Analysis of a Star

Music Video Analysis

 

Music video’s are a tool, which help the artist to sustain their popularity within the music industry. One artist that I think has changed over the years is Ne-yo due to his image as an artist, his target audience, Goodwin's theory, genre and generic conventions and what the messages and values are in the music video and what they were at the time. The first video I will analyze will be the very first that Ne-yo ever made 'Stay' (2005), compare this video to 'Mad' (2008) and finally compare that to his newest video, 'Lazy Love' (2012).

 

The beginning of the video for 'Stay' the audience is shown each individual room in the apartment of which Neyo is in to set the scene. The audience are shown the bedroom of which Neyo is sitting on the bed writing a song. Straight away we see the difference from video's in recent times from the way that the artist is dressed. Red baseball cap worn backwards, large chain around his neck, a baggy black t-shirt and baggy jeans which was in trend at the time of the video being set for a Hip Hop singer. Neyo after writing then sing's what he has written out loud, allowing the audience to believe that the video will be a performance. As this is Ne-yo's first music video it is important that the artist is seen in the video to help promote him as an artist. The first link we see between music and visuals is when the beginning of the song starts which sounds like the scratching of the record. Everytime the record goes back and forth the audience is shown the time and Neyo and then Neyo making the hand gesture's seen by a DJ who would scratch the record. Following Goodwin's theory that R'n'B music video's have certain generic conventions, an expensive Mercedes pulls around the corner of a block outside of Neyo's apartment. This shows wealth making the audience want to buy into the artist's lifestyle.
Women are seen looking out of their car windows to the man in the Mercede's portraying the notion of looking.
There are many links between lyrics and visuals throughout the video starting with Neyo holding his head when he sings 'and ooh my head is just aching', then the artist rubbing his hands together when he sings into the camera 'hands don't stop sweating'. This is helping build a relationship with the artist and the audience because it feels as though the artist is singing directly to you. After singing those lyrics, it is not evident that Neyo is singing about a girl and so the audience is shown women's jewellery, a dress and shoes. We can already identify this as being a video from a few years ago as some music video's in recent times give an element of mystery. Although the video cuts back to Neyo singing and pointing to the camera often, showing the performance side of the video, the audience also follow a narrative as we see Neyo hide behind a door of which a women walks out of in a towel. Playfully, Neyo pulls the women's towel away revealing pink lace underwear to which she looks playfully annoyed however he smiles and the audience is shown Neyo singing into the camera once again on the performance side 'I just can't help myself', allowing the audience to understand the lyrics between himself and the woman.



 




She then shakes her bum to the beat of the music of which he comes up behind her and dances with her.
Following this the audience see's Neyo dancing in the middle of a road dressed all in black and white, complete with baggy jeans and a white baseball cap. However he has mixed casual and smart clothing by wearing those things as well as a white shirt and black and white stripy tie. From dancing in the street to seeing him back in the apartment following the woman around and then back to a close-up of Neyo's face singing in the road again.


The most obvious link between music and visuals is when the girl in the narrative shakes her bum to the beat of the music and when Neyo and the same girl dances outside.
Stereotypically Hip Hop singers of the time either sung about wealth or women. The target audience for this music video would be from the ages between 17 and 25 because the woman is left in revealing clothing, with connotations of lust when Neyo comes behind her and dances. Before becoming an artist, Neyo was a song writer for other well-known singers such as Beyonce, therefore I feel that the message of this song is to make him known as not just a songwriter but also an artist. Neyo's message of the time was to show that he can be sexy and seen as a sex symbol through his dancing and the way he views the woman would possibly be how an audience of women would want to be viewed by him.

The next video of Neyo's made in 2008 was 'Mad'. All in black and white, the video starts off with Neyo arguing with a woman in a heated discussion. Neyo is wearing another hat however a softer more casual hat of which I come to learn after watching many of Neyo's video's is actually his 'thing'. A less flashy silver chain around his neck and an earring. By the audience not seeing a lot of what Neyo is wearing throughout the video, means that he wants the audience to to understand the narrative more than the expensive lifesyle he is living. This video does have an element of performance in it as the video cuts from the current story it is trying to tell back to close-ups of Neyo wearing a smarter hat and singing directly to the camera as if telling a story of what is happening in the narrative.

The argument leads to Neyo leaving and slamming the door with his hood up of his hooded jacket possibly showing that he is annoyed and doesnt want to be spoken to or that he won't look back. After screaming out 'kid' when he see's a young boy run in the road, the audience hears a loud crash and the screen goes black.

