Rihanna- Shut up and Drive
The music video to Rihanna's "Shut up and Drive" holds a narrative structure that is also performance based, as Rihanna holds a massive part in the video. As is the case with most narrative music videos, the video is based in a particular lyric in the song, in this case it being the actual title of the song. As the song has a fast tempo, the pacing between each shot in different parts of the video doesn't differ much from around 1-2 cuts each second, keeping the audience involved and forced to look at Rihanna on screen. The video features a great contrast in the mise-en-scene between the masculine background of a car garage and Rihanna, dressing and acting relatively sexual and feminine and in contrast to her surroundings. In many ways therefore, the target audience for the video could be aimed to me men, using a combination of sex appeal and masculinity throughout the video to attract men. On the other hand, with multiple forms of women doing what are typically perceived as "men's jobs", such as car mechanic, can be viewed as empowering to women, while also putting women as the focus of the video rather than men.
Daniel Powter- Bad Day
This music video is also mostly narrative based, as it does tell a story about two people that have troubles in their everyday life. This story also is adapted from the songs main lyrics and title, making the video appropriate for the song, yet not completely distracting from the music as Rihanna's was. We do get to see Daniel Powter throughout the video singing and playing the piano when appropriate, but the main focus on the story is on two other people separate to the song. While the song does not contain a very fast tempo or energetic styling, the cuts between each shot are very quick in certain parts of the song, taking between 1-2 shots per second on average. The mise-en-scene in the music video is appropriate to the song, as when the music gets slower and the atmosphere gets more depressing in the song, the video follows with slower editing and generally dark tone. We also are told through the video that the two main people are meant to be together in the video through the constant foreshadowing and parallels that the editing draws upon, such as the split screen at the beginning of the video, showing their similar routine at the beginning of the day. In contradiction to Rihanna's "Shut up and Drive", the target audience is not clear due to the appeal to all ages, sex and nationalities. This make the song more accessible to a wider audience, while it is debatable if the video to "Shut up and Drive" can find an audience in groups of all ages, sexualities or ethnicities.
This music video is also mostly narrative based, as it does tell a story about two people that have troubles in their everyday life. This story also is adapted from the songs main lyrics and title, making the video appropriate for the song, yet not completely distracting from the music as Rihanna's was. We do get to see Daniel Powter throughout the video singing and playing the piano when appropriate, but the main focus on the story is on two other people separate to the song. While the song does not contain a very fast tempo or energetic styling, the cuts between each shot are very quick in certain parts of the song, taking between 1-2 shots per second on average. The mise-en-scene in the music video is appropriate to the song, as when the music gets slower and the atmosphere gets more depressing in the song, the video follows with slower editing and generally dark tone. We also are told through the video that the two main people are meant to be together in the video through the constant foreshadowing and parallels that the editing draws upon, such as the split screen at the beginning of the video, showing their similar routine at the beginning of the day. In contradiction to Rihanna's "Shut up and Drive", the target audience is not clear due to the appeal to all ages, sex and nationalities. This make the song more accessible to a wider audience, while it is debatable if the video to "Shut up and Drive" can find an audience in groups of all ages, sexualities or ethnicities.
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