Music Video Analysis - Taio Cruz "Break my Heart"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOg_IHwXWsk - the URL to the music video as unfortunately I cannot embed it.
(Revised)
Media Forms and Conventions
The genre of “Break Your Heart,” by the artist Taio Cruz is Hip Hop/R&B, and the music video is very stereotypical of that genre in terms of the choice of imagery. To begin with, the mise en scene is of Taio Cruz being portrayed in an expensive sports car with an extremely pretty girl, in the location of somewhere hot. Already, an expensive sports car is very generic in terms that it allows a male audience who may watch this video to idolize Taio Cruz and the expensive life style he leads and the success he has with attracting beautiful girls. The close up shot of Taio Cruz placing sunglasses on his eyes symbolize that he is wealthy, which alongside the panning mid shot of his expensive sports car allow the audience to gain full view of his lifestyle. The female performer in this music video is conveyed as typical women who are seen many times in R&B music videos. For example, the panning long shot which keeps altering so the women is shown in full view to the audience, allows the audience to that she is only wearing a bikini top and tiny shorts; connoting a sex symbol which will instantly attract a male fan base of perhaps between 14-18 years old. The costume of Taio Cruz himself is him wearing an expensive real leather jacket, which is a symbol of the “bad boy,” such as characters like John Travolta from Grease, which is ironic because the name of the song is “Break Your Heart,” which connotes men who lead women on and consequently end up hurting them. Therefore, this suggests the reasoning as to why Taio Cruz is wearing a leather jacket, so he conveys an image of himself being the type of man who plays women to there advantage.
The lyrics within the song which are amplified repeatedly, “Break your heart,” are linked with the visuals in terms of every time these lyrics are sang in the chorus, images of Taio dancing and kissing different girls are played. For example, within the first repeat of the chorus, as soon as the lyrics change to “break your heart,” the mise en scene switches to Taio Cruz on a speed boat surrounded by about 6 girls who are all over him. Therefore, the lyrics aren’t contradicted by the images, instead the images are very stereotypical of the song, and consequently the narrative is very generic. In terms of how the actual music is linked with imagery, the video tends to fast cut to either a different shot type or mise en scene along with when the lyrics change beat. Furthermore, the focus is never on any type of musical instruments, yet during the first chorus, a panning long shot of Taio Cruz the woman from the beginning of the music video is used of them both on a speed boat. Again, the use of the speed boat is a symbol of the wealthy lifestyle Taio leads. The purpose of using the technique of switching shot types whenever the musical beat changes to stop the music video from becoming to boring by changing scenery. For example, by having only a simple narrative of girls chasing after Taio, the only way to stop this from becoming boring to an audience is to have regular changes of imagery.
With the use of lighting in the music video, at first because the mise en scene is somewhere very sunny such as Los Angeles, most of the lightning comes from the bright sun which shines directly into the camera. The effect of this is that it’s almost trying to show of to the audience, and Taio Cruz boasting to everyone about where he is and how hot it is. It’s also a way for the audience to idolize more about there glamorous life style. On the other hand, when the mise en scene changes from day time to evening time when long shots of a party on a boat is conveyed to the audience, the lightning is darkened to natural evening light to fit in with the theme of a party. The signifiers within this music video are however, culturally specific. For example, it is blatant that the location for the music video is in somewhere such Los Angeles in USA, due to the palm trees, beaches and weather portrayed. Therefore, the signifiers such as speed boats and expensive cars are culturally specific, as the natural association with LA is wealthy lifestyles. This is due to the fact that a majority of film stars live in LA, whether they grew up there to begin with or moved when becoming better known. Furthermore, this image is also conveyed due to TV programmed such as “Laguna Beach,” which is a reality TV show on MTV showing the rich life styles of teenagers living in California. The purpose of these signifiers in “Break Your Heart,” is that it promotes and markets California as being a fantastic place to live at, and if you move there, your life will be wonderful.
