Music Video Comparisons

Compare & Contrast: Music Videos (in relation to case studies)

ADELE

1. Chasing Pavements (2010) Dir. by Matthews Cullen and prod. by Eg White and Send My Love (To Your New Lover) (2016) Dir. by Patrick Daughters and Prod. by Max Martin.

ED SHEERAN
2. You Need Me, I Don't Need You (2011) Dir. Shane Ramirez and Prod, by Jake Gosling and Drunk (2012) Dir. Saman Kesh and Prod. by Jake Gosling.

AMY WINEHOUSE
3. Stronger Than Me (2009) Prod. by Salaam Remi and Tears Dry On Their Own (2010) Dir. David LaChapelle and Prod. by Salaam Remi. 

In the music video, 'Chasing Pavements' (from Adele's '19' album), the audience can see that her appearance looks relaxed; she has simple makeup (eyeliner and red lipstick) and a casual hairstyle along with a casual outfit of a black t-shirt and checkered jacket. This differs to her appearance in 'Send My Love' as she has glamorous makeup (pink lipstick and glitter eye shadow). Her appearance in both music videos portrays a positive representation of women because she shows positive body language throughout; in 'Send My Love' the audience can see her dancing and feeling free. Furthermore, she is wearing a long dress designed on a basic black background. I believe the idea that Max Martin had of having a black background for the music video is for the audience to see her expressing herself freely without any props or actors/actresses. As the colour black signifies power, strength, authority and elegance, I believe Max wanted to show that Adele has these qualities and doesn't need a male figure to rely on as society expects. 

In terms of budget, I believe 'You Need Me...' by Ed and 'Send My Love' by Adele were of high budget due to the amount of effects of fades, transitions and choreography used despite the location of both music videos were a black background. This is similar for 'Tears Dry On Their Own' as the video was filmed in Los Angeles meaning costing to fund the camera crew and equipment's travel to and from Los Angeles was expensive. This differs to 'Drunk' by Ed Sheeran as the whole music video was filmed in I believe a flat which was converted into a club, this suggests to the audience that the music video was made of a low budget as it was one of Ed's first music videos from his '+' (2011) album and did not require a lot of actors, special effects or advanced camera shots/movements. 

Another similarity for both music videos by Adele is that they both share the universal themes of love and relationships, as an blue-eyed soul artist, all of Adele's music is based on the theme of love, relationships and heartbreak which in my opinion I believe many can relate to her music. I believe Amy Winehouse follows a similar route as Adele in her music video for 'Stronger Than Me' as the narrative of the music video conveys that her boyfriend is drunk in the bar and on the way home. This conveys to the audience that her boyfriend is lacking masculinity and is in a very vulnerable state in comparison to Amy who is sober and is acting more like a mother than his girlfriend. This is ironic as in Amy's real life relationship, her partner was not acting in an appropriate manner or as society's typical masculine male which eventually had an negative impact on her health and career. 

Furthermore, in the 'Send My Love' music video, we see a range of transitions, fades, colours and effects throughout the duration in the video. This is effective as it makes the music video intriguing and exciting to the viewer whereas in 'Chasing Pavements', this is not seen. However, in 'You Need Me...', the audience sees an extreme use of effects, transitions and fades which I believe creates excitement and entertainment for the viewer. This differs majorly from his previous videos of 'The A Team' (2011) and 'Drunk' as they are seen as more relaxing and of the indie genre. I believe 'You Need Me...' falls into the pop genre as it is very fast paced and features many props and also choreography which is not common in Ed Sheeran's music videos. The use of explicit lyrics in Ed Sheeran's music is not common but it is heard in 'You Need Me...', this is similar for Amy Winehouse in 'Tears Dry On Their Own' as explicit lyrics are used.