Music Analysis- Lady GaGa- Paparazzi

This video from Lady GaGa depicts a strange yet stylish persona for Lady GaGa, and tells us a narrative from the song into a video. This video is cleverly made as it's storyline is quite twisted due to her killing her husband at the end, however it puts in a fun and comical twist.

The video starts off with an establishing shot which shows the setting, which suggest the character in the video is rich. This is common in music videos in this mainstream genre as they make being a pop star look like a rich and glamorous worl like in John Stewarts theory. The video is presented like a film at the start with credits this is effective as it means that it is in a film style and that it keeps the viewers watching. In the way of mise en scene they are clever  in this video because they layout certain items which can give ideas into what has happened at the house. Not only that you can notice lots of money on the table, and on this money contains Lady GaGa's face. This shows supreme power and gives away that she is someone of a high standing in the video. There is a contrast too as they are in a massive well polished mansion and there is lots of money and rubbish everywhere and this contrast can surprise the audience.

GaGa near the beginning of the scene is talking a different language with a man in her bed, this shows that there is romance there. And by using a different language is clever as it can catch the audience by surprise and enticing them into watching the video itself. It then flicks to a newspaper with her in the headlines, which then again shows power and how famous she is, it can also be linked to the title of the song being paparazzi. They then use an effect which is in the view of a camera taking pictures this is really effective considering the title of the song, and then cleverly shows loads of headlines. It cunningly switches from a diagetic camera sound to the non diagetic beat of the song, and it gets the rhythm of the song going.

Lady GaGa's appearance can be linked to Goodwins theory as her image is quite suggestive and for display purposes. By doing this it gets the men more interested in the video as it adds sex appeal to Lady GaGa's image. Lots of quick cuts and close ups on her fashion and clothing, she does a number of costume changes through out the cideo through these cuts. There are also lots of men around her which suggests she is a powerful women and is in control, this men are also doing a carefully choreographed dance which makes the video look more polished. The video contains shots of dead women which could suggest that she is the dominant female.

This video contains numerous camera angles and shots to add variety to the video. It shows lots of close ups and mid shots which show GaGa's image. GaGa uses exhibitionism by having a sexualized gaze. A lot of GaGa's choreography is of her lying on an expensive gold sofa which shows that she is rich and powerful. There are so many quick cuts in this video as the tempo of the song is quite fast and has to show lots of narrative, however it always cuts back to her singing, to show that she is one with the song. This video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can, the Mise-en-Scene, in particular, can be used to emphasise  an aspirational lifestyle.


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