Task 2:Research into exsiting products: Music Videos (Lady Gaga- Bad Romance)

Lady Gaga- Bad Romance

 

Deconstruction of video

1st part (0.00-1.20)

• The first image the audience sees is a wide shot of the cast and Lady Gaga (LG) sitting on a white throne in the center. It is as though she is the story teller and the rest are going to be the actors on the stage. 

• The women in the first shot (excluding LG) are all dressed in white where as the men are all in black. This could be to represent evil and good or the fact that women are stereotyped to be more innocent then men are. 
• LG is dressed in gold which is used to represent that she is the main attraction; that she is the 'star of the show'. 
• She wears glasses made out of razor blades. This could be seen as a sign that she is dangerous and so people should watch out if they don't want to be hurt. Also this could be connoted that the audience should 'watch out' for further LG  songs and videos. 

• Her nails are similar to her glasses. She has a metal guard over than to suggest that people shouldn't touch her because she'll 'claw them'. This can be linked to the fact that her fans are known as monsters and so she is concealing her monster like features (claws) to protect people. 

• There are a lot of product placement within this video. For example, the alcohol Nemiroff is a Russian Vodka and so this helps the narrative of the story. It is shown and used a lot within the video and therefore it can be connoted that the story has some connection to Russia.

• White pods are seen later on as a bright light shines across the room. On one of the pods the word "Monster" is shown . This not only suggests that there's a monster inside the pods but it also helps brand LG and her "monsters".

• The location of the video looks similar to a prison. This is because the walls and floors are bleach white and it has very small windows as well as harsh lighting. All of these imply that LG and her monsters may be imprisoned within this place. 
• Large red text saying " Bath Haus of Gaga" and according to discussions on the internet about this video, the bath house is a place where they are putting women up for auction and bidding on them so they can 'own' them and do what they want with them. 

• As the lyrics start, the pods open and women dressed in white crawl out. They are unable to see due to the head pieces they are wearing and look similar to the aliens out the science fiction movie "Alien". They also dance as though they are aliens due to the way their bodies twist and move into strange shapes.

• LG is shown in a white bath type object with messy and hair and has huge dilated eyes. This can be connoted to suggest this is when she was innocent as the eyes imply she is young and has big eyes like a baby would (known as having a baby face). This can then be connoted further to symbolize the start of her career when she was fresh and new and hasn't been changed by anyone in the music industry or by the media. 

• Further into the video, she is seen wearing a crown and is all in black. This is her acting like the narrator rather than an actor in the story she is telling them. The black could be used to symbolize grief and therefore this character could be recalling her past to the audience and how she is sad about it changing.

• When she is back as the innocent character, she is shown listening to music and then holds her hands up like a gun. However a peace tattoo is on her wrist and conflicts with the symbol she is making with her hand and could be connoted that she herself is conflicted. 

2nd part (1.20-1.50)

• Some women drag her out of the white bath and mistreat LG. It is possible that the women are following orders from men or that they play a big role in her transformation from innocent singer to a huge star.
• They force LG to strip down so that she can be stripped back to basics. This means that she can then be transformed into the star that people ( the music industry) want her to be. She is being constructed into a media product rather than before she was just an innocent singer. 

• Her arms stretch out to the side and can be connoted to represent the idea of Jesus on the cross. He and LG are similar as they are both innocent but due to the actions of others they were changed/ destroyed. 

• Several shots of LG dressed in white and crying are shown and are used to represent her inner voice crying out for help whilst this is happening to her. She didn't necessarily ask for this to happen to her but the music industry is causing her to change her image to "help her career" but all it is doing is destroying her inside.

3rd part (1.50-3.00)

• The women from before force her to drink and due to the product placement of Nemiroff earlier it can be suggested that they are forcing her to drink the vodka to remove her innocence.
• She is dressed in more exposing white clothes and is forced to dance in front of a group of men. LG has the opportunity to show/ sell herself to the men who can be connoted to symbolize the music industry and the people who could make or break her. 

• A low angle shot of LG on her knees is shown with the camera having been put between a mans legs. This symbolizes the idea of submission that LG has been forced to show to these men. 

• A lot of feline imagery is shown within these shots. She prowls towards the men like a cat stalking it's prey (however this shot can come across as very sexual and has been possibly put in for the male gaze element). 

• Another shot shows her in a cage like object that is trapping her inside like an animal. She wears a cat head dress during these scenes which adds to the animal imagery in the video. 

• A sphinx cat is shown as being owned by one of the men and because she shows feline features, it is showing the audience how she is going to be owned by these men like an animal is. 

• Product placement of Beats are shown on the laptops and influences the audience to go out and buy these products because famous singers like LG use them. The laptops they are shown on, are  not only used by the men to make LG famous but are to bid for her. Each man shown could be used to represent a different music company who want her and so whoever bids the highest gets to keep LG. 

4th part  (3.00-4.10)

• A shot of LG standing in the middle of the room holding diamonds,with the men looking at her, is used to show the wealth and riches that being famous leads to. But to the men she is still just a possession that they are bidding to take for themselves so they can morph her into their ideal person.

• While she is dancing, LG makes the symbol of the cross and this can be linked to her use of religion in her videos. Earlier she looked similar to Jesus on the cross and now again she is showing the audience a religious symbol. This can be connoted to show her audience that she still wants to her old innocent self instead of being paraded around and shown off to these men.
• The bridge section of the song shows her making references to fashion as she has done previously in her other videos. This is used to brand her again and show the audience what type of things she wants to associated with.

• She wears a polar bear coat and walks towards a bed with one of the men sitting on it. This raises issues on poaching and killing innocent animals and as she has been shown as an animal she could be raising the issue of "killing" singers and taking their innocence away.

• It is implied that eventually her innocence is taking away because she has sex with the man on the bed. In between shots, images of her "inner voice" are shown crying and another scene of her dressed in red implies that she is no longer innocent. 

5th part (4.10-5.07)

• The bed is set on fire as she is finally getting her revenge on the men who made her like that. She has become better than them and more powerful so she stands in front of the fire to show dominance. 

• After dancing with some women dressed in red the lights all turn off. This is used to show that she no longer has to do what people tell to, there is no reason to dance like that anymore. 

• The final image shown to the audience, is LG sitting on the bed with a charred body next to her. The idea of the smoking body is used to symbolize the idea of post sex were it is stereotyped to start smoking. She is wearing black like the men were at the start because she is now more powerful than they were.