Music Video case study research sheet
You will need to research the two set music video case studies: a realistic music video and a postmodern music video. You
need to be aware of the differences between them as you may need to compare them in your exam answer. You should be at a
stage where you can discuss the following for both case studies with solid examples:
Case study artist: Emily Sande
Realistic or Postmodern?
Performance and/or narrative in the video?
1. Textual Analysis:
Cinematography
Blurry and out of focus shots give an element of confusion
Low angle shot of the singer looking up at the sky putting
her in a positon of power.
Bright colours used throughout to show the hope of the
situation.
Close up of characters faces highlights the emotion and
pressure of their situation.
Extreme wide shot of birds all fleeing the scene to
highlight the momentum of the moment.
Sound
Non diegetic soundtrack of the song
Repetitive use of certain phrases in the end scenes,
highlighting the power of her points on the world.
Representations present/how is this achieved?
1.
2.
3.
Editing
Slow cuts in between each character giving the video a
thoughtful tone and allow the viewers to feel emotion for
the characters
Shot reverse shot of the singer and then the clouds
parting slightly could show how the power of her music is
almost changing the weather.
Old VHS style effect put in certain shots to emphasise the
importance of them as they have been captured in film.
Mise-en-scene
The singer is featured among fields of flowers and other
vegetation giving her a sense of purity whilst singing the
song. The buildings featured in the background could
relate to the oncoming pressures she has to deal with.
Religious imagery featured throughout, once again
highlighting her purity and places the focus on her religion,
the low angle shots of the cross shows the importance of
her religion to her
Mise en scene of her dark clothing could be done to
contrast humans with the power of her religion.
The street she is in could show how she represents the
ordinary people.Furthermore, the cross in the street and
the angel wings could relate to how the religion touches
every aspect of their life.
The high key lighting and repeated use of the lense flare
could represent how their religion is shining down into all
different places
4.

2. Institutional information:
Record label and who else they produce.
Genre details:

3. Video Production:
What technology has been used to produce the
music video?

Who directed the music video and what else

have they made?
Interesting information about how the video was made:

What kind of music genre is the artist working in

and what do you know about it?

Who funds the promotion and video making?

4. Distribution, exhibition and exchange:
Where might this video have been originally
viewed?
Does/did the artist perform live? Where?

5. General information:
Net worth of artist
Who writes the music? (If band, are the writing
credits for songs distributed across all the
members?)
Biography of artist.

6. Context – social, cultural, historical