Music Videos Analysis Essay: Single Ladies, Thriller, Suit & Tie

Thriller by Michael Jackson

Michael's Thriller video is a short iconic music video. Well known for his eloquent dance moves and elaborate vocals, Michael Jackson being the Pop King made the thriller video a hit upon its release in 1983. The Thriller video, just like most horror video of its time is set up with heroes and villain. However, its ending is likely to make one believe in the non-existence of no hero.

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The video starts with Jackson and a female with whom his car broke down on the road. Jackson notifies the young lady that they are out of gas and she reluctantly believes him until the start off on foot. After a very brief walk, Jackson tells the lady that he is different and he instantly turns into a werewolf (Jackson et al. 1.00). Soon after Jackson turns into a wolf, the lady runs into the woods, and he follows her closely. At this point, the video takes back the viewer to a theatre where Jackson and the same woman are watching a horror movie with a similar turn of events (Jackson 3.43). The young female ran due to fear and Jackson follows her. Once they begin walking into the streets, the actual song begins. With the turn of events and the lyrics, one is likely to think that Michael is making innocent fun to the scared woman. However, when narration in the song starts, Zombies arise from graveyards and trap each of them in a circle.

At this moment, the rollercoaster effect has been applied to the relationships of the characters. When the song begins, Michael and the young lady are together, but she is driven away by the werewolf side of him (Jackson et al. 4.14). Again, while walking down the streets, the two are still together until the appearance of the zombies when she becomes fearful again. After the young lady hiding in an isolated house, Michael and co (Zombies) break in and the lady has no choice. She instantly wakes up and here is Michael asking what is wrong (Jackson et al. 10.35). In this scene, Jackson acts like a hero but ends it when he turns back to the camera with werewolf eyes.

Among the most memorable parts of this video, choreography occurs when Jackson turns to the camera, and he becomes a zombie, similar to the others behind him (Jackson et al. 8.26). It shows Michael doing a video with the living dead. The video is choreographed under low lighting and done in the streets with lots of make-up creating the best setting for the occurrences. The song is consistent with the video since it creates suspense of what happens next. After a long dance by both Michael and the Zombies, the young lady is scared and runs to the deserted house. The low lighting in the scenes is used to depict fear and agrees with the fact zombies do not appear in broad daylight.

The choreography of the thriller video brings out the hidden message in the song. The song brings out a scenario where various men are pursuing a woman, but due to the failure of her previous relationships, she runs away from all of them. The song thriller embraces the use of pronoun she, therefore it can be said to be a metaphor. The zombies are a representation of the bad men who try to lure her into relationships, but due to fear she rejects and runs to hide. The choreography is important to the Late Michael Jackson since it was what he had always desired to do. Therefore, this choreography must have fulfilled his desire apart from it becoming a hit song; the music video became a huge success and had remained a hit even after Jackson's demise.

Justine Timberlake's Suit & Tie Analysis

The short video of Suit & Tie was released during a Valentine's Day. The song plays similar to excerpts belonging to Ocean' 11, a themed film of the 1960s. The video is shot in black and white, and it features rapper Jay-z and several other members whose dress code is strictly suits and ties. The video has a hearten-look and feels of Motown era as depicted by the show venue.

The video strongly complements the song as it is modernized soul music taken from the 1970s. It is accompanied by JT's falsetto which is backed up by finger snaps, analog synthesizer keys, and trumpets. In the video, Justin offers a lifestyle backdrop instead of pursuing the storyline of the song where it shows a man trying to court a pretty woman. The video treatment is more of a behind the scenes film. Justin is seen getting massaged, smoking cigars and drinking alcohol with Jay-z in Timberlake's hotel suite (Timberlake 0.08). In the same scene, the band is seen rehearsing together with background dancers. Justin Timberlake is seen scrolling through his iPad while being wheeled on a bed (Timberlake 0.15). On the same scene, JT is playing chess with a model who is in an underwear-clad only. The scene also shows admiration of showgirls in the backstage. Upon his emergence, Jay-z stays in his usual cool guy look. Sitting in the studio, he raps using a vintage microphone. When he joins Justin Timberlake on the stage, he appears holding a drink and clothed in a suit and his bow tie is disentangled.

