Textual Analysis of She Used To Love Me A Lot-Johnny Cash

I made a textual analysis on real music videos to help me explore the ways they have been created so I can introduce my findings into my own music video. From this video I mostly found out how important the visual elements are for aiding the narrative for the audience and evoke a meaning to them.
Visual codes
Visually, the music video to Johnny Cash's 'She Used To Love Me A Lot' presents its setting as being in the USA through various iconography such as the classic Cadillac, typical  and US flags.
More specifically Wall Street in New York and various lower class ghetto districts and southern US states. also the cave in Tennessee, where Cash almost committed suicide. Wall street is famous for its large financial buildings which are featured often in the video giving it connotations of money and richness, which highlights the contrast between that and the other poorer locations. This contrast is used to represent the overall theme of the music video which is the American depression. In terms of typography there is a shot in which an abandoned looking building has been vandalised with the words "My heroes have always killed cowboys". This suggests there is tension between ethnicities (specifically native Americans and Caucasians) and mostly it reflects the idea that America used to be theirs, just as Cash felt it used to be his instead of the rich's. The characters presented in the video are all very generic looking people by their basic unbranded cheap looking clothing denoting that they are from the lower class areas featured. They have a mixture of negative body language including sad, serious and depressed faces and in one shot a man in a hood looks away when the camera faces him, showing he is insecure. However no characters are used to represent the richer side, reflecting their faceless value. The low key lighting and grainy style adds to the negative mood of the video, as do the occasional black and white colours which also reflect Cash's iconic use of black clothing to identify with the poor.

Johnny Cash himself is only featured in pictures throughout the video for he died long before it was produced, however there are numerous shots of large pictures of him behind barbed wire. This shot composition highlights both his importance within the video as the main star as well as mirroring his dialogue at the start in which he says he is no "prisoner of wall street".

Technical codes
The video uses slow paced editing to reflect the sad and negative mood. There shots throughout the video also juxtapose between shots of Wall Street and the poor neighbourhoods to highlight the contrast in wealth between the two.
The opening and end shots both have a strong significance to the artist as they both display the cave in which Cash was close to taking his life before changing his mind. Also the camera uses a point-of-view shot for both, entering the cave at the beginning and exiting at the end, just as the artist did. This is because the American depression the video portrays has been used to reflect both Johnny Cash's personal depression and the country's depression during which he lived.
Genre
Despite the country theme of the music and artist which is typically much more positive and up-beat, the video uses a much darker style using the theme of poverty. Also various non-Caucasian races are featured as characters throughout which is uncommon in country music. 
Narrative
The narrative of the song and video differ very much. While the song is clearly about a love story between the singer and a girl who used to love him, the video instead presents the audience with shots of poor and rich American locations. The director has used this idea to play on the lyrics "She used to love me a lot" to make it sound like "She" is America itself and mirror how the artist was once adored by America but was eventually forgotten. There is no clear narrative structure used however the cave scenes at the beginning and end reflect Cash entering the cave facing the fear of suicide before solving the issue by changing his mind and exiting the cave which has some narrative structure to it. The lyrics also match the video through the dialogue at the start which says "I'm no slave to whistle, clock or bell, nor weak eyed prisoner of Wall Street. Let me be easy on the man that's down, let me be square and generous with all and guide me on the long dim trail ahead that stretches upward toward the great divide." By this he means he isn't obsessed with work or money, he just wants to be a good person so that he may go to heaven. This links with the footage because it shows shots of Wall Street and various prisons, reflecting him being a "prisoner of Wall Street" and also highlights the contrast between the poor, for whom he feels pity, and the rich.
Organisations
There is little reference of the record companies, Columbia/Legacy within the video as it was created mainly by the director John Hillcoat. Most of the promotion comes from word of mouth between fans, with the song being part of an exciting legendary missing album, 'Out Among The Stars' which was shelved soon after being made and hasn't come out until recently. 
Audience
The video targets partly a working class audience who can relate well with the characters of the video as they are shown pity which would give the audience a  sense of their problems being noticed. Also film savvy audience who appreciate cinematography behind video. The audience would need to know some information about cash beforehand though, to understand how the videos link with him. This would therefore make big Johnny cash fans a big target audience as well.
Representation
There is a wide variety of issues which are addressed strongly throughout this video including ethnicity, gender, regional identity and most of all class. Class has been portrayed by the negative contrast between the rich and poor through the use of wall street compared to the run-down parts of America, also relating to the comparison of places for the representation of regional identity. This leads onto ethnicity in the video which, unusually for its genre, presents various races including Caucasian as being of equal low wealth as a pose to just the stereotypical ethnic minority of black, Hispanic and native American people. Gender is represented by the fact that no female characters are included in the video, however the reason for this is most likely the director didn't want this to overshadow the point that 'she' is meant to represent America and not a female shown in the clip.
The representation of the artist themselves is through just the photos and some clips of him used as a pose to the actual person due to his death before the video was recorded. The fact he was featured clearly shows it is partly as a promotional tool for his work however also the video's meaning mirrors the struggles Cash went through in his lifetime which is something personal to him, hence the slight highlight of his face during the video.

