Textual Analysis 2

Queen – I want to break free
The music video for "I Want to Break Free" was directed by David Mallet. It was shot in 1984.
Genre: Rock
The song was produced by Queen and Reinhold Mack.
When the video stars we see an iconographic long shot of what looks to be houses in Manchester. This would make sense as the beginning of the video is loosely based on Coronation Street, which is set in Manchester. We then see a close up of an alarm clock while the introduction is playing non-diagetically in the background. The wallpaper is floral which is typical of a female’s bedroom.  We then see a high angle shot of a man dressed as a woman in bed with rollers in his hair. This is stereotypical of a housewife, which could be what he is trying to represent. This video is an example of Christian Metz’s genre theory, in which there is a parody stage when conventions become ironic and over-experienced, therefore causing them to be made fun of. This video is making a parody of Coronation Street. There is then a high angle establishing shot of the houses again, which familiarises the audience with the location. The fact that this is being shown as the introduction to the song plays in the background makes it appear more like a soap opera, as it is conventional that the iconographic location in soap operas is shown as the introduction/theme song plays.
As the beat changes we then see a low angle close up of a hoover inside a living room. The mise-en-scene makes it easy to recognise and establish the setting of a working class house environment within a soap opera (which is based on real people who the audience of housewives can connect with).   The camera then pans upwards when we see a hairy masculine arm wearing pink bracelets which is ironic and supports the parody element of the video.  The next shot is a medium long shot, which is the first time we see Freddie Mercury entirely dressed as a woman, wearing a pink jumper and short leather skirt. Freddie’s appearance is similar to that of Bet Lynch from Coronation Street – who was known for dressing quite tacky and wearing very heavy makeup.  The short leather skirt with a slit down the side and pink jumper represent Bet Lynch well as it is a very tacky combination. He is also wearing giant pink earrings.  When hovering the floor Freddie makes eye contact with the camera which is breaking the forth wall and unconventional of soap operas.  This supports the role of this video being a parody even further; especially since he smiles when he does so.
An extreme high angle long shot is shown shortly after which shows the entire living room. It appears to be very cramped. At this point we get to see all of the characters. There is a man dressed as a woman in a long pink gown with rollers in his hair, a man dressed as an old woman and a man dressed as a school girl in the kitchen with a blonde wig and school uniform on. These characters are all stereotypical of those who would’ve been in Coronation Street at the time the video was created and even so now which makes it symbolic and iconic.
As Freddie hoovers the floor he sings non-diagetically ‘I want to break free’.  This connotates that he/his character wants to break free from the housewife lifestyle – however when the song continues we realised that he is indeed singing about breaking free from a person. Even though the lyrics say slightly different the narrative story of the video suggests that he does want to break free from the life he is living. He then sings the same words again, however this time we see a close up of his face which allows the audience to see the thick, tacky and bright makeup he is wearing which is stereotypical of his character. When he begins to sing about a person his mannerisms change and he becomes a lot more independent and angry. We know this as he flips his hair and stands with his hands on his hip which shows strength.  Freddie then stands next to a door and makes eye contact with the camera again. As he sings ‘God Knows I want to break free’ he opens the door next to him to reveal a lot of people standing in the darkness with a light shining on four people in particular in the middle. The camera then fades into a scene which is set in this location. The camera slowly zooms closer to the four figures in the light until it is established that the four people are in fact Queen.  Freddie is standing at the front as he is the lead singer. He is also wearing no shirt, whereas the other band members are. This makes Freddie stand out above the other three; however they still stand out as everyone else is dressed in black and unrecognisable as their faces cannot be identified.  The camera then zooms in just on Freddie’s face which has a strong light shining on it. This is contrasting with the extras that are in complete darkness with no light on them whatsoever.
The shots then get really fast paced as it flashes from one scene to another during the beat. We now she a long shot high angle which establishes a new location as Freddie emerges from a strange looking piece of the set.  The location is very dark and has smoke coming from different directions which is quite mysterious.  Freddie is wearing leather trousers and no t-shirt which is typical of him and the genre.  When the camera zooms into Freddie we see the same people dressed in black as before.  They help highlight Freddie’s significance.
