First Post - Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyoncé

This is the first post in my Media A2 Coursework Blog.

This Blog aims to categorize, accumulate and store my wealth of research and planning over the coming months.

Having chosen a brief previously, that of which to produce a Music Video (and the ancillary tasks coincident with this choice), here is an example of a related media text from the real world, the first of many:



This example is Lady Gaga's 'Telephone'. The beauty of this video is the extensive use of narrative form, we have the equilibrium of Gaga entering prison and henceforth becoming an inmate, the challenges that she rises too and overcomes are in the form of disagreement with Beyoncé on the phone, breaking out of prison, murdering diners, and a re-established equilibrium comes with the pair escaping into the distance, seemingly safe. It is also crucial that narrative outrides performance in the video somewhat elaborating to the meaning of the song and allowing the video to integrate into viral market with simplistic progression ornamented with the performance elements the audience takes ownership in replicating.

As an unusual music video the reliability on the story is somewhat novel in its parodies and homages to Quentin Tarrantino as a film director, references in the misé-en-scene (Gaga's hair in prison - cola-cans, the 'Pussy Wagon' and the diner setting) are all taken or hinting at films from Tarantino's repertoire. As a gimic the way in which Gaga has used these references she attracts fans of the Tarantino brand a diverse and youthful market but also pleases her own fan base with a contemporary and sophisticated knowledge of popular culture.

Part of the Gaga branding is the outlandish clothing (MES) that is laced throughout the production from the nipple taped Gaga in the cell to the shrouded almost nun like Gaga we see at the end, a complete if irrelevant conversion for the character. Appreciating the costumery is important to the grandeur and allusiveness of the lavish production values this filmic music video creates.

Henceforth, music executives had established a collaboration of artists through the song and video, we have a vision of combined star power in the form of Beyoncé's enormous popularity (and acting ability) with the strength of Gaga's die hard fans. When a video uses the potential of two artists to an extent it would be usual to rely on their performance and brand image but the video actually represents the representation we as consumers have obtained of these two musicians. Most importantly Beyoncé swears (although bleeped) in the video. A common representation of Beyoncé, even though sexual, is a modest, intelligent, motherly like figure and her use of language is degrading in this video. The only real reason to do this would be for shock value and to recreate her image in a later move for the musician. A shock value for a video distributed online would give it viral capabilities on a wider scale as it allows the audience to consume with others in a shared environment, giving ownership and a sense of responsibility that the audience appreciates.