A2 Media Music Video - Similar Artist 1

Kelly Clarkson’s 2009 hit, “My Life Would Suck Without You” is an excellent example of a song similar to my chosen song for my music video. The Pop/Rock anthem was a hit all around the world with a CD cover that has inspired Kelly Clarkson’s whole theme for her new work and its music video is an excellent example of a fun video featuring an artist very similar to mine, Caroline Larsson. In this part of my blog, I will analyze the CD cover for the song, its music video and Kelly’s website.

The “My Life Would Suck…” CD cover is a simple yet effective logo that ties in with the song’s genre, emphasizes the “sex sells” movement and also features connotations of words in the song’s title. A striking and highly provocative picture of Kelly is central on the CD cover with a plain background behind it. This immediately makes Kelly the main focus of the cover and makes sure that nothing can distract the buyer from seeing her image. This also shows someone viewing the cover from further away that the CD is of a Kelly track and makes it easily recognizable as her; a female who is a popular and well known face in the crowded music area that is Female Solo Artists. People who may not be aware of Kelly will be easily drawn to the CD by the bright colours and glamorous look of the artist.

Kelly is also seen holding a Lollipop, a classic connotation of the word “suck”. This could be viewed as slightly humorous and adds to the attractive vibe of the cover. A sparkle of light is also shown glistening from the lolly and this could be easily viewed as a metaphor for the person “who’s life Kelly’s would suck without”. The bright red of Kelly’s clothing and the lolly are clear connotations to abstract nouns such as “lust”, “femininity” and “passion”, all of which accentuate the trend that female artists need to look sexy in order to sell more records. The font on the CD cover is simple yet with a floral twist which is also featured on her website which is what I am going to analyze next.

Kelly Clarkson.com features a very similar colour theme to the CD cover for “My Life Would Suck…” with powerful purples and pinks. The main image is the same as the CD cover and this shows marketing consistency. The font for the main title is also the same as the CD cover, clearly showing a consistent and attractive house style and something I can take as inspiration from for my website. Next to the image of Kelly is a slideshow providing links to main parts of the site including buying tickets to see Kelly (this slide features a shot from her “My Life Would Suck” video; helping people possibly unaware of Kelly something to familiarize themselves with), a plea to join her fan club and also a link to other Kelly Clarkson products, mainly an I-Phone application, which ties in with the fan club as fans can post their scores on the website. Below the main title are sub headings for other parts of the site. The font is clear and of a colour easily visible and makes the site easily accessible.

The homepage then splits into 3 columns. In Column one, there is a media player, playing Kelly’s latest hits and allowing people to listen to snippets of her music. Below this is a score table for the fans that have uploaded their scores of Kelly’s I-Phone game on the website. This is a clever feature on the site as it is will draw in more people who want to try and beat one another’s scores; resulting in them having more chance to buy some of Kelly’s music, log into her fan club or buy tickets to her events. The middle column features tour information and tickets that are going to be on sale soon. The final column gives an insight into Kelly’s thoughts, similar to “Tweets” on Twitter.com. The website is the greatest of examples in terms of creating Kelly’s brand. The same colours and similar bold images are used on all her CD covers and website and the crisp layout of the site makes it easily accessible to all; and also fun with links to the I-Phone game score board and her chat room.

Kelly Clarkson’s promotional video for “My Life Would Suck…” opens with a medium shot of the singer on a swing. We then see some quickly edited elliptical shots showing a young girl and boy playing. The boy hands the girl a present, to which she then hugs him. We see the girl on the swing at another medium shot and when she swings out of view, Kelly swings into view. We can interpret from this that Kelly was having a flashback and that she is the young girl.

As the lyrics start, we see a close up of Kelly before a shot on the younger version of her is seen. Young Kelly is sat on a chair and then there is a Zoom In to an Extreme Close-up of a necklace, presumably the gift given to Young Kelly by the little boy. The shot then zooms out and we can see we are now back in the present day, in which Kelly is now wearing the necklace as a bracelet. The zoom is a clever technique of showing that time has passed as is also an interesting way to introduce a new scene. A man then walks into Kelly’s apartment to the lyrics “your standing at my door.” This is an example of an illustrative relationship between the actions in the video and the lyrics. Judging by what we’ve seen so far in the video, the viewer can take a guess at whether the man in the apartment is the little boy in the flashback. This creates a small enigma to keep us interested in the video.

