Monday 24 October 2011

Textual Analysis of Rose Coloured Glasses

The Music Video I am analysing is Rose Coloured Glasses by Kelly Rowland (2010) and it is was written by Ester Dean and Lukasz Gottwald. The genre of the music video is electropop and R&B; this is reflected through the music at the start (the electro style music) and the changing background colours. The beat of the music also suggests that the music video belongs to an electropop genre.

There is a small link between the lyrics and the visuals but not much, for example, the line ‘everybody is saying that we should get back together’ then we visually see the couple arguing, also the lyrics of the song are emotive so the viewers see the emotions in the artist. Most of the lyrics amplify the visuals and this is shown through the performance of the artist and as for the narration, it is limited. At the part ‘rose coloured glasses’ we as viewers see some aspect of nature, for example, at first we see the artist holding a white bird then we see butterflies surrounding her which also have the connotations of peace. The video ends with a tear running down the artist’s cheek which also goes with the emotive side of the song. The music video shows some parts of the narrations (only when the couple are arguing) but mostly there is performance just by the artist and her facial expressions are strongly shown through the lyrics. Therefore, there are some aspects where the lyrics match the visuals but mainly the visuals are there to sell the artist by showing her emotive side.

There is a huge link between the music and the visuals which is shown at the start, there is slow music which also flows with the performance of the artist, and we see the artist in a neutral mode. Also at the start where the couple are arguing, lyric line: ‘meant to be together’, the music is on the beat to the lyric and the cuts are done just on the beat. This looks extremely effective and also it is another way of shortening the argument between the couple. At the start there is a solo instrument being played (the bass drums) which is on the beat to the lyrics. As the music gets upbeat the performance of the artist starts and it gradually tones down with the flow of the music. For example, half way through the video the music is upbeat so there is performance and as the music changes, the performance is narrowed down to a limit.
As part of the Goodwin theory, it is said ‘music videos mainly contain close-ups to sell and objectify the artist’. Rose coloured glasses is one of those music videos that goes against the theory to attract viewers, this music video has contradicted some of the Goodwin theories to differ from the rest of the videos. In this video, there are mostly mid-shots of the artist (as shown in the example) in Kelly Rowland’s previous music videos, there are few close-ups for example, ‘Commander ft. David Guette’. In this music video, the artist is being sold by her facial expressions, the number of costume changes and mainly by the track itself. Also, to this music video there is a narrative which is not shown in the video itself but the narrative is illustrated through the lyrics- this is a strong point in which this track could be sold by. Kelly Rowland is being shown as a break broken young girl who introduces this song that expresses her feelings, this song brings out the emotive side of Kelly Rowland. This is a different aspect of the artist because most of her other music videos are upbeat and show some sense of sexual display of the artist. Whereas this music video, it is extremely different to ‘Commander ft. David Guette’, ‘Motivation ft. Lil Wayne’. This music video just represents a change to the artist’s image.
This music video is different to the previous ones because this video does not show sexual display of the artist or any other person who is presented. The camera just focuses on the artist and there are no dance routines which suggest that the artist is on display. However, some of the costumes used do display some aspects of sexual gaze. Another aspect which suggests sexual display is when the artist is in the rain (as shown in the image). This music video is narrative-based as well as performance-based; the narrative is there at all times but the performance is extremely different to the narrative.

Duresh x

No comments:

Post a Comment