Case study 3 – Jason
Derulo – What if
In my third case study I will look at music video ‘What If’
performed by Jason Derulo. The music video is directed by Ethan Lather and it
produced by the Warner Bro Label. It is a single is of pop genre and it part of
the self-entitled Jason Derulo Album. The single was released on 26th
of July 2010. The length of the video is 4 minutes and 16 seconds. The video
starts off with a slow instrumental background sequence of piano before the
song enters a rhythmic beat of both piano and drums.
Synopsis
The music video begins with Jason Derulo and his girlfriend
moving in together, Derulo takes a diamond engagement ring out of the
nightstand and puts it in his pocket as she comes into the room. Derulo offer
to get the last box out of the van but she refuses and leaves to get the last
box from the moving truck. While crossing the street, a driver from another car
is texting on his phone and nearly hits her.
Suddenly Derulo hears the car brake skids and runs out of the house and
towards her to push her out of the way of the car. Just about when he is going
to push her away the camera goes to a freeze frame. A clock on the nightstand
begins to tick slower until it eventually stops before going backwards. Time
begins to go in reverse; Derulo’s relationship with his girlfriend is shown as
if the video is being rewinded back to the beginning. When the video shows
their first time they met, time stops going backwards and goes back to normal.
This time, as he walks past her, he does not stop and talk to her. Therefore
their relationship never happened. He looks back at her before he continues
walking. She disappears from his memories and from a picture as the first
encounter never happened the future is rewritten to save her life this is shown
as the video ends back on the street, as the car is about to hit his
girlfriend, she disappears as does the moving truck and the car just contuines
to drive off.
The video is narrative based but it done in a unique way
where the story is told backwards. The incident of the video is shown at the
start and the audience go on a journey of the past in the video where they see
the relationship between the two characters unfold in the music video right up
to point of the first meeting of the individuals. As the video goes the
audience understand more of the story that is being told. The incident that
happened at the start of the video then changes as in the video as time goes
back there are factors in the video that change the course of the future.
Themes and Motifs
The theme in this video is about the future there is a lot
of emphasis on time in this video as they are numerous shots of a clock. Also
the concept of the video is unique and different from other music videos as the
music video is show backwards showing the present at the start of the video
working along the video showing the past until it shows the very first
encounter at the end of the video. Another theme in the video is also forbidden
love, In the video Jason can be seen
wanting to be with the girl however he knows what would happen if they did get
together as he knows that them getting together causes her death therefore he
must stop himself from talking to her to save her life.
Representation
The video starts off a close – up shot of Derulo
placing a picture frame of him and his girlfriend near the alarm clock on his
bedside table this is a visual illustration of what the song will be about
which what the future holds for the couple. Jason can be seen taking out an
expensive engagement ring and as his girlfriend goes to get the last box from
the truck he focuses on the ring and the beginning lyrics start with ‘What if?,
I’m the one for you and you’re the one for me? What if...’ this tells the
audience that he is
questioning about future of their relationship. Suddenly a tyre screech can be
heard and a close up shot shows the box full of glass the girl she was holding
dropping and smashing on the floor. Jason runs out and loud heartbeats can be
heard and this to emphasis the dramatic and intense moment.
The scene also cuts
to the close up shot of the clock on the nightstand as it zooms in it shows the
clock ticking over second by second with the second dial clearly being heard
this corresponds with editing technique of slow motion to show the car
gradually coming closer about to hit the girl and this is to represent that
Jason is nearly out of time and there is little he can do. The video also cuts
to the picture frame of them to together and this is to connote what he may be
about to lose. However just when the car is about to hit the girl there is a
freeze frame and the scene cuts to that of the nightstand clock which shows the
clock stopping. The second dial then suddenly begins to go backwards and this
represents time reversing and the instrumental beat of the song starts to build
its way into the song.