There are more fast cuts of different shots including Kelly and the man (most likely her boyfriend) chasing one another over the possession of some keys and also a medium shot of Kelly singing whilst facing a window. We see Kelly singing here at several points in the video; aswell as her singing on the swing. These shots are mostly close ups in the video and really emphasize the more feminine side of Kelly. She appears to be gazing out of the video whilst looking in a positive mood, which makes me think she may be reminiscing on her past and her time with the male character. We see a close-up next of Kelly back on the swing and then we see a clever Point Of View shot with Kelly playfully and provocatively holding the keys; and threatening to flush them down her toilet. This shot can be perceived as a superb marketing tool; as we are supposedly from the male point of view, and showing Kelly acting cute and playful may attract males to the video.

Kelly’s more wild side comes out at the beginning of the chorus. Kelly’s boyfriend’s expression at her putting his keys down the toilet is linked with the start of the performance part of the video by light coming from the corner of the shot. When the chorus starts, light bursts onto the screen from the spotlights behind Kelly. The next 27 seconds shows Kelly performing with her band. The rock instruments, bright lights, wind effect and Kelly’s body language all reflect her Rock/Pop genre and are certainly inspirations to me seeing as my chosen artist is of the same genre. A series of close-up Meet Shots are shown as well as a fast paced array of Zooms, Mechanical Shots and Establishing Shots. We need see Young Kelly and the boy sat looking slightly fed up with each other on some chairs. We then see Kelly and her boyfriend in her apartment in the same positions with similar expressions. This two shot proves that the boy in the flashback is Kelly’s boyfriend in the present day.

The next sequence sees Kelly and her boyfriend sat in her apartment similar to the previous shot. More fun and games happen with Kelly picking a fight whilst the lyrics “maybe I was wrong for trying to pick a fight” are sung. This is another example of illustration. We then see Kelly and her boyfriend trying to “one-up” each other by throwing each other’s belongings out of a window. This scene features Elliptical Editing as seeing Kelly collects her boyfriend’s belongings isn’t of significance to the video. A Whip Pan, a Low Angle Shot, a Medium Shot and an Over-The-Shoulder Shot are all edited together with performance to mirror the urgency that Kelly and her boyfriend are feeling when they see that they’re favourite possessions are being thrown out of the window. It also reflects the intensity and emotion of what Kelly is singing about. This section of the video ends with a Cutaway to a goldfish bowl, which in the end is also thrown out of the window to Kelly’s boyfriend’s dismay.

A small, slow section of the song is next, which shows more performance including showing illustration between the music and the instruments. This softer part of the song is expressed by our couple cuddling on screen, yet Kelly immediately springs from her boyfriend’s arms as the beat of the music becomes louder and faster. Another meet shot sequence of Kelly and her band is shown, with Kelly rocking out; swishing her hair from side to side. Bright spotlights from behind Kelly then dim to reveal a new setting, Kelly and her boyfriend driving along a road. Kelly is once again pestering her boyfriend by wanting to take a photo of him. We can lip read the word “pose” which confirms this.

More narrative is seen as it appears the two are lost as Kelly is angrily pointing to a map. An example of a Sound Beat is visible as Kelly hits her boyfriend at the same time as a loud beat in the music. The speedy rhythm of the music is reflected by the high speed of the car which Kelly is in. Medium Shots and Over-The-Shoulder Shots are seen to give a sense of how Kelly and her boyfriend must be feeling as they lose control of the car. Camera Shake is prominent also as this adds more credibility to the dynamic action. The video then ends with a Mechanical Shot which reaches Kelly’s face before one final meet shot. We then see the pair kiss in the car; confirming any doubts of them being a couple.

Overall, I think the video is a fun example of a Pop/Rock song. Some of the intriguing shots are inspiration to me and the performance parts of the song are of particular interest to me; as I need to create a similar atmosphere to the one shown in this video.