Lady Gaga - Our Influences - Desperately Seeking Susan

Madonna - Desperately Seeking Susan 1985

We have been influenced by this due to the plot which will be the basis for our narrative. This is because there is 2 women who the main character would like to become like Madonna. This is shown by 1 woman getting closer to the way Madonna looks doing this by buying the same jacket and then getting the same hairstyle and then ultimately gets mistaked for madonna showing this as a stolen identity. 

CW: VidEG 20 Madonna - Frozen

After watching some of Chris Cunningham's other work, this video very much stands out. The video is mostly performance, where as previous work by the director featured concept heavy elements, often the other work seemed to reflect a short film as opposed to a music video. In the video for apex twin's windowlicker,

Maddonna frozen:

Start barren land

Mad flying singing to camera while looking down

Silk flys to her

Looks upset

Falls into crows

Fly away

 And she's back with the crows though and also some others of her

Very cold video, fitting the song

Mysterious,

Maddonna herself planned on the mystical side of it, and such

Transforms into dog

Lists of moving round with the cloak, light dark, maddonna the angel of death

Black liquid sucked up

Has Henna tattoos

Multiple mads, all have the smooth flowing movement, suggests Hindu sort of feelings

VidEG 13 Madonna - Ray Of Light

ACT: Madonna

TRACK: Ray Of Light

YEAR: 1998

DIRECTOR: Unknown 

GENRE:Pop, Electro - Pop

LYRICS

• The video is a day in a life filmed in four minutes. It was filmed in Sweden, New York and Las Vegas using time-lapse photography. The shoot took 14 days. Madonna had the idea for doing the closing nightclub scene. It won the 1998 Grammy for Best Music Video Short Form and the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.
• The lyrics reflect Madonna's interest in spirituality and her faith
• Microsoft used this in a 2001 advertising campaign to promote its Windows XP operating system.
• Some of the video is filmed using a green screen.
• The lyrics link to the visual in some aspects but not in others and not as strongly as it does in her other visuals which is one reason why I picked it. 
• The genres are reflected strongly with the night club scenes reflecting the electronic and electro - pop well. 
• there is a lot of star treatment used in this video which is to be expected. 

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISUALS + LYRICS:

There is no link between the visuals and the lyrics, meaning it to be a concept video. It is also shot in a range of locations, with some use of a green screen for extra effect. Madonna although older is still represented in a sexualised way wearing slightly revealing clothing for her age.

GENRE CHARACTERISTICS: 

Genre has become an even more diverse, however this follows some of the characteristics that we would expect such as the sexualised dancing as well as upbeat music and cutting to the beat.

INTERTEXTUALITY?

Non that I am aware of.

PERFORMANCE, NARRATIVE AND/OR CONCEPT?:

The video is a concept video as it doesn't really follow a narrative and is quite random and has no apparent relation to the lyrics. 
 

PERFORMANCE STYLE: 

The performance style is singing and dancing with madonna being the main focus with many of the shots taken are with the events in the background, this is done by a series of layers or use of a green screen. some of the dancing that has been shown has had some of the frames deleted in order for it to look 'alien' like but because of the nature of it it could be described as cavorting. 

STAR TREATMENT:

Star treatment has been featured heavily in this video with the concentration solely on madonna, This is stereotypically done in order to sell the track but to also establish and promote the artist and the album. This is also an example of Laura Mulvey's theory as the woman has blonde hair and is wearing revealing clothing - Mulvey's theory being that they are being objectified for the gratification of men. This can also be added with the view of madonna being a symbolic character and is known as the queen of pop.

PACE + ANY VARIATION OF PACE: 

The pace is varied throughout with scenes of slow motion, the cuts are fairly quick which reflects the tempo of the song at times. There are a range of inter-cutting shots with quick transitions and shots last no more than a few seconds. Some of the shots are very creative and use different camera angles with extreme close ups and use layering and green screen techniques.

SHOT VARIETY + NO. OF SETUPS: 

various shot variety shown with range of creative shots.

LOCATION/S + MISE-EN-SCENE: 

In the video there are a series of locations used but all seem to be taken in the vicinity of one another. that being the city but also the use of the green screen. 

 

NOTABLE SHOTS/FRAMING: 

close up shots of body

VidEG 12 Madonna - Papa Don't Preach

• In this video there is a strong link between visuals and the lyrics used. The song has a very strong controversial message of teenage pregnancy. Anti-abortion groups praised her whilst abortion rights groups criticised her.
• The line "I've made up my mind, I'm keeping my baby," caused anti-abortion groups to praise Madonna and abortion-rights groups to criticize her. Madonna refused to take a stance on the issue.
• Madonna called this "a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way."
• This was one of the most controversial Madonna songs. Many articles were written about it in the context of abortion. The media attention helped make it a hit and keep it on the charts.
• The song is set in various locations, one which is her dancing solo and singing in a studio, her with her father at a young age which shows them washing up together - she is drying and he is washing, but as the video progresses and she ages the roles switch. The video also shows her with her boyfriend and her friends, and shows her on a journey going from one place to another.
• There is a lot of star treatment in this video but then surely it is to be expected when it is 'the queen of pop'.
• The links between the narrative and the visuals are especially strong and represent what is going on, which allows us to sympathise with the artist. 
• The song is stereo typical of the genre with the use of revealing clothing.