The video is then shown in reverse as Jason is running
backwards towards the house and the broken glasses pieces together and goes
back into the box. There is a fast cutting rate and this represents that time
is going back quick. The lyrics of the song are told before the accident has
happened so Jason envisions how life would be so good together and thinks that
they are made for each other and that fate bought them together. ‘If you are
the one then us meeting is fate, future with a dog called a ben and a house
with a fireplace’. The lyrics are sung in a heartfelt voice and this represents
how Derulo desperately wants a happy life with her, however he questions the
future and this is shown when the video cuts to scene of him in the park where
they originally met and a close up shot shows him lip synching ‘But we can’t we
can’t tell the future no, but that’s just the beauty of the world we know.’ A
long shot also shows people in background walking but backwards still
illustrating that time is going in reverse however Derulo is not pacing
backwards but in the standing in the middle of the frame as the vocal point of
the shot and this is because this scene tells the audience that it is separate
from the narrative.
Also
close up of Jason Derulo’s face show his emotion which represents his worry of
not knowing what the future holds for the both of them. There video then shows
flashbacks of their time spent with Jason and his girlfriend where it can be
seen him feeding her strawberry’s, washing the dog together and him teaching
her how to play the piano while he sings “picture me on one knee with a perfect
diamond ring and if you said then we’d have our wedding on the beach”. This
shows how much they are fond of each other and the amazing chemistry between
the two and how he feels that they are the perfect match.
The
next shot then shows close-up shot of a phone erasing a number the audience
then see the first encounter of them together where the camera uses a shot
reverse shot to show both of them smiling at each other and talking and this
shows the first time they met and the instant connection between the two.
However the video is still rewinding but at a very slow pace and Derulo gets up
and walks backwards and rests his feet on the car and this is to show that
slowly the time is about to stop reversing. There is then a close up shot of Derulo’s watch
on his wrist and it shows the dials going backwards until its stops at 1.25 the
first moment he saw the girl sitting on the bench smiling at him this
represents the first moment they saw each other and this is also a significant
moment of the video as it shows where it all started and where is has
eventually gone back to lead up to. Also as the watch has stopped reversing it
means time has stopped going backwards and that it now the present. This time
as he walks towards the girl he passes her without looking or speaking to her
only to glance back and wave. This shows that Derulo has been re-written the
past and so the future has now changed for both of them. The picture frame
showing the picture of them together the girl disappears from the picture, the
moment in the kitchen where he covers up her eyes to reveal a surprise an
editing technique is used to evaporate her out of the frame.
The freeze frame from earlier on the video where the car is
about to hit the girl is then shown again but this time the girl, the moving
van and the box on the road dissolve from the freeze frame and when the picture
unfreezes the car passes along the road without an incident and this shows how
them two never meeting has saved her from the accident which would have
happened if they had gotten together and moved in.
In
terms of mise en scene the video uses clocks and watches to emphasise that time
is going backwards. Also the in the scene where Derulo is teaching the girl the
play the piano the lightening in the room Is dark and this is done to create an
intimate setting. However in the park where Derulo lip syncs and where they
meet artificial lightening is used and this is to create scenery where it would
be the perfect place to meet a person that you like. Also throughout the video
Jason derulo only wears black costumes and this connotes loss as in the video
at the start there is accident where his about to lose his girlfriend but also
at the end he never talks to the girl so he may feel alone and lost without that special someone.
Target Audience
Audiences who would like this music video would be into pop
and R&B. The target audience is expansive in that both teenagers and adults
would like this video. The music video makes the audience question situations
in life where they think about things that could have gone differently.
Audience are encouraged to by this record as the video is distinctive in a way
that no other video has used the concept of telling the story of the music
video from the end to the beginning. This a unique selling point for this video
as audience would like this new refreshing way that the video is portrayed.
Ideas that can be
subverted into my video
One of the elements that I would like to use in my music
video from this case study is the unique way they the video uses the clock and
uses special effects to turn the dial backwards to illustrate that time is going in reverse and that the
video is showing the past. It is a creative idea which I would use in my video to
show the audience a period of time in my video that was in the past. Also I like the way that in the scene of Jason
Derulo lip synching in the park in the background people are swiftly moving
past him without taking notice of him and he is the focus point of the shot it
creates an interesting shot. I would use a similar sort of idea where my main
character in my music video will be lip synching in a scene where individuals
are moving past him in the background ideally this will be on a busy street
then later on in editing I would fast forward the pace of the people in the
background and this will create an artistic element into the shot.