Music Video Analysis

Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl



In this video, i feel the dancing goes well but i also like how it is not taken too seriously and is used and displayed as a bit of fun. This is enhanced more by the use of costumes and the outfits that the girls are wearing. The mise en scene of the video is extremely bright and uses quite primary colours, and reminds me a bit of a Tarintino film which i think is very aesthetically pleasing and looks effective. Another aspect of this video that i think is important is the attitude and swagger that Gwen Stefani portrays in the video, which really sells the song and the style which is important for the music video. From watching this i have realised that it is important to get the right feel for your video and important to get the right cast. This has now encouraged me to think more about the casting aspect of my music video and made the idea of auditioning for the main parts much more appealing.

Again in this video there is the similar theme of having the lead singer in every shot and lots of close ups of their faces as well as other scenes, usually in very normal locations such as on the street or something. Even having no location at all can be effective in a music video, for example the shots of the girls in the band outfits are done in a simple studio with a black background. I think this background against the bright and contrasting colours of the costumes used and the high key lighting also gives a really creative effect.

With the camera angles used in the video i feel that there have been a variety of shots, especially in the dancing/cheerleading scenes when they are doing flips etc which have been dealth with creatively e.g. having the camera from above. This is something that i would like to incorporate in my video. In a lot of Gwen Stefanis music videos she uses themes and ideas from films, e.g. in her 'What ya waiting for?' video she used the theme of Alice in Wonderland and made the whole thing based around the fantasy of that story, which is another direction that i could look at with the storyline section of my video. In the above video i feel that she is using a Quentin Tarintino style with the yellow and red colours; especially so with the use of the car which is a signiture piece of Tarintinos work and reminds me of films such as Kill Bill.