Analysis of Performance Music Video

The Music Video I am going to be analysing is Empire State of Mind by Jay Z Featuring Alicia Keys. The cinematography is great in representation of the theme and artists themselves. It is primarily a performance video but also adds input of the theme of New York City through the camera shots used on the artists performance. A high majority of the shots are either medium to close ups, zooms from close to long shot, or use panning camera movement to add to the flow of the music video. This adds to the flow because its slow enough to keep the artist central of the shot within the rule of thirds, but fast enough to follow the tempo of the song. The fact it is a medium wide shot opens up the Mise En Scene within the video and diverts attention to the artist as well as the background.

Andrew Goodwins theory could be applied to this video as for a high percentage of the video the artist is in shot, is given a lot of close ups, all techniques which represent the character and his performance which could be a requirement that the record label wished for. Editing within the video as earlier mentioned highlights a flow to the transition of shots and its relation to the song. Used within this music video is a montage of pictures of New York city and its various parts. As this is the general theme of the song the production design is surprisingly set in New York City. The video on a whole could be described as a montage as in each shot the artist is performing in a different location. The pace of the shots follows the tempo of the song and this has an aesthetically pleasing affect to the video.

To add to the overall look of the video a black and white colour filter is used for 75% of the video. This specific colour scheme creates a preferred response from an audience as it makes them look at the city of New York in a way that makes it seem historical, overall adding value to the setting. But coming towards the end of the vehicle in the last chorus it makes a swift transition into full coloured shots which sort of brings the audience back to reality leaving them on an interpretation of New York. The use of colour also shows relation of sound between the video and music. The whole black

and white part of the song is Jay-Z talking about different parts of New York that hes been to then as it returns back in to colour it talks about the present time. The production design and costume conform to the iconography expressed. For example the production design is of New York known for common places where rap culture is popular, for example Harlem/Brooklyn. To add to this the artist costume within the video is baggy items of clothing, glasses etc. All factors which are a popular trend within Rap music videos. The artists performance in the video shows gestures and actions which show similarities to many other rap genre videos. In the video connotations are present through the location, props and people. It is a very naturalistic video that is almost made to represent New York and the people in it. It does this by actually including citizens of the city within the video which adds the connotation of the artist actually caring and idolising the people. But as far as Im aware there are no obvious aspects of intertexuality included.

From an audience perspective we decode the message included in the video, which is promotion for the artist, his past and history within the city. It creates a positive representation of the working class community as well as showing the areas through montages or pictures. Dominant ideologies from the Marxist theory can be applied to this video as the song and the video all share the same meaning/message. They show the happiness and community like culture there is within the city. Levi Strausss binary oppositions theory can also be applied, as the irony lies behind the big time millionaire rap artist, performing and shooting the video in urban ghetto type areas of New York city. The contrast between the artist and its surroundings cleverly shows his support appealing to the audience who can relate to the location, and at the same time promotes how famous he is (by when it shows his past concerts performed there).
Encoding/Decoding:

Audience reception- preferred reading of the text Audience gratifications and pleasures offered Representation of groups Dominant Ideologies Media Theory (one or more): Andrew Goodwins categories Laura Mulveys feminist theory Levi Strausss Binary Oppositions