Similar Textual Analysis (Jasmine):
My chosen song to analyse is ‘Without You’, which is a song by the French DJ David Guetta featuring Usher’s vocals. The genre of the track is Electro-house with elements of Dance. The song was filmed at the end of July 2011 and was released on the 14th of October 2011. The targeted audience for the song is people who like the artists and people who like dance or house music. It is also aimed at people who are interested in the political and economical situation most countries are finding themselves in today.
The lyrics are about being useless - not being able to do anything with a special someone, which is what is lacking this is portrayed by the lyrics “I lost my heart”, emphasising the heart-ache that is faced today all over the world. It seems to be important with a moral behind the story. It sends out a bigger picture of humanity uniting and coming closer, so everyone can find the one’s they love and they overcome the “paralyzed” fear like the singer. However it could also be more to the spiritual side, feeling something untouchable maybe being lost with God. It also inter-relates to the drift in humanity in today’s world and the problem we are faced with as a country and as a person.
The music is a repetitious thumping base accompanied by various computer generated songs. This makes the audience more engaged and relate to the song. It makes people want to dance. Also when the streets are dividing and all the countries on Earth are conjoining, there is a noise of movement as the earth separates and there is an earthquake noise.
The music video itself is a mix between narrative and performance driven. Narrative holds 90% of the video and performance for the remaining 10%, the performance is portrayed when Usher is on the beach singing. This gives the video a more interesting vibe as it doesn't only focus on a story line. The video also has a moral to it which makes it that much more relatable to. The moral is that people work better together then alone.
The video is also single stranded and linear, the male in the situation is drifting away from the world, he is lonely, but when the world comes together he starts dancing showing that you need to be open and have support by everyone together in order to succeed. It could also be interpreted more spiritually and bringing the world together, working united to fix the world’s situation. The song has one direction there is one story to it, it doesn’t branch out leaving you ‘thinking what happened’. This shows the video has a closed narrative structure because when the countries cometogether and the world shifts closer into one big party rather than many small parties. It also shows how everyone is alone they are lonely and unconnected but when the music starts everyone starts partying and the world joins up, the dying belief that they can get through their problems ends and they start believing. The song is realistic because of the position the world is in at the moment (recession and globally the economies are faulted and declining). However the music video itself is very unrealistic because music cannot separate tectonic plates and cause the countries to conjoin into one massive country, as Earth becomes one.
The music video also references another song ‘Digital Love’ by Daft Punk at about a minute or so into the video. This will increase the audience’s engagement and effectiveness of the video, if the audience realises it. However, not all audiences can spot such indistinctive references.
One of the themes in the music video is music itself and how it can bring love and people together. It is a main theme because music is what causes the shift in the Earth and the world to connect. Power is also a main theme in the music video. It shows how we as the people in a country have power and can bring out peace and by doing that bring together the different economies too. This gives the audience hope that it can happen and it connects with the audience and what they would like. There is also the constant theme of ambition throughout the video, shown by the moral of the story because it takes a great deal of ambition to bring together all the different countries together to end the problem faced in today’s world and economy. This is also relevant for the generations in today’s society as they all want to go further in life and the video emphasises if you have the ambition and drive for it, it can happen.
The whole ideology behind the video is that all people should have the power. Its portrays a cultural statement, if we all compromise and help each other we can compromise and make the economy whole again and say bye to the weak situations we find ourselves in.
There is strong cultural representation in the video, shown by travelling through different countries in the world. It shows “Thailand...USA...Brazil...South Africa”; this adds diversity to the music video and attracts a larger group of the public, especially people in the countries shown. The video also creates a political statement, as it shows people helping each other, countries joining forces to get through the economic situation most of the world is currently in at the moment.
David Guetta and Usher made a video that is very unusual in today’s world as most videos include some sort of gimmick to gain a greater audience. However, they have seemed to be targeting everyone as we are all in the situation yet most of the time videos include sex symbols such as under-dressed women in order to increase the male profit margins even female artist do this, for example Madonna. This is Sigmund Freud’s theory, where he says men predominantly gain pleasure from sexual objects, a women’s presence is solely for the purpose of display. It is a cynical exploitation of the female body to generate more sales. ‘Without You’ only includes female attraction to the male audience in a fraction of the video, instead they are sympathizing with the public which seems to be an effective method. This is shown by the amount of sales of the single and the number of the song in the charts. The song was fourth in the USA’s top 20 and third in its top 10 and has so far peaked up to tenth on the UK singles chart and third on the official dance songs. After this song David Guetta has also been nominated for the award of “Number one DJ”, showing the success of the song and his career escalating even more.
