Music Video Analysis #1

Beyonce - Love On Top

This music video featuring Beyonce and her dancers is set in a large room overlooking a cityscape and harbour. It is a very simple video. The room is well lit with both natural and most likely artificial light. The windows allow natural light into the room and artificial lights are used to make sure that the viewer can see what is happening at all times.  There is a lot of movement in this video as it features a singer and backing dancers. The video focuses on the singing and dancing and does not tell a story like other music videos.

The first shots used are 'long shots' showing the whole room and cast. Then the camera gradually zooms in to show Beyonce's face in a 'close up shot' along with the dancers faces. She appears to be miming in this video and it is definitely not a live performance. Half way through the video the scene changes and we now see Beyonce and the dancers have changed into gold suits. The room is now dark and they are now lit using artificial gold lights behind them. This cut is not subtle or gradual. If I had edited this video I would have faded from light to dark to make this easier to watch.

Then the scene changes again and they are wearing white suits. It is still dark but this time the lighting is white instead of gold. Again the cut from gold to white light is not subtle and does not fade gradually. Throughout the video the shots keep changing from 'close ups', 'Medium close ups' and 'long shots'.

After this we see a long shot from behind and then the outfits have changed again. This time they are wearing black outfits and the white lighting is much softer. There is also a strobe light running across the room. When the song finishes the scene cuts back to a style the same as the start and Beyonce walk off past the camera. We see the camera so another camera is required to film this. This makes the video appear quite casual and almost as if it is of a rehearsal by the singer instead of a music video.

I like the style of this music video as it is very casual yet effective. I like the outfit and lighting changes that occur throughout. The video appears to be of a dance rehearsal with Beyonce and her backing dancers so the costume / lighting changes are unexpected. The only thing I would change about this video is if I was editing it would be when the costumes / lighting change I would make the cuts gradual so that they blend in as sometimes these appear quite harsh.

The purpose of this music video is to promote Beyoncé and her music, therefore increasing her record sales.