Music Video Analysis 2

Artists: Iamsu!, P-lo, Kool John, Jay Ant, Skipper & Kehlani

Song: Never Goin' Broke

Cinematography
This music video is of the rap genre and the budget is a lot smaller than that of the other music video I studied. It is recorded on a normal every day DSLR camera by the artists themselves. However they've also added lots of effects to make the video look more professional. Overall the video has quite a positive feel and is all a laugh with all the artists in Heart Break Gang. The artists in the video all have their own dress sense and therefore don't follow a consistent dress code to suit the song - but that's the whole point of 'Heart Break Gang. They're a group of artists and also friends who collaborate together so each of them has their own individual style as well as their own verse in the song. This music video goes against the typical stereotypes of the rap genre because it doesn't have a 'dark' feel and the video and lyrics aren't really sexualised. However you can tell the genre of the video because although the artists have their individual style and they do dress in clothes that are stereotypically for 'hood' people and all wear snapbacks. The video is set in a back garden and it also continues into a house, this shows the budget of the video but is also a good way to relate to the target audience as these artists are just ordinary people making music, they don't have to be rich to be successful. This also isn't a stereotypical rap video because it's quite common to find women being sexualised, however in this video there is no females in the background or anywhere.

Lighting and Editing
It's quite difficult to label the lighting as it's hard to distinguish a theme because of the high amounts of camera editing. However to make the video look as professional as possible there are many effects added on top of the video. Colour variations is an example. The 'Heartbreak Gang' logo is black, red and yellow and these colours and more are further portrayed in the video editing. There is a lot of 'cold' and 'warm' effects throughout the music video, the cold could represent the fact that the artists are outside in thick jackets and therefore adding to the scene, and the warm effects could reflect the actual people and their friendship showing a strong bond. Secondly, most of the video is shot through a circular lens showing a point of view and almost gives the effect of looking in to the artists own worlds.

This is one example of the effects used in the video. They almost create a glitch and this can be seen as representing the budget the artists have, and also the name of the group themselves. 'Heartbreak Gang'. Heartbreak could also represent why the glitches are present, because when a person is heartbroken they are seen to not be 'thinking straight'.

Performance
Regarding the choreography - this video looks like there is no choreography. The video was completed in one take and everything looks improvised. The only thing that is choreographed is when the artists come forward for their verse in the song. This isn't always a bad thing, it works particularly well with this music video as it's portraying fun within a group of friends and I think they represent a group of friends hanging out in a positive way. The stereotypes that come with rap music is usually drugs, sex and alcohol - however these artists go against this stereotype and prove that the music you're into doesn't represent who you are as a person.