The video starts with an establishing shot; this shot is an edited image of a rotating Earth. It zooms into a section of the globe, which tells the audience the location they are going to be shown. There is a superimposition of the countries name and the time it was filmed. This further emphasises the location, this adds to the diversity and culture of the video. The first super imposed text says “Brazil – 6:07AM” and it then cuts to a beach in Brazil. Here there is a medium close-up of hands swaying in the air, which shows the numbers of people in the country, it represents the Brazilians. Then it cuts back to the globe rotating and repeats its pattern of close-up and superimposition now saying “South Africa – 9:07PM”. The lighting in each country is a significant use of symbolism; Brazil had natural lighting while South Africa is portrayed with red strobe lighting. This is important later in the music video, as it allows the audience to keep on track of which country is been shown.
There is then a cut to Usher singing at a beach in a vulnerable state this puts emphasis on the volatility of the economy which creates tension and creates an interest for the rest of the video. During this shot of him there are a number of cuts that show the audience the other two established countries. After easing the audience into the video it is made a little more complicated by adding another country to the story using a cut, “Thailand – 4:07AM” (which is shown with blue lights). Next there another cut is used to show the transition of the day to night. This transition is held over a shot of the ocean, as it becomes darker it symbolizes the ongoing death of the economy.
The use of close-ups to show David Guetta is a way of showing you the other artist in the song, having his image in the video helps build up his star image. In each country it shows him as well known and loved by the people waiting for him to start playing. It cuts back to Usher in a mid shot singing and then launches a new country “USA – 2:07PM”, USA is filmed on a beach. After the establishing shot of USA there is a track to show a side view of the people. It then cuts back to David Guetta playing; this holds importance as it shows how his music is what is bringing the countries together. While he is playing there is use of close-ups of his hands on the DJ decks and of various DJ instruments, this emphasises the importance of music.
The video intercuts between the different countries and Usher singing in a repetitive pattern, which makes it easier for the audience to follow and understand the story line. The close-ups in the different countries show the people dancing and having fun suggesting that they seem to be having most fun when music comes into the picture. There is use of tracks of the country’s population enjoying themselves to David Guetta which emphasises he is the one who creates the peace with his music. Together with the countries there is repetition of random cuts back to Usher, emphasizing his isolation and loneliness as he is alone, this contrasts with David Guetta as he is crowded with people and having fun.
Then there is an extreme close-up of the concrete ground cracking and each countries foundation shaking while people’s feet are shown in the shot to suggest that it is the side effect of the music and dancing. The next couple of shots are cuts between the ground shifting and the parties in the different countries which are separated by the lighting; the lighting tells the audience what countries they are seeing. There is dolly shot of the crack on the ground and people running following it creating tension for the next shot to take the effect it was meant to. With an extreme close-up of the tectonic plates shifting and a cut to the globe were the countries are moving closer to become one. There is an over the shoulder of two girls sitting on steps reading the news on the Ipad showing that it is a worldwide situation and emphasising the effect it causes if countries come together and help each other.
There is a cut to Usher on the beach and everyone from all the countries joining him, showing his isolation is obsolete. The main focus is on the beach and the people around David Guetta and Usher and a cut to David Guetta putting the music louder. This portrays the importance and the moral which is about working together. It also shows the effect once everything is over which may push the public to think differently and change their views. There is a wide shot of all the countries people hugging and becoming one. The video ends with a wide shot of people’s hands in the air creating hearts suggesting that the outcome can only be good.
In the whole music video everyone is happy and joyful apart from Usher because he is lonely, isolated on a beach, however towards the end when the countries join he becomes happy and everyone is smiling.
The song doing well in the charts emphasises the audience’s opinion showing that they enjoy the song. Since the song has a moral concept, there are no usual complaints by certain sections of people such as feminists that don’t like the portrayal of women in certain videos. This video has received no major complaints apart from a few of the public who don’t like the song as it is with all music videos and songs.
The videos preferred reading is that there is a party going on in different parts of the world, which brings them together by the cause of an earthquake shown by the close-up of crack in the ground. This is a simplistic and transparent outlook on the video. The negotiated reading of the video is when the audience decodes the videos coding by looking at the possible meanings of the video. The video’s symbolism can be interrelated in different ways. It could be seen as a religious video, a prayer to God this can be a possible negotiated view as Usher’s lyrics seems like he has lost faith in God and is asking him for his guidance. However, it could be viewed in a political way which links to the current state of the economy. In addition the political view links with the oppositional view as the audience have their own individual vies on the state of the economy and how we can solve it, therefore it might create a debate for the audience.
Overall I enjoy the song and the concept behind it, I like the somewhat individuality of the video as it is more moral and uses little to no gimmicks for money purposes. The continuous use of cuts creates more interest for me in the music video as it shows many places not focusing on one long shot, but the constant change keeps me interested in watching more and listening to the song. However I think that they could include other countries to portray how the whole world comes together instead of using the few countries to try and show this, I think it would have worked better. In conclusion my overall opinion of the song is positive.
