BY T H O M A S M A D D E N

ANALYSIS OF A MUSIC VIDEOLISA LOEB- STAY

MUSIC VIDEO-

We in the lesson looked at a music video that was for Lisa Loeb and the video had many dynamic new techniques that potentially broke rules and normal characteristics of music videos; making it a diverse music video. Although, it took time to realise the music video was different, when I did I realized how clever the music video was. This was because it was produced with no cuts, yet still had many different angle shots and created a narrative. The camera followed Lisa Loeb from the apartment and around the apartment tracking her every move.

To begin with the music video starts with a cat on a black painted metallic chair and this signified the start and also kept a sense of continuity I the scene as the chair becomes empty and the cat is then in another room towards the end. It also helped the narrative of the song, that she was singing because someone is leaving. This is because most single woman are stereotypically associated with having a house pet.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

There are a variety of shots and that is what makes the music video diverse and very clever in the way that it is produced because she is being tracked with the camera not individual shots. I think also that the rustic feel of the apartment where the plaster is untouched also creates a potential narrative that something in the relationship she is singing about is unfinished and that she wants to either keep the relationship going to finish it or prevent it from breaking.

There are such a range of close up shots that conform to Goodwin's analysis that in music videos there is a great use of close-ups to convey emotion and show the face of the artist. I feel that from a spectators view, they were necessary as without them the music video would not have worked. This is because there are no cuts from different locations so we would not have known how the female was feeling and what she was trying to convey from her performance. They also made the love that she was singing about, quite sincere as it felt very real.

There are also different kinds of cinematography that highlight and blend in with the narrative also as the allow to run when the music reaches a pinnacle and that was nice to se cause it meant that the dancing would allow more emotion. I also feel that the use of the extreme-wide shots signify how big the apartment is yet, how empty it is. This might be connoting how the relationship has turned out like.

PROPS/MISE-EN-SCENE/MOVEMENT

As, the music video commences there are metallic items around the house this is carried on to create a sense of continuity with not only the props but the narrative. It does this because tit highlights how the apartment is unfinished but, this also adds a sense of sophistication to the apartment as, it is made really well and has this French boutique furniture feel surrounding it. The fact that the metal is highlighted at the beginning and near to the end must be somewhat significant as, it is intentional. I feel that it would make the audience question its existence rather then, actually know the answer.

The transition from room to room is very clean and precise and this works really were with the overall stylistic feel of the music video, because there are no cuts is has to show that she is moving from room to room, without breaking the still frame and the audiences eye.

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MUSIC VIDEO

• She is at a door and at a window in the music video and this signified that there was a correlation to the lyrics and the direction of the music video. It was almost as if she was looking for an answer to why the relationship she was in had finished. The fact that at the end she is actually walking out of the empty house suggests that she is ready to move on from past events and start new. Which comes across as very sincere, especially through the body language of Loeb, as she is moving her arms looking around with a emotional sway, which if anything helps the audience to feel sympathetic to what Loeb has gone through or what she is trying to portray.