Natalia Kills ft. will.i.am – “Free”

The video for the Natalia Kills song “Free”, featuring will.i.am, is 4 minutes 39 seconds long. It begins with a screen showing the title of the song and stylized to resemble a camcorder recording before the establishing shot of Natalia posing on a television is shown – this is an example of the ways in which music videos represent “systems of looking” (screen within a screen), which has been highlighted by the media analyst Andrew Goodwin. This could also be seen as hinting towards a pseudo-reflexive performance due to the presence of cameras and the setting; this was stated by Joe Gow in his book “Music Videos as Communication: Popular Formulas and Emerging Genres”. This video could be placed under the category of “post-modern” because the constructed nature of the text is made explicit throughout.

Immediately the audience can see that this is shot in a studio, due to the background of the shot being just one colour – the lighting, which focuses on the artist, also suggests that this is artificial & it was shot in a studio. This could be viewed as post-modern due to the fact it is highlighting the constructed nature of music videos. From these opening scenes we can see tell that this is a performance music video (which is one of the 4 music video types suggested in the book “Music Video and the Politics of Representation” by Diane Railton and Paul Watson), with regular close ups of the artists throughout, which is typical of the artist and the song genre. This was suggested by Andrew Goodwin who said that the record company want lots of close ups of the artist – this ties in with the idea that a music videos primary function is to promote the artist and the song or album. Joan D Lynch also stated in her book “Music Videos: From Performance to Dada-Surrealism” that the most common music videos are performance based which also applies to this video.

The opening 20 seconds show different video effects (such as mirroring and rotating), several different outfits for the artists alongside different props, suggesting that they will be a major focus of the video. In fact throughout the video these things are prominent, which strongly implies that this video is to have no deep meaning narrative and the emphasis will be placed on the visuals, which are to be enjoyed and appreciated by the viewer. This immediately hints towards this also being an enhanced performance video which blend performance with other effects, which was stated by Joe Gow in his book “Music Video as Communication: Popular Formulas and Emerging Genres” published in 1992.

Another point made by Andrew Goodwin is that the music video will suit the genre of music it is promoting and this is the case for this video. The video is quite light and airy, with either a light blue or white background throughout which corresponds well with the synthesisers and visual effects of the song itself. Andrew Goodwin also stated that there is a relationship between the visuals and the lyrics, and in this case the visuals are predominantly contradicting the lyrics which speak of not needing any money and being free. There is a juxtaposition between the lyrics of the song and imagery of the artist being trapped or surrounded by luxury items.

However, throughout the video expensive props such as motorbikes and high-end clothing are displayed prominently which contrasts with the lyrics. There are also shots with written messages, which directly contrast with the idea of being “free” and “not having to worry about money”. A lot of the props and clothing are dark in colour, reputation or function which contrasts with the music and the background colour scheme. This creates a stylized monochrome effect which is common in many hip-hop & R’n’B videos, such as those by Jay Z and Snoop Dogg.

There is no diegetic sound in the video and product placement can be seen at certain stages of the video, for example at 2:12 where the record labels symbol is shown, which directly contrasts with the message of the song. It also goes along with the idea that pop videos are unashamedly exploiting the artist’s star power and the strength of commercialism, another theme which is inferred within the video itself through the presence of money or expensive items.

A theme strongly suggested in this video is that of it being a photo shoot, which is backed up by the many different costumes worn by the artists and actors. It looks similar to adverts aired by Calvin Klein which could be a possible inter-textual reference. The photo shoot feel of the video also ties in with the messages and values given by the video – statements such as “Perfectionist” and “Buy Your Freedom” are used with irony within the video.

The positioning of Natalia Kills at 0:43, trapped inside a box of money further reinforces the critique given by the video towards materialism and celebrity status. This corresponds with the risqué nature of some of the shots, for example at 1:50. The element of high-end fashion features prominently and is typical of the artist and the genre, however the video challenges the materialistic nature of many hip-hop and R’n’B videos and gives out a moral message by ironically using statements such as “You Can Buy Happiness”.

This video regularly crosses gender boundaries and stereotypes, with male actors putting on lipstick and wearing a veil and the actresses posing in an aggressive and male manner – this could again be a post-modern and playful reworking of traditional gender roles within mainstream music videos. However conversely this could also be seen as an attention seeking technique or as a message given across by director – regardless, it does carry on the theme of contrasts which is prominent through this video. The clothes and body postures (i.e. parts of mise-en-scéne) offered by Natalia Kills offers an objectified representation of women and reinforces some of the negative stereotypes that reoccur in hip-hop & R’n’B videos.

References

• “Music Video and the Politics of Representation” – by Diane Railton & Paul Watson, published 2011 Edinburgh University Press.

• “Music Videos as Communication: Popular Formulas and Emerging Genres” Journal of Popular Cultures, vol 26, no.2 (1992) by Joe Gow.

• “Dancing in the Distraction Factory” by Andrew Goodwin (1992).