Lady GaGa - Paparazzi
Music Video Analysis
The song 'Paparazzi' was sag by singer/song-writer Lady GaGa, released July 6th 2009. Lady GaGa wrote this song and produced this song with Rob Fusari, who is a Grammy-winning producer/song-writer who has also produced with the likes of Beyonce, Will Smith and Stevie Wonder. The song portrays Gaga's struggle with balancing fame, love and success with influence from the media and how the media portrays her. The song is an up-tempo pop song reaching the top ten in more than 10 countries. The song won the 2009 MTV music video award which makes this an interesting music video to analyse.
The whole music video is 7 minutes 11 seconds long. A lot of narrative abstract music videos now have extended versions. This is due to the change of digital distribution. Music is no longer just about the sound or the sound but now has very many aspects of art and other industries such as make-up, fashion, and film. The extended version allows more product placement such as the use of Dior rings which Lady Gaga wears or the clothes she wears. It also allows for more narrative which fans enjoy. Now music videos have moved from television to a more modern internet such as YouTube and Facebook, meaning more distribution between medias. The artist will create longer music videos as this entices fans and also creates a certain 'buzz' or creates a drip feed process before the release date knowing Lady Gaga has created a longer version music video for her fans which is becoming more common nowadays.
Lady Gaga reaches out to many audiences. I used YouGov to generate the actual audience for Lady Gaga which suggested males ages 18-24, from lower class status', who have professions in Media or Fashion. Lady Gaga is known for being a sexual icon which could indicate why there are more male fans of Lady Gaga rather than female. Lady Gaga promotes herself as a rich and wealthy celebrity, who is glamorously famous. However, she is more aimed at lower class status groups as her products such as her perfume is quite cheap compared to leading brands at £12.99 per gift set in comparison to a well named brand such as Marc Jacobs at £50. This may be one of two reasons that Lady Gaga would like to keep her products cheap for her main audience being lower class. Another reason may be as her audiences age range is still young, she don't want her products too expensive so younger shoppers won't be able to buy them.
Another way she fires at the media is using newspapers at every plot twist the music video takes. The newspapers shape today's world and known well for their corrupted representation and bias to whom they're representing. The fact they are shown as black and white also suggests the time era again, being the 1940's. They have been shown in the music video to show her audiences how she can control the media as much as they control her and that it is easily shaped.
This scene of the music video is captivating in the sense of the story line. As we see, the camera is in POV from the paparazzi's view, again black and white, showing the time era again. We see that just before the man pushes Lady Gaga off the balcony he looks at the camera. The scene turns from lust and love to abusive and deadly. In my opinion, the man looks at the camera as if he has paid the paparazzi to capture them together, meaning more showbiz for himself rather than Gaga, by being seen with her. This is used as a metaphor for how the media works and how it has corrupted fame. By showing this in the music video, we see the actors intentions and what Gaga is trying to portray, as well as showing women as objects yet again for male amusement.
Lady Gaga reaches out to many audiences. I used YouGov to generate the actual audience for Lady Gaga which suggested males ages 18-24, from lower class status', who have professions in Media or Fashion. Lady Gaga is known for being a sexual icon which could indicate why there are more male fans of Lady Gaga rather than female. Lady Gaga promotes herself as a rich and wealthy celebrity, who is glamorously famous. However, she is more aimed at lower class status groups as her products such as her perfume is quite cheap compared to leading brands at £12.99 per gift set in comparison to a well named brand such as Marc Jacobs at £50. This may be one of two reasons that Lady Gaga would like to keep her products cheap for her main audience being lower class. Another reason may be as her audiences age range is still young, she don't want her products too expensive so younger shoppers won't be able to buy them.
Focusing on the music video, Paparazzi opens with a series of shots known as a montage. This gives the audience an essence of where the music video will be set just like a movie opening with establishing shot(s). A large mansion looking rather regal and structured as if it was from a Mediterranean/Greek setting, due to the stone sculptures and clear oceans which we see through the start of the video giving us a hint of where the music video is set. On later research we believe it is set in Las Vegas, hinting at fame and fortune and more understanding of why being set in a regal mansion.
In this shot, a title has been edited over the top with a more 1940's movie style font as seen here. We can also note that a border has been edited onto the shot to look like it is being viewed from an old cinema, sort of like a vignette filter, also hinting at the time era.
Within the first few moments of the music video we as an audience already have established the time era and location of where and when it is set. The flower seen next to her name is a symbol for love, beauty and refinement. This can be analysed as what Lady Gaga wants to be seen as, a beautiful woman who has been refined. Looking further into refinement, we know this means to be manipulated into removing impurities and imperfections. This can be seen as a dig to media due to how the media has manipulated her into a 'perfect' woman, which she agrees isn't correct.
The next shot consists of the name of the other actor in her music video, posing as the murdering boyfriend. This shot shows the mans personality, by showing a naked statue of a woman. We can annotate this as men being sexist towards women, and showing them as actual objects. However, another analyse referring to Lady Gaga's many music videos shows that she often uses men to resemble the music industry so may be yet another dig towards the media industry saying how men are inferior to woman and aren't abused as much. Another element in this shot is the calm ocean in the background. This may foreshadow events in the music video such as the calm before the storm.
The sound used in the first minute is calm and tranquil with naturalistic sounds such as birds and the wind. This again shows the calm before the storm. The music used is classical piano music which hints at wealth and elegance.
Here, we see a close up of her possessions. Lady Gaga uses a lot of product placement throughout her music videos to earn her more money from leading companies for sporting their products. We see Beats, by Dr Dre placed here, which she later competes in the sound business herself with her own earphones. On the dollars, we see her own face which could indicate that she sees herself as a leader and role model to her fans.
Again, more product placement of Dior and her own jewelry range. Lady Gaga is known for her work in the fashion industry and by displaying her own products, becomes synergy throughout her work.
Another way she fires at the media is using newspapers at every plot twist the music video takes. The newspapers shape today's world and known well for their corrupted representation and bias to whom they're representing. The fact they are shown as black and white also suggests the time era again, being the 1940's. They have been shown in the music video to show her audiences how she can control the media as much as they control her and that it is easily shaped.
This scene of the music video is captivating in the sense of the story line. As we see, the camera is in POV from the paparazzi's view, again black and white, showing the time era again. We see that just before the man pushes Lady Gaga off the balcony he looks at the camera. The scene turns from lust and love to abusive and deadly. In my opinion, the man looks at the camera as if he has paid the paparazzi to capture them together, meaning more showbiz for himself rather than Gaga, by being seen with her. This is used as a metaphor for how the media works and how it has corrupted fame. By showing this in the music video, we see the actors intentions and what Gaga is trying to portray, as well as showing women as objects yet again for male amusement.
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