The video choreography is consistent with the meaning of the song. Justin Timberlake seems to be dedicating this song to a female who he loves. From the video choreography, there are lots of hot girls who are seen dancing. From the song, Justin declares his interest to be with the lover all night and also declares his immense love. In the video, the artist is seen to be expensively dressed, and his first appearance would be attractive to any woman. So seemingly, the video is choreographed with the artist smartly dressed to attract the attention of the girl the song is sung. Both Timberlake and Jay-z are presented as cool guys on the stage, and it is the contrary of what is shown of them behind the scenes. Though they are having fun behind the scenes, the two appear on stage like totally different men as their dress code (suits and ties) shows (Timberlake 0.28). The video is important to the artist since it brings out his expensive lifestyle to light. Before Justin starts performing the actual song, Timberlake together with Jay-z are seen in a hotel Suite that appears like the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles just chilling. The situation depicts the artist expensive and fancy lifestyle. After all, is he not a global celebrity who lives an expensive lifestyle?

The video choreography depicts the posh lifestyle that most artists live. The artists love women as the song depicts and as the video show. The video has many hot women who are dressed in underwear-clad thus most are almost naked. It also shows Jay-z and Timberlake in a partying mode where they showcase their drinks and cigars, and they seem unbothered (Timberlake 0.33). Later, they two appear on stage very smartly dressed and looking cool. The video is choreographed to show both the private and public lives of celebrities.

Beyonce's Single Ladies

Both Beyonce and Christopher Stewart directed single ladies video. The video is 3.19 minutes, and it is an R&B with some bit of hip-hop. It is a stereotypical short dance video that shows girls dancing in skimpy and tight clothes. The girls are seemingly very young not forgetting very attractive. The attractive nature of this girls would lure young teenage girls to be like them. The girls dance with admirable energy and seem to be fit (Beyonce et al. 0.09). In all the scenes of this video, all the attention is focused on the female dancers, Beyonce is one of them. The central and the most significant character in this video is Beyonce. She is seen dancing right from the beginning to the end of the video. In this video, Beyonce wears a lot of make-up which is a replica of the R&B genre. Every dancer including Beyonce is in the same attire and the same hairstyle (Beyonce et al. 0.00-3.19). The video also has an upbeat tempo which is consistent throughout the song.

While dancing this song, the dancers keep pointing on their ring finger on the phrase, "if you like it then you should have put a ring on it" (Beyonce et al. 0.58). Therefore, the audience is likely to stick to this phrase as it is sung repeatedly and the words are relatable on a visual image. This repetition emphasized the words hence cannot be easily forgotten.

The video choreography is important to the song meaning since it shows girls dancing. The video shows no male figure thus bringing out the relevance of its title "Single Ladies." The video shows a happy and carefree attitude of "Single Ladies" since they all raise their hand with a happy grin on their faces when the phrase "put your hands up" is sung (Beyonce et al. 2.40). The costumes used by the dancers are simple but distinctly explicit as it exposes most of the dancers' bodies. The dance moves are revealing thus fitting well with the song's lyrics.

Single Ladies video is shot inside a studio hence concentrating the attention of the audience on the singer and the dancers with zero diversion exterior factors. The video is shot in black and white making it very simple and efficient.

The Single ladies video is choreographed to depict the feminist meaning of the song. The songs present only female dancers who are seemingly happy and wild while dancing to Single Ladies. The song is highly seen as one that empowers women. It suggests that a woman should be focused on having a good time instead of stressing up upon breaking up. It encourages the single ladies that being single is never the end of life and that they should be happy in singlehood. The dancers presented dance purposefully depicting their happy nature of being single (Beyonce et al. 2.30).

The video choreography is important to the artist since, in the video, there are Beyonce's close-ups. The record company did the many close-ups to promote Beyonce in getting much publicity. The company wants the audience to retain her image through the repetition of her image on the video. The video's main character focuses on Beyonce's dance moves and singing (Beyonce et al. 1.54). Using close-ups in the video helps the audience get an insight into Beyonce's face thus they can easily relate with her. In the video, the closing shot is of Beyonce holding her ring finger up to stress on the songs meaning that the rich would be of much importance in case he had proposed.

Works Cited

Jackson, M., McCartney, P., Will. I. Am, Akon (Rapper), Fergie, and West, K,. Thriller. Los Angeles: North Hollywood Epic Records (1982).

Knowles, Beyonce, T Nash, T Herell, and C. Stewart "Single ladies." New York: Columbia Records (2008).

Timberlake, Justin. "Suit and Tie." 20 Los Angeles: produced by American Records (2013).