Textual analysis of Ain't No Money-Daniel James

This is my second textual analysis of a music video. From it I gained mostly further knowledge in the use of effective shot compositions in order to aid the video and its narrative further.
Visual codes
Despite the typical East London looking neighbourhood there is no clear iconography or typography which states that this is where it is set and its only link to the artist is that it is where he lives currently. This does however highlight the fact that it isn't an important factor of the video as it is meant to be just a generic city which connotes wealth and power, allowing for the corporate company protagonist featured in the video to fit in appropriately with the setting. It also contrasts with the animals shown in the video, emphasising their creepy nature in the video. Due to the night time setting it is clear the dominant low key lighting is necessary to portray the time of day, however it has also been used to mirror the dark nightmarish setting of the video's narrative. There are various small iconographic elements included in the video such as the golden desk lamp, large corporate buildings and fountain pen, all of which denote the character's wealthy upper class position in society.
There is a very interesting shot composition which shows a zebra and the businessman stood in front a white fence. The zebra is camouflaged with it whereas the businessman, who wearing only black contrasts intensely with the white fence so he can be seen more clearly. This highlights him to give the impression that he is being put under a spotlight and spotlighted as an insignificant form of mockery for the audience. This and the man's fearful expression and body language  contradict the power generally associated with business workers as they show his lack of power against something as minuscule as a stuffed animal.
Technical codes
An effective shot is that of the high angle, over the shoulder shot of the lion looking down on the man. Again, this is unconventional because he is being seen as having a lack of power. This contrasts what is shown at the start of the video which shows a low angle on the businessman highlighting his powerful high status. Throughout the video the camera tracks the businessman and follows his gaze so the audience are kept constantly in curiosity of what he is looking at and what is to come next. A lot of the editing and camera work have also been made to coincide well with the music to emphasise what is happening to the audience. For example when the man stops at seeing the zebra in front of him the camera tracks him and stops just after the zebra appears and he stops and the drums in the music continue playing after a short pause at the same time. Also at the end when the man drops his folder the music suddenly takes a slower pace which highlights this action to point out his shock. Overall the editing begins quite slowly then speeds up a little towards the middle of the video reflecting the build up in tension of the scene and pace of the music.
Genre
The artist's music is defined mostly as soul however the video has a much more indie look to it by the non featured artist, focus on narrative and artistic style. This may be because he is more of an indie artist himself, with only two official music videos published on his Vevo channel on Youtube. The audience expects to see the corporate city setting due to the nature of the main character in the video as well as the song's reference to money as being a bad thing.
They don't expect however to see the animals and their involvement in the video as they make the scene more surreal and nightmarish.
Narrative
The video tells the story of a villainous corporate company worker who leaves work after working late at night to find everywhere he goes he is confronted by stuffed animals which eventually develop demonic red glowing eyes and corner him off then leave him frozen from either shock or what could be as another stuffed creature,  playing on the words from the phrase "being stuffed", as in being in trouble, and also signifying how he has lost his soul (linking with the lyrics) and power due to his corruption with money. It isn't completely clear by itself, however the lyrics emphasise that the video revolves around the theme of being obsessed with money and getting into trouble for it by saying 'Ain't no money gonna bring your soul back'. This is how the lyrics link to the video symbolically as they no doubt talk about a person who has lost their humanity over money, as most big business workers are stereotypically depicted. Todorov's narrative structure is seen by the equilibrium being when a corporate worker is leaving work as he normally would but then is interrupted by the appearance of animals, which states the disruption. The realisation is seen as more animals appear and the man begins to run. The animals corner him off and order is restored as they freeze him. Finally there is equilibrium again when the animals disappear and the it is just a normal world again. The most recognisable character is the villain being the corporate worker, but the animals could be recognised as the heroes by their conduction of justice.
Organisations
The record label Island Records and Production company Rogue London have produced music and videos for a large variety of well known artist's including Jay Z, Chase & Status and Adele. The director, Mark Jenkinson, has also directed TV commercials for many large companies and groups such as Audi, Rapha Team and BBC2. Therefore there is no doubt the quality of skill behind the film's production reflects its own quality as the creators are clearly very professional film makers. The artist themselves however is not yet a big star and not a lot of promotion has been put into them or the video as it is more for entertainment purposes than commercial. The only way he is distributed is through his Youtube Vevo channel and a few small music websites.
Audience
The video is partly targeted at a fairly niche type of audience by its focus on creativity as a pose to promotion and following conventions. There would also be an audience with a demographic in which they'd be aged between 20-40 years old and any class under high and mostly middle due to the song's anti-wealth theme. The video targets this audience with its theme because it allows them to be able to relate to the video and feel like they would be safe in the video's situation because of their social class. Fandom may be used with this video by its effective appeal to this wide audience which would entice them to use two step flow to promote the video through word of mouth.
Representation
With the main theme revolving around money, there is a clear representation of class seen throughout this video. Mainly this is seen through the high class corporate worker, who wears formal clothing to present this, which stereotypically is seen as a negative character by his black suit and red tie (connoting darkness and evil) and the link between the character and the lyrics, which say 'Ain't no money gonna bring your soul back' implying the man has no soul. The artist themselves hasn't been included in the video as his presentation could take away from the narrative aspect and the focus the audience place on it.

