I have chosen two very different songs with music videos to compare their characteristics. Firstly, I have chosen the American recording artist, Lady Gaga and her song ‘Bad Romance’ which was released in 2009 on her album ‘The Fame Monster’ and the music video was directed by Francis Lawrence. My comparison to this is Spanish song-writer and artist, Enrique Iglesias and his song ‘Hero’ which was released in 2001 on his album ‘Escape’ and the music video was directed by Joseph Khan.
The music video for ‘Bad Romance’ is predominantly concept based as there is a hidden message behind the performance by Lady Gaga of a plot surrounding the Russian Mafia, drugs and a prostitute brothel. However, when watching the music video, it’s extremely difficult to recognise this plot and the actual synopsis of this song is surrounding the dark side of the music industry, which is also hard to recognise. This music video is also partly performance based as it shows Lady Gaga herself performing the song and acting as the ‘victim’. Alternatively, the music video for ‘Hero’ is predominantly performance-based as Enrique is the main character in the video. It is also partly narrative –based as it tells part of a story which is a chase between Enrique and his love and his criminal enemies.
In the music video for ‘Bad Romance’, Lady Gaga is put on sexual display through the use of provocative dancing, minimal clothing, and scenes of partial nudity and sexualised lyrics. The use of minimal clothing and nudity makes a direct link to the real synopsis of this music video of a prostitute brothel. There is a notion of looking in this video with an insight into the music industry and the beginning of life as a star. In a different manner, sexual display is used in the music video for ‘Hero’. Enrique Iglesias is portrayed as a hero to his love interest and this emphasises his desirable image that has been created throughout his career. His love interest, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, a successful American actress, is dressed in quite revealing clothes which emphasises the sexuality and glamour in this video. Enrique is clothed in tight fitting clothes such as vests and is wearing a tailored suit towards the end of the music video. This emphasises the sexuality and his image and a desirable artist. This video is a piece of voyeurism, because many people will watch this video just to see Enrique. However, the music video for ‘Bad Romance’ is a piece of exhibitionism as Lady Gaga is an artist who is not bothered about being exploited in any aspect in this video. This music video also supports the Male Gaze Theory as it shows many scenes were Lady Gaga is wearing minimal clothing and men are watching her and approve that she is partially or completely nude.
As the music video for ‘Bad Romance’ is a concept video, there is not much of a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. However, there are some references such as at the beginning where Lady Gaga sings “I want your drama, the touch of your hand” and the visuals show her stroking her leg which represents a direct link. There is another link when she sings “I want your psycho, your vertigo stick” and she mimics a stick in her hands in her dance routine. Dissimilarly, the music video for ‘Hero’ shows a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. For example, there is a direct close-up shot of Enrique and his love interest (Jennifer Love Hewitt) close to kissing when the lyrics say “Would you tremble if I touched your lips?” Following on from that scene, there is a close-up shot of Jennifer Love Hewitt laughing and the lyrics sing “Would you laugh, oh please tell me this?”. Later on in the song, when Enrique sings “I can kiss away the pain”, there is a close-up shot of Enrique kissing Jennifer Love Hewitt. Immediately after this scene, Enrique sings “I will stand by you forever” and this is accompanied by a close-up/extreme close-up shot of Enrique standing behind Jennifer Love Hewitt as he sings. Towards the end of the music video, there is a close-up shot of Enrique struggling to breath after being shot and he sings “You can take my breath away”.
Regarding star image and motifs in each video, each artist is depicted in a very different yet still personal and individual way. In ‘Bad Romance’, Lady Gaga wears very little and very revealing clothes throughout. This is typical of Lady Gaga as she is an extremely exhibitionist artist and feels most comfortable wearing little when performing. Her dance routines throughout are very provocative which is typical of Lady Gaga as she is known for being very outrageous and inappropriate when performing either on stage or in her music videos and ‘Bad Romance’ is a perfect example of this. Her lyrics are extremely sexualised, for example, ‘I want your love, Love-love-love’. However, this is not new for Lady Gaga as this is part of her star image; to shock people with her exhibitionism. This video is a piece of art, largely due to the costume, lyrics, visuals and dance which are incredibly concept and expressive. What sells this track, like many of her other music videos, is the shock factor and that she pushes the boundaries of what is seen as socially acceptable. Her bizarreness works in harmony with this and as a result, the song has gone platinum in most countries with gold being the exception. However, on the flip-side, Enrique Iglesias’ music video for ‘Hero’ is an advert to sell the star in the most desirable way possible. Enrique is a world-wide phenomenon desired by most women and this video is a perfect emphasis on that image. Shown wearing tight clothes such as vests emphasise his physique and making him more desirable. This choice of clothing is evident in other music videos and this is largely because it is the most successful way of selling his music. There are other features of this music video which sell the song. For example, successful actors such as Jennifer Love Hewitt and Mickey Rourke feature in this music video and this puts it on a new level as it exposes Enrique as an actor and makes the video more powerful because of the actors in it.
