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.