99 Problems music video analysis

We also analysed this video in class from which I found how the genre of a video and its representations require help from visual codes to set the narrative clearly for the audience. This will aid with making a music video which has a clear successful narrative which is an important element for music videos.  
Visual codes
The video clearly shows it has been set in Brooklyn by the iconic shot of its bridge and typical run down ghetto neighbourhood. There are also some signs which help highlight this through typography such as the ‘Brooklyn bridge’ sign. This had been used to signify the artists place of birth and because it is the origin of a lot of historical rap culture. As well as this it is a place strongly associated with violence and crime which relates to rap being a stereotypically crime related genre. In terms of composition, most of the shots place Jay Z in the centre of the frame making him appear to be the centre of attention and more important. Throughout the video a black and white colour scheme is used highlighting how everything he says is simple and as it is (black and white) as well as relating to the grittiness of the setting and theme.

Technical codes                                                                                                 

There is a very common use of low angle shots, particularly on the artist himself which give him a significance of importance and intimidation, following the common generic conventions of rap. Most of the video is shot using a hand held camera connoting the informal and gritty lifestyle of the urban setting. There are also lots of canted angle shots used to show this as well as well as representing anarchy and chaos, which relates to the stereotypical poor quality and gangster way of life. The editing uses mostly a fast pace and follows most of the song’s pace throughout the video following the common generic conventions.
Genre                                                                                                                                                                   The artist’s common genre is hip hop which is presented clearly throughout this video as a genre by the use of objectified women, fast cars and antisocial behaviour.
All of these are expected in the video because they are strong conventions of rap and common in the stereotypical gangster’s lifestyle.

Narrative

Like in most music videos, the clip has been used to reflect what is being said in the lyrics, for example when Jay Z talks about being stopped by the police and feeling like he is being discriminated for his black ethnicity. The link between the lyrics and video help highlight the point the artist is trying to make about the problems the large black community of Brooklyn are said to face. Also the lyrics and video follow the same gangster related theme.

Representation
Ethnicity is the most powerful representation in the video by the combination of an urban, run down environment with mostly black character’s implying black ethnic groups come from a lower class and poorer background. Also the use of visual elements like dog fights, gun crime and prisons are used to put across the stereotypical antisocial behaviour of black people, particularly in the hip-hop world. Gender is vaguely presented as women being objectified which is a common generic convention in rap videos. Women are seen mostly dancing in underwear which is generally associated with them being seen as objects of pleasure. This along with the lyrics saying “but the bitch ain't one” presents men as more dominant because they refer to women impersonally and are seen as owning them.