Certain generic signifiers such as women chasing after Taio Cruz and the women being extremely beautiful conform to the generic footprint. For example, nothing in this music video challenges the stereotypes of women just conveying there bodies in order to become a sex symbol, as the females in this music video aren’t portrayed as being smart or strong minded. Instead, they are shown dancing provocatively in order to win over the attention of men. Furthermore, the character which Taio is playing is very generic, as he is simply being chased by females. However, the director most likely portrayed gender roles like this, due to the fact this is what appeals to Taio Cruz’s fans. For example, men would watch this video as they can look up to Taio and enjoy watching half naked girls.
This music video is purely narrative based; with no shots of any type of performance. However, the narrative structure is linear, with a simple narrative of a women chasing after Taio Cruz’s affection and love, whilst Taio flirts and dances with other women; thus making this music video extremely generic in terms of the genre. For instance, a vast majority of other R&B music videos is women chasing and dancing for the attention of men. However, the purpose of using this narrative structure is that it provides plenty of imagery to use to make it seem less boring, yet it does make the music video very repetitive. Although, the appeal is that the music video does link in with the beat of the song and lyrics. For example, the narrative is easy and quite fun to watch as the audience can admire the location, which matches the fact the song, is quite happy.
The features within the music video of expensive symbols such as speed boats, sports cars, sunglasses and expensive clothing relate to a lot other music videos of similar genre. Just a few examples would be “Candy Shop,” by Usher, “Get Rich or Die Hard Trying,” by 50 Cent and “Milkshake” by Kellis. Therefore, these features relate to the artists as much as other music videos because Taio is being portrayed as a man who every women desires, which is similar of how star’s such as Usher and 50 Cent like to be portrayed in there music videos to. The purpose of this is most likely so they can be deemed powerful and in control. The expensive symbols consequently also relate to TV programmes such as The OC, which is a hit TV series following the wealthy lives of teenagers living in Orange County, as the symbols such as expensive cars for them are a way of life, and they don’t know any different.
Representation
The type of world which is being represented in this music video is recognisable due to other media texts like TV programmes such as The Hills, The OC, and Laguna Beach, as most audiences have been exposed to the rich lifestyle of star’s who live in California. Maybe not even through TV, yet through magazines such as HEAT where they write stories about the type of stars who live this culture such as Jennifer Anniston, and take photos of expensive symbolic items. However, this adds to the appeal of the music video, as the location represents a world where most of us would love to live in, as it is portrayed as being exciting, fun and a place with no worries. Therefore, Taio Cruz’s video almost represents a fantasy which we would like to be taken of to.
The artist Taio Cruz is being represented in many ways in order to strengthen the promotion of his records. For example, throughout the video there are many close up shots of his face, which promotes his image to his fan base. Furthermore, there are close up shots of attractive females, which promote an image of the artist being popular and wanted by the opposite sex. This helps with selling the track because if the video represents a fantasy world with an attractive male artist, then both females and males will be inclined to buy the track. The image of Taio Cruz which is being offered to an audience is of him in his element being surrounded by females, consequently the image of him being strong and very sexually attractive. This also helps him entice a female fan base as well as males, as there are attractive performers from both genders. However, similar songs performed by Taio Cruz such as “Like a Star,” are also similar in terms of the image it is representing of the artist.
Whilst watching this video, you defiantly gain a sense of watching sexual interaction between males and females. To begin with, Taio Cruz is presented as a man who is sexually desired by many women, as he is conveying an image of a heart breaker who leads women on. This is achieved by dressing Taio in expensive clothes such as a leather jacket, and shot types permanently showing Taio surrounded by other females. Consequently, the costumes that the females in the video are wearing imply sexual innuendos, as they are all half naked wearing skimpy clothing, which is not competing against the female stereotype what so ever. Through long shots of the performers having a party on the boat, the audience are shown to watching women dance provocatively in order to gain the opposite sex attention, thereby implying that a lot of sexual tension is happening on the boat between performers. The social class which is being represented through there actions is however quite middle class to high. This is due to the blatant expensive costumes and jewellery which the females are wearing, yet at the same time the fact that they are dressed in such miniscule clothing hints at the performers behaving in a crude way, as obviously they are only thinking about having sex with Taio Cruz. However, because it has been acted out in such a harmless manor with the music video not actually showing any sexual scenes, it is impossible to offend any audiences as the most erotic a scene gets is Taio Cruz kissing another girl. Therefore, the actual scenes aren’t really negative, more so the message being portrayed is to “just have fun.”
