Artist Study
For my second artist study I chose the singer Dua Lipa. The three videos I analysed are:
- Blow Your Mind (Mwah)
- New Rules
- Hotter Than Hell
My reason for choosing Dua Lipa to study is that she's very popular at the moment after her sing New Rules topped the UK charts for several weeks running. It also helps that she is one of my favourite artists.
The first video I am analysing is Blow Your Mind (Mwah). It's a performance video that follows Dua and a group of girls partying around a city. It shows that she's not afraid to let loose and have fun. Towards the end of the video, around the second to last chorus, it's shown that this video has a basis of be proud of yourself, especially your sexuality because it's a big part of you. After the realisation that this song is in support of the LGBT+ community, the lyrics begin to become more clear and are better linked to the video itself. Paired with the lyrics, it's showing that you should be proud of yourself and not be afraid to show the world who you are as a person. The video tends to focus on Dua as the main person of the shots however it does show the other people around her and what they're like individually - Dua doesn't dominate the video's screen time. Personally I like the music video, it's upbeat and matches the catchy rhythm to the song. It's actually my favourite Dua Lipa song and the video is a good match to the lyrics. I like it as it fits in with Dua Lipa's style of video; it has a vibe of something different about it, like it seems normal but has this underlying strangeness to it. Granted it's more prominent in her other videos but she still has her thing of girls draping over her and each other.
My second video is New Rules, her latest music video. Once again it's performance and this time has a more apparent story to it. It's set in a hotel and has the plot of Dua going through a break up, her friends helping her through it. By the end of the video she is the one helping her friend through a video, showing that it's not the end of world when a relationship ends, and it helps to have supporting friends. The lyrics match the video and even without the music it would be easy to gather the fact she's going through a breakup. It's all about how you need to get over someone you know is only using you and will eventually break your heart again. This is the song that was number one for several weeks and it was Dua Lipa's first number one in the UK charts. I like the video, it's got Dua's signature weird vibe to it, which is revealed when they go to the pool and the shot pans down to reveal they have the reflections of flamingos. Even at the very end it changes to the flamingos, implying that actually they're flamingos; bold, confident, beauty etc.
The final video to analyse is Hotter Than Hell. It's another performance and it has a vague storyline. The difference in this music video is that the backing music is different to the studio version; it's longer at the start and end, doing a sort of instrumental for an extra ten seconds before the song begins. It's plot is focused on a romance between Dua and some guy but also the underground club setting that the majority of the video is based in. Dua is sitting in a throne like chair when she's in the club; like she knows she's hot and that everyone wants her. It fits the lyrics as she that everyone loves her even though she's their downfall, they just can't seem to help themselves to love her. The video isn't my favourite but it does have some qualities which are good; the effect of the video being on a old video camera is really effective as it makes you feel like you are there in the room. You can see some of the other people with these vintage cameras throughout the video so when you can suddenly see through their lens it makes it feel more real.