Audience                                                                                                                                                            Due to the rebellious and male dominated theme the main target audience for this music video would be teenage males who commonly enjoy the rap music genre. They may generally be people from a lower class background because of the low class setting presented throughout the video.
The video has been made so they can relate to it by the use of common occurrences in most lower class urban environments similar to Brooklyn such as dog fights, crime and black majority.

Organisations
The artist is sold mostly to people by his relatable appeal to the fan base and target audience which would be attracted to the hip hop theme the video strongly follows. The video would have been marketed through YouTube advertisement, TV broadcast on channels such as MTV and fan and personal profile pages, like twitter and Facebook, where the artist would promote the video himself to a mass of fans.

Textual analysis of Plan B-Writing's On The Wall

In class we analysed this music video for which i have created a textual analysis. From this I found the different ways Mise-en-Scene can be used to help aid the narrative and create symbolic meaning throughout the video. I will use this to help me produce a more visually effective music video.

Visual codes
The big crowd and live performance show the artist is at a concert while the woman is at their house which has a very classic 80s style to it. Also the female's hairstyle, clothes and role as a housewife follow the stereotypical presentation of an 80s woman. The lighting is quite low key with dominating colours of blue and black throughout most of the video on the male which have connotations of sadness and negativity whereas on the female they are much lighter. Also the female wears yellow reflecting her positive character and contrasting with the black clothing of the artist reflecting is bad male character. The sign at the start of the video uses typography to show he is playing at a concert and also the text "sold out" highlights how popular he is. The most key shot composition is the way the artist is portrayed mostly with low angles unlike the female character who is seen with high angles to reflect his sense of power compared to her.
Technical codes
There are various shots used of the instruments being played and singing back up singers at the concert which creates a fictional band for the artist to show he is playing live. The camera keeps still or tracks he artist during the majority of the his shots which mirrors the sense of him being watched by the audience as if they were at the concert themselves. With the female character however the camera pans and tilts often in her shots which highlight him as the centre of attention because the camera focuses mostly on him. The cuts throughout the video have been edited so there are more on the artist than on the woman to highlight his importance as the star but also last longer on her than on the artist. This gives the effect that the fast paced editing with Plan B reflects his time passing fast because he is having fun whereas the slow paced editing mirrors the slow passing time to his partner at home.
Genre
The genre of the music video is Soul Pop which follows the common genre of the artist. Because of the genre of music it is expected there would be a romantic theme with various relationship issues, which is how the narrative works. Also shots which focus on the artist as the star of the video would be expected from this clip. The other woman is an unexpected element of the video because commonly in Soul the artist would be singing about their own love problems and not that of others. There are no visual intertextual references however there is a link in the lyrics o Stevie Wonder's superstitious with the lyrics 'writing's on the wall'.
Narrative
The video follows a narrative about a woman at home who is waiting for her partner, played by Plan B, but he doesn't come home because he is cheating on her with another woman. The theme of the video is of trust issues and a tense love relationship. Only the first 3 stages of Equilibrium, disruption and recognition from Todorov's theory can be seen in this video. There are three main recognisable characters in the video's narrative which are the villain (male and second female), the hero (female) and the false hero (also the male). The video reflects the lyrics 'we ain't over but the writing's on the wall' by its way of reflecting how the relationship isn't over yet for the couple but something bad is about to happen.
Organisations
The record company for this song's album is 'The Defamation Of Strictland Banks' which included Plan B's fictional character Strictland Banks as the protagonist of the video to help promote the album.
Audience
The video is aimed at a young adult audience by the use of young adult characters and the location of a club, commonly associated with young adults. By the formal clothing of the characters, style of the scenery (e.g. the artists home) and music genre it would more likely be targeted at a middle class audience and possibly would be more appealing to people going through relationship issues.
Representation
In terms of representational issues the male is seen negatively as he is out having fun and cheating on his partner whereas the female is seen as a positive character by the way she is working away in the kitchen and the audience is made to feel sorry for her. There are also common stereotypes shown in the video with the female located in the kitchen and male out working. The artist had been constructed to look like a celebrity by the live performance in front of big crowds and being among many people to show his popularity.