Music video evaluation 5

Stevie Nicks - Edge of Seventeen

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VISUALS + LYRICS:

• For parts of the video the singer is playing a character acting a part, however for the majority of the video she is performing as her self on stage.
• For those performance sections there are no correlations between the lyrics and what is being shown.
• For the sections where she is playing a character, the scenes reflect the meaning in the song, for example the beginning of the video starts with the singer stating the first line while looking at photos, this refers to the fact the lyrics talk about growing older and looking back.
• There is also a point in which the singer looks on to a man who then disappears, this relates to the lyrics and the reference of her uncle dying. 

GENRE CHARACTERISTICS:

• The genre of Edge of seventeen is classed as rock, signifiers of this can be seen through the various instruments including the guitars.
• The costumes may also come under this.

INTERTEXTUALITY?:

• Many of the lyrics give reference to wider culture, such as the death of John Lennon, however this is not fully translated to the video

PERFORMANCE, NARRATIVE AND/OR CONCEPT?:

• The video follows a narrative as it is spilt between themes/styles and some show a story.
• A large aspect of the video follows a performance this is fairly basic but shows the set up of the instruments and mic etc.
• Concept is not particular to the video 

PERFORMANCE STYLE:

• There is a large aspect of performance in this video with the band playing for a large section of time.
• lip syncing can be seen through this performance in the performance aspects.
• verisimilitude is achieved as the set up looks live for the performance
• The shots are not very varied through the video however they do change when the song changes
• The most used shots include medium long shots and medium shots, this allows the audience to focus on the singer and the lyrics being sang

LOOKING/MODE OF ADDRESS:

• Throughout the video there are aspects of looking as the singer looks directly into the camera for the majority of shots
•  At the beginning, the acting concept section of the video transfers to the performance section by the camera zooming in and focuses of a framed shot of the singer performing, the effect used merges the two scenes as if this performance is happening within the frame.

STAR TREATMENT:

• As the lead singer is separate and not fully part of a band she is singled out ensuring the viewer sees her as the star.
• She also acts in the more dramatic sequences, keeping her as the focus.
• Close up shots also show this along with the editing always cutting back to her.

MALE GAZE?:

• Although this video features a women, she is presented as strong and more as a leader than being sexually objectified as she is the artist.
• The clothing used also does not support her being overly sexualised, even though the costume is dramatic.

LOCATION/S + MISE-EN-SCENE:

• The video does not give the audience written information on the screen however the acting sequences do give information, which was important for anchorage
• Different locations have been used even within the acting sequences which keeps the audience interested
• The props and costume fit in with the genre, this can be seen through the various outfits in which the singer wears.

 SHOTS/FRAMING:

• Although this video was filmed in the early 1980s so that the cinematography and quality is not impressive, the symbolism in some shots is notable, such as the shot of the singer dropping a doll whilst being shaken by a figure relating to either her uncle or John Lennon, this shows her having to mature.
• A notable shot would also be the transition to the performance as a shot of her performing is shown in the frame.
• In the performance scenes the shot types used are either medium long shots or medium close ups, this allows the audience to focus on the featured performance and begin to understand the link between them and the lyrics.