Throughout the music video, there aren’t really any values or attitudes and beliefs being represented, apart from portraying a belief about not taking life too seriously. The music video contradicts against any ideas on feminism, as the females in the music video aren’t behaving strong minded at all, instead they are conforming with there stereotype. Although, the production as a whole reflects contemporary society, and doesn’t articulate or expand on any concerns that are associated with the population. For example, the music video reflects young culture with young adults simply enjoying themselves on the music video, with no visual images of them worrying about world health concerns such as green issues. In fact, the music video is completely contradicting this by showing them driving expensive cars which of course contribute to global warming.
Overall though, the music video is like reverting back to early 1960's, where women are still fighting for rights and freedom, as they are still perceived and treated as sex objects by males. Therefore, this music video is extremely degrading to women as there portrayed as simply begging for Taio Cruz to have sex with them; a movement which we thought we have moved on from. Above all, the music video is sexist and capitalist, yet also degrades Taio Cruz as a singer as his voice is actually good and in tune. Therefore the music video doesn't do his voice justice, as the women dancing in a provocative manor distract attention away from it.
Taio Cruz "break my heart" is also a classic example of the Male Gaze Theory, whereby Mulvey is concerned with exploring through psychoanalysis the representation of women and how they are perceived in society. The male gaze refers to the act of looking upon women as objects and adopting the role of the spectator. Here, this particular music video relates because women are looked upon as purely sex objects and is a representation of how part of society still perceives women by even producing a music video like this anyway. Therefore, this shows a downfall of feminism, as although for many years feminists have been fighting for women's rights this music video proves that women are still flaunted for their bodies.
Audience
The target audience for this music video will be teenagers of both genders from the ages of 14-19years. This target audience has been established from listening to the radio stations in which this genre of music is played on regular basis such as KISS radio, reading message boards and reading comments which have been left under the music video on Youtube. An example of a comment left by a female with the username “stellaborovje” who wrote “he’s not ugly, OMG he is so hot,” and by a male consumer who had written “yeah his boat is slick,” indicating that young teenagers do indeed idolize this lifestyle. The appeal to the target audience is that the music video shows of the latest fashion trends, and shows an expensive way of living which young teenagers aspire to have one day. Furthermore, the fact that both genders displayed in the music video are very good looking, it appeals sexually to a female and male target audience. This aspect would therefore satisfy fans, are there is no imagery that would offend a consumer, yet fans would enjoy watching the culture which is displayed. Audiences can access the music video by Youtube, radio stations such as KISS, Heart and Radio 1, and also TV programmes. For example on the 10th October 2009, Taio Cruz appeared on Xtra-Factor as consumer of the programme who wanted to voice his opinions on the final 12 contestants.
Institutions
Taio Cruz is the founder of the institution he is signed up to: C .E.O. of Rokstarr Music London which is appropriate because Taio Cruz is originally a British Star. He is also in a partnership deal with Umusic Companies, Republic Records and Island Records. All these are appropriate record labels because they are known for signing up this genre of music, and are responsible for artists such as Amy Winehouse and are responsible for similar types of music genre.
Technology
New technologies have strengthened the marketing of Taio Cruz, as due to new technologies such as the Iphone, his fan base have been able to legally download his singles more easily, and convert them onto portably devices. Furthermore, downloading sites such as Itunes promote new singles which are in the charts massively, and when “Break Your Heart” was first released, it was advertised on the site with a massive photo, thereby promoting Taio Cruz’s music.