The music video for ‘Bad Romance’ as a concept video; does not have a very strong relationship between the music and visuals as the plot/visuals are completely different to the music/lyrics of the song. However, there is some relation. For example, when the song starts after a sequence of high-pitched orchestral music and the beat drops, Lady Gaga reacts in a startled way as if she has been taken by surprise. In the beginning of the song where it goes “Ra Ra Oo La La...” there is a relationship between that and of the dance routine, where Lady Gaga and the fellow dancers hand clap and perform ‘jutting’ body movements to match the beat, especially in the bath tub scene. Similarly, when the song goes “Love, Love, Love” there is a dance sequence that matches the lyrics as it is playing. After the bath tub scene and Lady Gaga is undressed by the Russian supermodels, she folds out her arms in surrender and the song matches this expression with the lyrics “Woah!” which drags out as she unfolds her arms. This highlights a relationship between the music and the visuals as the expression in lyrics and scenes are matched. Later on in the song, there are fast paced, straight cut shots of Lady Gaga walking and singing “Walk, walk, fashion, baby, work it, move that, bitch crazy.” and each word is given its own shot of Lady Gaga, making it fast-paced and therefore creating a match between the lyrics and visuals. Immediately after those fast-paced shots, there is a short shot of Lady Gaga shooting a gun made from her hand as the beat drops and goes into the chorus. This creates a relationship because there is a direct link to the music and visuals. Alternatively, in the music video for ‘Hero’ there is a strong relationship between the music and the visuals. Firstly, when the fight scene breaks out between Enrique and his enemy and eventually Enrique is injured, the music picks up pace to emphasise the emotion and atmosphere. At the beginning of the music video, the music remains slow to complement the relationship between Enrique and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Towards the end of the song, where Enrique has been shot/stabbed and is dying, the song picks up pace and substance and becomes very dramatic to match the mood of the scene. Around half-way through the music video, Mickey Rourke (Enrique’s enemy in the video) plays the keys on piano in time with the piano notes in the song. This creates a link between the music and visuals and makes the song seem more realistic as it is in time. The instrumental in the middle of the song is played over a romantic scene between Enrique and Jennifer Love Hewitt, this emphasises the romance in the scene instead of lyrics overpowering the visuals. The final relation between visuals and the music in the ‘Hero’ video is the beat in the music drops and picks up pace and substance when Enrique punches Mickey Rourke in the face which starts the fight. This emphasises the scene and increases its dramatic value.
In both music videos, there is intertextual references through-out. Firstly, in ‘Bad Romance’, there is a scene where Lady Gaga is dressed in black wearing a black crown and black sunglasses singing into the mirror. This could be seen as a direct link to the film ‘The Who’s Tommy’, in which a boy is deaf, dumb and blind unless he looks in a mirror in which he becomes responsive. Secondly, the real synopsis of this music video; Russian mafia, drugs and supermodels working together in a brothel, give the video depth and make it into more of an art piece as described as Lady Gaga’s previous videos. On the other hand, the music video for ‘Hero’ gives Enrique Iglesias a new persona as a hero and a protector of the people he loves. This is an advertisement of him from his record company because it’s absolutely certain that many women will swoon over him because of his already desirable image. This video also promotes his skills and possible career as an actor because he is working with successful actors Mickey Rourke and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
In conclusion, the music video for ‘Bad Romance’ includes a lot of hidden references but manages to maintain the star image and motifs as previous music videos. It is seen as a piece of art because of its hidden synopsis and is largely a concept video with performance from Lady Gaga herself. Differently, the music video for ‘Hero’ is an effort to advertise Enrique Iglesias further to his already bulging female fan base. The video is a narrative/performance piece and this is because he needs a predictable storyline and his own image to sell this track, unlike Lady Gaga who uses shear madness and hidden synopses additionally on her music as it is guaranteed to be successful on its own.