Music video analysis

Maroon 5- Sugar
The music video starts off with a close up off the main singer in the band, Adam
Levine, introducing the aim of the music video, which is going to be them travelling
around and performing at as many weddings as possible, this is followed by him
getting in the car alongside the other band members, they are dressed smart,
wearing suits, this connotes that they are dressed for the occasion as they are going
to be performing at weddings which is a fancy event. After he has gotten in the car,
there is a long shot of the car driving away. As the car is driving away the non
diegetic sound track slowly fades in. They then arrive at what looks like their first
wedding and there are tracking shots of people carrying in music equipment,
showing they are getting ready to perform. They then show a medium-close up of a
woman in the audience looking confused, she is wearing a wedding dress, this tells
the audience that she is the bride. As the actual lyrics start, it cuts to Maroon 5 in
their car and the main singer is lip syncing, he looks happy which tells the audience
he is ready to perform. It then cuts to a long shot of the band arriving at the chapel,
with a long shot of them sneaking past guests to go backstage, shown by them
ducking down, sneaking past guests. The audience members all have confused
expressions on their faces, with some even getting up to ask questions that are
shown through medium close ups and close ups of their faces, this tells the audience
that no one knows what is going on and that this music video is authentic and not set
up. As the chorus plays, the music video cuts to a curtain falling down revealing the
band performing to all the people at the wedding, this is then followed by clips of
different people's reactions, these are all medium long shots. The audience
members' expressions quickly change as they realise what is going on, everyone
looks shocked, this tells the audience that they are surprised. As the second verse
starts, it fades back to the band in the car with the main singer lip syncing again, this
tells the audience that they are on their way to another wedding as it looks later on in
the day, this is known as elliptical editing as it shows that time has gone past . This
music video is multi stranded and linear as it follows many different brides and
grooms being surprised by Maroon 5 on their wedding day, this takes place in order.
This music video has a strong convention of a music video, this being the demands
of a record label, this is because the band members are all dressed pretty much the
same, but the main focus of the band is clearly Adam Levine, who is the lead singer,
this is common with bands as the main singers are usually always the main focus of
the band image. The same thing happens as the band arrive etc, however this time
the band can be seen walking backstage with the main singer lip syncing as he
walks to the main stage. As the final verse plays, the main singer can be seen in a
dark room with a microphone singing along to the lyrics, he is all by himself which
tells the audience that he is directly addressing the camera and potentially someone
in his own personal life as the lyrics are romantic, this is also shown by them visiting
weddings as weddings are known to be places of love, so that reflects the genre of
the song. As the final chorus plays it cuts to different weddings with different people
being surprised. The final few clips are of Adam greeting audience members, this
shows that he is being represented as a good person, which relates to the record
label building him a good star image.