MV Analysis (Bad Day & Shut Up And Drive)

Bad Day by Daniel Powter

       

Today, our class watched Daniel Powter's Bad Day music video and discussed why certain elements were included.

Firstly, the music video started with a split screen at a high angle showing us both a woman and a man laying in their beds symmetric to each other. This could be to indicate that their lives are similar to each other and are about to experience the same day. Similarly we notice that there is a split screen on their alarm clocks both suggesting how each of them have somewhere to be, and considering it's morning time, they're off to work. Also when the alarm clocks are at a split screen we notice that one is black and one is white which could represent the philosophy of procrastination and motivation, as you cannot have one without the other. This can provide a connotation that the male and the female in this video both require each other as partners. Additionally, when they both reach to turn their alarm clocks off, the split screen presents them as symmetrical, indicating they are equals, which challenges the Strauss binary opposites theory. As the woman gets up, she starts to apply some make-up in order to look nice and ready for the day ahead, conforming to the feminine stereotype.
At 0:53, the man is waiting for the train looking directly forward as if he were to be daydreaming, when the woman looks in his direction in the next shot suggesting she's looking for her love as well as the train. Ironically, in the background of the train station shot, behind both of them on the bench there is a poster that says "smile" even though they're in a depressed mood.

Moreover, Daniel Powter is in the location of the music video along with the actors but appears to be a ghost to them as they do not notice he's there watching and singing about their day. This is a clever technique to implement in the video as it provides a short story (narrative) in which the audience can enjoy watching and still have the conventions of a normal music video. Also the style in which the music video is done is clever as there is cross cuts between the narrative and Daniel Powter lip syncing on the subway. Furthermore, towards the end the video has a good ending with both the female and male characters finding a common interest (drawing) without knowing eachother, and it portrays a hollywood romance film. This is because at the end of journey, the couple live "Happily ever after".

Shut Up And Drive by Rihanna

The Male Gaze in "Shut Up And Drive"

In Rihanna's video for "Shut Up And Drive" it is clear that the objective of this music video is to attract arousal from a male audience in order to sell records. Throughout this video "The Male Gaze" is applicable throughout with Rihanna and her dancers sexualising themselves for male erotic desire which is intensified by the positioning of the camera. In regards to the mise-en-scene, the short low-cut clothing Rihanna and the dancers wear are definitely going to appeal to a male audience, Similarly the lyrics are of an intense seuxal nature to further enforce the sex appeal and the erotic desire for men, and shows how women can be seen as sex objects. Just like Megan Fox in Transformers, Rihanna is taking the role of mechanic but in a very sexualised way with her revealing clothing, with her objective to attract a male audience not to fix the car.