cut. This allowed the music video to move from scene to scene quickly as well as the transitions to look aesthetically pleasing. As the transitions were subtle, it was very easy for the audience to follow the music video without having constant flash cuts to distract. As this was a fairly simple music video, special effects were very minimal I believe the only sort of special effects were the use of the blue screen and the use of very mellow, deep purples and blues when performing the song.

For mise-en-scene, the colours throughout the music were rather simplistic and plain, meaning the colours in the music video were allowed to be seen. As for costume, quite classic trap/rap attire as the cloths are usually quite plain with bold colours such as white, blue, black, red and grey. However, as in traditional rap fashion, the diamonds and gold was on show in force. This was through necklaces, rings, ear and nose piercings and grills (extravegant braces!). For props, items on show during the music video can easily be associated to trap/rap. These items included champagne, cigarettes, Cîroc Vodka, expensive editing equipment and laptops (Apple and Razor). The music video only includes two locations, a large studio blue screen and a recording studio. The location shows a very real and raw music video as it is almost a video within a video because the editing team are filmed altering and editing the music video. I think that this is a very creative but simplistic idea for a music video as the people working behind the scenes have been brought into the limelight, however the artists are still the most relevant in the video. As for facial expressions, as the music is rather calming and slow, the facial expressions for all the characters in the music video are either happy or rather 'plain'. Meaning that the expressions of the artists match the song. To apply Goodwin's theory, there is a direct correlation between the lyrics of the song and the music video footage itself.

The artists are represented as successful stars, which they are, as the song is all about success and how the hear a lot of people saying congratulations. The representation of the artists is portrayed through the music video because there are several scenes during the video of the artists crew celebrating their success, meaning that they are being represented as role models for aspiring musicians. You could argue that audience members should watch this music video as their version of success is shown, meaning that they could think what success means to them. As for type of music video, it is a mix between concept and performance based music video as there are performance aspects however it is mostly 'random' shots.