 

Following this the rest of what we see is blurry and further in the mist, Neyo. Still in black and white, it then cuts to the performance side of the video; a close-up of the side of Neyo's face beginning to sing the song showing the pain and other emotions he is feeling. The narrative carries on throughout the rest of the video from this point, sometimes going back to the performance running alongside the narrative of which Neyo is singing. In the chorus, Neyo sings 'I know sometimes its gonna rain' and following the lyrics being sung we see Neyo in a road while its raining singing and dancing; this shows a relationship between the lyrics and visuals. This is like his first video 'Stay' where he is seen singing and dancing in the street however his style has changed in clothing as he is wearing just a plain t-shirt and jacket and we do not see much of Neyo dancing in this video.

For the rest of the video the audience just sees the woman who is Neyo's love interest, crying and upset. He is quite close to her but she does not know he is there which follows Goodwin's theory of the notion of looking. When Neyo and his love interest are in a restaurant the audience is positioned with a shot of Neyo with a skeleton doll bride and groom behind him. Watching this video for the first time I didn't realise that by the woman not even looking in Neyo's direction, and seeing those skeleton dolls behind him meant that it wasn't the little boy that got run over in the beginning of the video, it was Neyo trying to save him. Which starts to explain the narrative more clearly to the audience. This video is very different from the first because it considers all three types of music video possible which include performance, narrative and concept. The concept of this video would be that you shouldn't go to bed mad at someone. Many elements throughout this video conform to Goodwin's theory. The message of this video would be that he isnt all about lust, but shows deeper feelings and emotions in this song about love.

 



The final video I will analyze is Neyo's 'Lazy Love' which is mainly narrative based with the smallest bit of performance. At the beginning of the video we see a close-up of Neyo wearing sunglasses and a hat, which is a image seen throughout the video at various times, which is most likely linked with an intertextual reference. This is very different to his other video's. Although it includes Neyo's love interest again, this time the video is much more explicit, showing not only the woman wearing just underwear but also Neyo half naked. The video has connotations throughout of sexual references, not only in a bedroom on a bed but also in an outdoor swimming pool.

The second verse of the song the audience sees Neyo during his performance side of the video, topless allowing the audience to be seduced by the artist. The theme of the song conforms to the stereotype of the genre of the video. By Neyo and his love interest not wearing a lot of clothing this also conforms to R'n'B stereotypes. Camera angles are mainly close-ups and mid shots of the artist when singing to the camera and also during the narrative. The only long shots seen throughout the video is of both Neyo and his love interest when he picks her up.

This video also conforms to Goodwin's theory of genre characteristics because although he isn't showing off much of his lifestyle (except when the audience is shown Neyo in glasses and a chain), he is seen in nearly every scene with the same girl which is a stereotype of R'n'B stars. Neyo conforms to the R'n'B stereotype as all of his video's I have looked at since he first started as an artist involve a woman. The video also conforms to the notion of looking as we can see Neyo and his love interest which is unknowing to them.

The link between music and visuals is evident on every other beat as that is when each image changes. However this does not happen throughout the video, as the scene does change inbetween beats showing fast paced editing. Some scenes do change by fading when they are in the swimming pool to make the video flow more. This is the most explicit video Neyo has made with a warning from Youtube. The video has fast pace editing just before the second chorus as things between Neyo and the woman gets more intense and heated.

 

In Neyo's video's his target audience does not change as all video's are about love or lust and are aimed towards women explaining his emotions and feelings towards the opposite sex.

Throughout Neyo's career so far, he has changed, grown and developed which is shown through his music video's since his first in 2005. Analyzing his first video Neyo has transformed from a typical R'n'B star with scantily clad women showing off his lifestyle and wealth, to a sex symbol wearing hardly anything himself. Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory' is explained through two paradoxes. The first states that the artist has to be ordinary, to be able to connect with the target audience allowing them to understand that they are just real people too and extraordinary with their talent. The second paradox states that the artist has to be present however simultaneously absent. Its good for the artist to be absent as when they come back, it's usually with a new album/single and get a lot of promotion. This is apparant in Neyo's videos as he is shown as an ordinary man not necessarily wealthy or attempting to make the audience want to adopt his lifestyle, but also extraordinary with his powerful and talented voice. It is important to be seen as both ordinary and extraordinary to help build a relationship with the audience. In between each song, Neyo took a lot of time out to write his albums and in that time, he was seen as absent in the media through the industry. But each time a new album and hit single come out, he was present at television talk shows promoting or performing on programmes such as SNL or X Factor.

The artist has changed over time as a person but more importantly his image has changed over time linking to Richard Dyers Star Theory. He's clothing, beats and lyrics have changed due to movements in the music industry, his clothing has changed due to new fashion movements through time and so has the way the video is put together, his first being solely performance and the other two a mix of concept, narrative as well as a bit of performance making the video much more interesting to watch from an audiences point of view.