Music Video Analysis The video I have decided to analyse is ‘Countdown’ by Beyoncé I chose this as I feel there is a lot of use of mise en scene, editing and camera work which I could take inspiration from and use in my own final video. The video begins with a close up of the artist this allows the viewer to automatically know who the song is by. Laura Mulveysuggests that this is to attract a male gaze and attracts their attention. However Barry Keith may suggest that this is because an audience needs to identify with the media product by familiar characteristics. Beyoncé is a well-known artist and is easily recognisable, so it is important to show her straight away so the audience can identify who the artist is and what the video is. The colour palate used in this video is either very bright and over the top using block colours of; red, yellow, green etc. Or it is very sophisticated and uses black and white. This is very clever as Beyonce has a wide audience; the brighter block colours will appeal to the younger audience and the black and white will appear to the older audience.

A long shot is used showing Beyonce stood with her arms like clock hands. This is used as a visual aid to emphasise the song is called ‘Countdown’ this personifies the song. There is also the black and white stripe background which has been added in the studio, this again provides an interesting visual to the audience.

This editing technique show several images of the artist and it shows off her facial features; her eyes and lips. These shots also allow us to see how feminine she is with wearing make-up and her nails painted.

The outfits she wears in the video are very revealing and show a lot of flesh. This is to attract the male gaze according to Laura Mulvey. They reveal a lot of the female body, such as the legs, hips and chest.

As with a lot of R&B videos there is dancing included. This can include backing dancers or the artist themselves. This video has both of these and fits to the conventions of an R&B video. The dance is contemporary and aims to show the meaning of the song through dance.

This shot shows a more sexual side to the artist. It allows the audience to see facial expressions of the artist. There is also an edit within which acts as a split screen, allowing the viewer to see the main artist and some of the dancing that is happening at the same time.

This editing technique shows a silhouette, which can be seen as ‘sexy’ and again is aimed to attract the male gaze.

These shots emphasize the glamour of the artist and will be aimed to attract females. To talk about how she looked. However the second shot reveals a lot of flesh and shows off the female figure which again could be seen as trying to attract the male gaze.