The camera then cuts to a medium long shot of Freddie mid frame in front of a white box. The white box could connote purity and freedom. Freddie then spreads his arms out very energetically in a strong manner which shows his passion about the lyrics he is singing. This represents Freddie as a great performer. Freddie also runs around a lot as the camera tracks him. This shows his desperation in his need to break free as he seems very irritable.
As the intro begins the white box opens to reveal a mountain of people in tableaux like formation with Freddie at the stop, once again being centre frame. He is also eating grapes which if iconographic and conventional of a rich, wealthy and loved person who lives a free lifestyle. In movies we often see rich people being fed grapes by servants, however in this video Freddie is eating them with his mouth off the floor which shows that he is not in the same position as those in the movies but would like to be. The colouring in this scene is also very grey and dull which could connote his life.  The other performers in the video are climbing on him and covering him which represents how trapped he is although all he wants in the luxurious and free lifestyle.
We then see Freddie jump into a crowd of people as the catch him which shows that he is care free and trusting of these people. There is also a lot of white smoke and bright lights which once again connote purity, enlightenment and freedom.
When Freddie sings the lyrics ‘But life still goes on’ the camera cuts back to him dressed as Bet Lynch in the same working class Manchester house as before.  He is centre frame and making direct eye contact with the camera which connects with the audience.  The camera is tracking him as he moves around the house and it becomes very apparent to the audience that the set is created in order to replicate the look of the sets in Coronation Street.  We see all of the characters doing stereotypical things that are suited towards their personality – for example the school girl is reading a book,  the Grandma is reading a newspaper and the middle-aged woman is reading a home magazine while her hair is in rollers which shows that she is a stereotypical housewife who is very concerned with her vanity.
The next shot is of Freddie in the darkness singing ‘I’ve got to break free, I want to break free’. The repetition of this shows his desperation. The fact he is in the darkness also shows that he has lost hope. The crowd of people around him also represents that he is trapped again as he waves his arms in the air which is something similar to what someone would do if they wanted attention or help if they were drowning, which connotes that he is drowning and suffocating from his trapped lifestyle.  
Language
The language in the song supports the video very well. The narrative story is about a character who wants to break free from their tedious lifestyle; however we see glimpses of another meaning which is Freddie himself feeling trapped and suffocated by his lifestyle. He could be suffocated by the amount of attention he gains and lack of privacy which is why there are so many extras surrounding him while he stands in the bright lights which shows that he is a star.
Institution
Queen are a British rock band formed in the 70s, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), John Deacon (bass guitar), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals). Queen very often include very structured postures and positioning’s in images of them or videos of them, which also happens in this video when Freddie is standing in front of the other three members who are standing in a line. Queen are signed to EMI which was one of the biggest labels at the time, which supports the bands message of wanting to break free as they were a very successful band who gained a lot of attention and had very little privacy.
Ideology
The song and video have a fair few ideological ideas behind it. The main and most prominent ideological idea behind the video is the inspiration that stems from Coronation Street. However, we also see many shots of the band as themselves rather than female characters from the shows. These shots are not humorous and represent the trapped and confined nature of their lives. Freddie’s sexuality was also often speculated in the press. He was a homosexual but many claimed that he hid this from the public, so maybe he wanted to break free from hiding his true self.
Audience
The video is aimed at an intended audience of rock music fans. I think it reaches this audience well as rock fans are more than likely going to take a hatred towards Coronation Street and soap operas so they will find the parody element to it very funny and amusing which creates voyeurism. The other scenes are very meaningful which is also relevant to rock fans as they like to listen to music that they can relate to and that means something to them. The colours will also appeal to rock fans as they are very musky.
Representation
In the video, Queen are represented in two ways. The first way is as characters from Coronation Street which is a very popular British soap opera and the other way is as themselves. The mise-en-scene and lyrics represent what they are feeling and the message they are trying to put across but in an inventive way.

