Video Analysis 1- Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself'

Justin Bieber's 'Love Yourself' was released on November 14th 2015.
The establishing shot is a high angle medium long shot of the two actors laying on a bed in comfortable clothing, typically worn whilst lounging around the house, creating a modern representation, also creating verisimilitude. Due to this, you can infer that this is their bed however they are not close together in the shot, signalling some problems in the relationship, which relates to the name of the song. The monochrome colouring at the beginning symbolises that the spark in their relationship is gone. It would be easy to recreate this setting as it can be performed on any large bed, with the rest of the set being minimalistic which is also easy to recreate. The two actors do not look into camera or sing at all, indicating they are not the artists, rather dancers that are helping to tell the story, or meaning behind the song.
All dancing movements throughout the song are on the beat, creating a relationship with the music. This helps the audience to connect the meanings and emotions invoked by the dancing and the music being used in tandem. Occasionally the actors will slip out of dancing and instead walk as normal, which then makes the dance movements more powerful, particularly as it is in a contemporary style.

The next change in shot is to a medium long shot which focuses on the female shrugging the male away from her. This shows the emotions on both of the actors faces, with the woman looking annoyed that the man had disturbed her and the man looking confused as to why she is pushing him away, both physically and emotionally. This further communicates a rift between the two characters. Portraying a strained relationship is a very modern representation, which is further shown by the woman having a short hair cut which, traditionally, would not occur.

After a dance segment, where the male is framed by a door frame some shots, emphasising that the song is from him to the woman, there is a cut to location with the actors now in the corridor as they move through the house. Whilst dancing in this location, all of their movements are framed by the walls and the window at the end, which also highlights again that the set is very minimalistic. The continuation of this from the bedroom further supports the idea that the characters relationship is not a particularly happy or well balanced one. It is clear from the dancing in this shot that the clothing was chosen as items that the actors have good mobility in, as well as being modern and quite trendy, showing the pair to be a modern young couple.

There is then another cut to the kitchen. All of the location changes have continuity due to the characters walking in and out of each shot, which enforces that the movement is occurring around the house at one time. What's interesting in this section is that due to the camera being stationary in each location, an effect is created that makes the audience seem to be observing the breakdown of the relationship through snippets, as if they are meant to observe and interpret rather than connecting emotionally with the actors, but should focus on the song instead, and how most of the lyrics are in past tense. This supports the idea that the video is a look into the past, and that the song is message from the male to the female.
There is an interesting use of props and set in this sequence, as the actors incorporate the fridge and food items into the dance sequence. The door to the fridge is used to frame the woman as she ignores the mans attempts to talk to her, which shows a more stereotypical view of the woman to talk to the man in a relationship about what is wrong and why she is upset. There is a modern view shown as well however, with the woman being portrayed as quite dominant, taking the apple away from the man just when he is about to bite it.

There is then another cut to location with a medium shot as the the actors enter into a sitting room, with the apple the woman is holding creating a sense of continuity and verisimilitude, as she would still be holding it if she had just come from a different room in the house. When they first enter they are slightly out of frame at the top, which reinforces the idea that the audience are seeing the actors relationship through snippets. The set contains a lot of symmetry, with the curtains, windows and chairs all being equally balanced. The only item that particularly highlights either side is through the lighting, and the placement of a lamp on the left, creating a warm glow in that corner of the room. This represents the idea that the person who is mainly in that corner, the male, is the 'good' side in the relationship, and it is the woman that is breaking it up. However both are in a shadow throughout this section which indicates that there may be problems caused by both the male and female. The choreography also contains a lot of symmetry, with the dancers being on opposite sides of the shot. This contradicts most of the previous dancing, with it previously being movements that work in tandem but are completely different. However the style does revert back to its original style after around 15 seconds, which could be inferred as the dancing reflecting the state of the relationship, as it is breaking down.

There is then another cut to two phones, which have been shown in the previous shot as being put down by the actors. This provides continuity between the two locations. The use of phones helps to provide a different type of shot, which will ensure that the audiences' attention is kept as it is an uncommon technique. It is interesting to use two other forms of media to show the music video, which helps to enforce the songs lyrics through the pragmatics of the choreography, with the woman walking away from the man when the relationship starts to work. Meanings can also be taken from the symbolism of the two phones, one being black and one white, which shows how different the two people are in the relationship, and how that whilst they are together, they are also miles apart. This relates back to the meaning of the song as it shows that the people are too focused on themselves to have a stable relationship. Both phones have medium long shots, which enables the audience to be able to see all of the dancers bodies, and their movements.

There is then a cut to location as both actors are now seen in a bathroom. The female is now in a more dressed up outfit and appears to be preparing to out which relates to the lyrics of the song 'maybe you should go and love yourself'. The male is also in a dressier costume however he is not often visible due to the woman blocking him. All of the shots in this sequence are taken through the range of mirrors that surround the pair in the room. From this we can infer that the set is again reflecting the song lyrics due to the woman being obsessed with appearance whereas the man simply wants her to stop and love herself. This is a more stereotypical representation of women

as she is fixated on her looks and not the problems that are occurring around her. The fact that the couple are surrounded by mirrors reinforces this fact. At this point Mulveys' theory of the 'male gaze' can be applied, due to the woman dressing up and putting on makeup, as well as doing her hair. This would supposedly make her more appealing for males, however the lyrics of the song suggest that she does not need this and that her partner wishes her to stop attempting to change the way she looks as he believes her to fine without any of this preening.

There is then another cut to a section of the lounge which allows the audience to see some of the previous locations, the kitchen and the sitting room. From the position the camera is in, there is a vase and part of the sofa in the foreground, out of focus, which frame the sides of the shot and further reinforcing the idea that the audience are seeing small sections of the actors relationship. The changing lighting, with both the male and female turning the light on and off, meaning they cannot see each other as they are never there at the same time reflects that the relationship is coming to an end due to them simply not seeing each other anymore.


After this there is a cut back to the bedroom, which has gone back into the monotone colouring that the video started with. This is a extreme closeup to end the music video, as it relates back to the name of the music video, 'Love Yourself', as well as reinforcing the idea that the song was a message from the male actor to the female actor, which mirrors the way in which the artist of the song is sending a message.

How This Music Video has Influenced my Creativity and Planning

After watching this music video, I would greatly like to include dancing in my own video, as I find the contemporary style very interesting to watch due to it linking to the meaning of the song so well. I do find it odd however that there is no singing or even looking into camera whilst the actors are dancing, which is a convention of music videos. This may be because the dancers are not the actual stars and therefore are not needed to engage with the audience itself. In my own music video I will include some looking and singing into camera as I believe it helps to engage the audience into the meaning of the song, and of the music video. The dancers would also be the artist with the star image that we are portraying, therefore looking into camera would be more appropriate for our music video.
Another idea I would like to recreate in my own music video is the us of lighting to indicate the emotional development of the song, such as using the monotone colouring and brighter lighting on the 'good' person.