1. Textual analysis of music videos:Nicki Minaj-moment for life<br />Introduction<br />The music video im going to be analysing is by nicki minaj called moment for life and it is directed by Chris Robinson, who is a very famous film director working mostly with music videos and commercials, and is highly rated in america’s urban music industry<br />The genre the song belongs to is R&B and hip, i guess the main chrateristic that it has belonging these 2 enres is mainly the extravagance and the wealth portrayed though the video such as the: mansion,the jewelry the genral accessories<br />The relationship between the lyrics and visuals<br />With the general concept of the song moment 4 life is about 2 prospering musical artists trying to make it big in the the music industry and finally succeeding,that is the main influence for the concept for the video conotating a fairytale dream coming true which portrayed through the storyline in the video.<br />Through analysis of the video i have been able to pick out a few examples of ways in which the lyrics are amplified through the visuals, in which my first example being “im blessed yes” through which the director decidied to amplify the particular phrase in the song with close ups of a mansion and jewelled trinkets i think the main affect of this is that it help to express the meanin of the song to the audience , because society associate success with materiality which is exactly done in this instance<br />I think the second main example through which the lyrics are amplified through visuals are when she says “shout out to the haters sorry that you couldn’t phase me” in which the directore decided to use a medium close up shot of nicki waving in what may be interpreted as a cocky way i think the importance of the the way the lyrics are amplifiedthrough the visuals is that it gives the affect of her directly adreessng her haters which i think is don e in a very affective way as the audience can blatantly see her sitting in her mansion which gets the audience thinking look where she is but where is her haters,personally i think the director cleverly interpreted thich with the concept of the video being she has finally succceded and with every fairty tale having a villain *it never ends good for a villain. in which whole affect of this could be used to inspire her addressed audience<br />The third example in which the lyrics are interpreted through the visuals in whcu drake says “a young king pay me in gold” in which the difertor decded to use a medium close up of drake sitting in the throne and with the whole concept of the video being about 2 artist finally succedding wo where they wanted to be in the music industry which through the video is inter[reted in a fairytale story , i think the way on which the directore decided to interpret this is very affective as what does being a king conotate in fairytales ? power and wealth , which in the real world is an interetation of success, so i think the director interreted this very effectively to the audience .what i also think was very affective was the lyric it self inwhich he says a young king payme in gold *though being paid in gold may not b exactly possible in real life . the audeience are able to interpret as drake having got to a high place in his carrrerr that he is able to demand how to be paid which again is a connotation of successs<br />The foruth and what i belive to be most affective piece of lyrical amplification are when there is a quick long shot of the fairy godmother waving her wand to which the shot then switches to Drake and nicki on what seems to be their wedding day ,to the camera then swithching to a clock “which is done when she says “this is my moment ,ive waited all my life ,i can tell its time” .connotating it being finally their time thiers dreams finally coming true,i think at this time the directore very cleveryly and affectively interperets both the concept and meanin of the song into one .in which the audience are then able to interpret the fairy godmother of granting their wish being success to which it actually comes to life in the wedding, which metaphorically epitimieses where she is now with her success in music with her dreams having come true.<br />What is the relationship between music and visuals<br />Generally the video os good in the fact that it does cut to the beat throughout with i think the most effectives examples being firstly that in the song she stammers 3 times “ d-d-don’t worry me” , “p-p-put your drinks up”, g”-g-greatness is what we are on the brink of” , all done at 3 completly different times , wo which each time the camera jumps with each stammer which i think is both important and effective and i think the main reasin for this effect is to capture the effect of how the song is performed and illustrated through through the visuals<br />I think the second mose effective piece of camera work done to match the beat is when nicki starts to state a list of what she will do for example “i will retire with the ring , i will retire with the crown yes,no im not lucky im blessed yes, clap for the heavy weight champ me” i thought the use oif camerae was very affective because each time she states “dream” the camera would jump to her stating these exact thing which i thought was effective because it itertprets the importance of thses dreams with the strong camera movements,which the audience can interpret as an illustration if both nicki power and determination to get where she wants to.<br />I think the third and final piece of effective camera movements cutting to the peat is when the pace of the song begins to slow down and the beat changes to a more fairytale vibe which i belive to be done with the piano so does the speed of the camera cutting in thich i think was done very effectively as it cuts from a close up of her and drake , to a close up of the godmother to a close up of the clock remembering that the storyline is of a a fairytale dream coming true i think its effective as it is basically capturing the both the essecnce of the song and concept of the story in one to which it is illustatrated to the illustrated to the audience <br /> generally the video is good in the fact that the different scenes cuts to the beat almost everytime with the above being my personal favourites<br />Are their close ups of the star<br />Yes their are close ups of both drake and nicki,which will appeal to both their similar audieecnes,but their aren’t many videos that don’t have a close up of the performers do i think that is what the record company focused on to try sell the track no but it does have an influence,though i think the record company are trying to sell the track from the actual performance and concept of the track which they have cleverly interpreted through the video<br />I think the general image of nicki being offered in the video is individuality being that she is well known for her over the top ,different hair and costumes,different being that she doesn’t generally follow the usuall conventions of a typical R&B artist that being of the long hair ,edging on skimpy tacky outfits though you can say “sexuality” does come into it as they do chose the cuts for a reason ,which is obvious, to appeal, to the male audience, same to be said with drake whos main representation is to appeal to appeal to the female audience <br />The video doesn’t nessersarily relate to previous videos by Nicki in the fact that all her are videos are very different to each other ,but are similar in the fact that they are not your stereotypical female R&B video but that they test the general R&B conventions with each of their different concepts, but then it also depends on the actual song and vibe of the song<br />Is the re reference to the notion of looking voyuerism <br />I do get the sense in a way that both artists are on sexual display individually and together especially nicki with it mainly being her video, reason that the audience can get the interpretation of her being on sexuall display is the obvious use of make up and costume ,with the costumes being of fitting attire and the director using alot of close ups and head to to panning vice versa,. Same could be said for drake being on swagger display being that they do use at leat medium to close up shots of him , also being represented through his out fit and general body language being a long shot of him walking,. But they are also sexual dis play together being the their are shot of them both together indicating a relationship of that of more than just friend which is represented throughout the vide bein later confirmed ad their is a close up shot in which the adueniecne are led to believe that they kissed which the director cleverly decided to use as it will appeal to their audience living up to the fact that they are both one of the most sought after female and male R&B/hip hop stars of current ,and also the fact that they are rumoured to have had a little thing in real life probably helped<br />I think the most blatant use of intertextual references is the relation to the Disney fairytale , dreams coming true ,Cinderella fantasy which is used through the whole concept of the video with the fairy god mother ,use of the clock, fairy tale mansion dream story<br />I think the vdeo is more concept and narrative based than any thing just being that the hole video concept is on dreams coming true with it narrativly being construced in this Cinderella fairy tales dream coming true way but it is then very cleverly intertwined with performance shots pf both artist fitting in within the narrative if the video<br />I think the ideological interpretations that the audience are able to intertpret from the video and song it self is that dreams come true ,i also think that the song and video are also can be interpreted ans inspirational song with the audience being able to take note “shout out to my haters sorry that you couldn’t phase me” interpretston of obstacles that wont stop you from achieving your dream<br />Is the music video performance based ,narrartive based or both<br />