Textual Analysis 1

Lana Del Rey – Shades of Cool
The song was co-written by Lana Del Rey and Rick Knowels. It was produced  by Dan Auerbach.
Genre: Blues Rock
Lana Del Rey’s song ‘Shades of Cool’ was released on May 26 2014 by Polydor and Interscope records. It was the second single from her album ‘Ultraviolence’. It could be purchased digitally on websites such as amazon or on iTunes.  She released her first album in 2010 as ‘Lana Del Ray’, the album was of the same name. She began uploading homemade videos to her own songs on youtube but was very unknown at the time until she hit big with ‘Videogames’. She won the Q award for ‘Best New Thing’ and a Brit Award for ‘National Breakthrough act’ towards the beginning of her career. She has also recorded songs for Hollywood movie successes such as ‘The Great Gatsby’ and ‘Maleficent’.
The video starts with a long introduction of the instrumental with a layered clip of an old man with a blue light over it. The clip is layered on top of a road which connotes that he is in a moving car. The song then starts with Lana singing the non-diagetic lyrics ‘my baby lives in shades of blue’ which relates to the blue light that was over the man at the beginning. This also suggests that she is in a romantic relationship with this man. The lyrics are also similar to the title of the song which already automatically creates a bond with the audience as they recognise the title within the song. Lana’s voice is very deep and old fashioned which suits the blues rock genre as many blues singers have deep voices. She also has a slight Marilyn Monroe feel to her voice which suits her image well. These lyrics make it clear that Lana is singing about a man she is in a romantic relationship with. We then see different shots of the same man driving a car in the night time.  She then sings ‘he lives in California too’ while we see him driving in a car in LA. The setting is iconographic and can be recognised by the tall, well lighten buildings and palm trees. It is filmed in a dark setting and the road is clear which works well with the ghostly tone of the song.
Lana then sings ‘he calls for me and not for you’ as a clip of her back in a white dress is shown layered over the LA setting. The colouring is still very bright and toxic. She then turns around and we see her face with a red toned light on her hair and a blue light on her face. The blue light works with the clip of the man at the beginning as he also has a blue light on his face. All of this works cohesively with the lyrics, tone and genre of the song. The red light on her hair also connotes love – at the same time she sings ‘he loves his baby too’. From this I further infer that she is in a romantic relationship with the man who is featured in the video.
After this we see a clip of the same man walking with a layered transparent clip of Lana and the American flag over it. This fits in with the LA theme behind the video.  The man is wearing a white shirt and is centre frame which shows his importance. The next clip is of Lana standing at the right corner of the frame in the darkness as she sings ‘and I can’t do nothing about his strange weather’. This shows that she feels inferior and unimportant as it is practically opposite  to the previous clip of the man in the light and centre frame.  Lana then moves to centre frame as the song becomes more upbeat and positive. We see clips of fireworks over her which could show that this man fills her with energy and excitement – just like a firework.  She is also wearing white which connotes purity.  The tone of Lana’s voice then goes down as she sings the lyrics ‘I can’t break through your world’ and a clip of the man is shown which informs the audience that she is singing about him. It is now incredibly clear that there is a narrative story within the video as well as abstract elements such as the clip of Lana in the darkness with fireworks.  Lana then has clips of flowers blossoming and birds flying over her which connotes how this man makes her feel – which is pure and free.
The video then takes a change as we see Lana outdoors, centre frame wearing white. The iconography is the same as before which informs the reader that the location and setting is still the same. The camera then pans around Lana to reveal the man in the background with his car which is mentioned earlier on in the song and seen at the beginning.  We then see a close up of this man as he looks at Lana. We know he is looking at Lana because of the graphic match of the palm trees and the car. The camera then zooms in on the man to show his emotion.
Another abstract element of the video is shown with a video of flowers overlapping an explosion. This connotes the mood and lyrics to the song and the fact that whatever is going on between them is not good for Lana and is very disruptive.  The shot then goes back to Lana in the darkness as she sings ‘but I can’t help him’. The darkness and medium long shot could show how distant and powerless she feels towards the problem.  The shot of Lana in the darkness is then overlapped onto the clip of him driving off in the car. It is a medium close up of her as he gets further away in the car which could connote that they are drifting apart.
The video now goes to a different shot of the man watching Lana swim in a pool as she wears white which connotes the same as before. There is a blue light over his face which could show that he is feeling down as there is also a dark shadow over him. The song then turns more upbeat as the location changes to inside a luxurious looking house as the man drinks from a fancy cup with his pinky finger in the air which reveals that he is likely to be quite wealthy. His hair is also slicked back and he drives an expensive car while wearing nice clothing which is stereotypical of a rich man.  We then see Lana in front of a pool eating a strawberry which also has romantic and attention seeking connotations. She is also wearing red lipstick and drinking a red beverage – all of which connote love. There is then a fast paced montage edit of Lana swimming, dancing with the man, sitting on the floor looking sad and lonely from a high angle which makes her look inferior and also shots of her having fun. This matches the beat of the song. The use of this montage edit is to show the fast range of emotions that she experiences throughout her time spent with this man.
The song then slows down as we see Lana slowly getting out of the pool which is shot/reverse shot to the man with a harsh light on his face which is very different to the rest of the video when he is in the darkness. This could show that she is enlightening him.  However, after this moment Lana sings the chorus about not being able to break through his world and we see similar shots to those of which we have previously seen such as the man in the darkness and Lana in the darkness with flowers blossoming in the background. This shows the repetitive nature of their relationship; especially as towards the end of the video we see them both in the same house – in the light embracing each other.
Language
The language used in the video is typical of the genre as the word ‘blue’ is often used in old fashioned music which is what Lana’s music is based on.  The narrative story in the video also supports the language used as it is represented very well specifically and abstractly.
Institution
Lana Del Rey music has been noted to reference that of old Hollywood films and movie stars.  People would also compare her music to ‘film noire’ and ‘poetry’.  She has a contralto vocal range which means that she can express emotion well and has a very jazz-like tone to her voice – which applies to her genre and the mood of her songs effectively.
Ideology
The main ideology behind Lana Del Rey is that of a blues artist. Her music is very bluesy and often quite melancholy; however some are different which what labels her into the indie genre.  The ideology behind this video is the representation of a love story with a lot of problems.
Representation
In the music video Lana Del Rey is repeatedly represented as a pure and lonely woman. The representation of her on an everyday basis is very ‘old Hollywood’ as she gets similar labels to Marilyn Monroe and Nancy Sinatra.

Michael Shore Recycled Styles Theory

Michael shore 1984 media theorist from courtneythorntonm8