Case Study 1

Case Study One – Bruno Mars – Grenade

In first case study I will look at the music video ‘Grenade’ performed by Bruno Mars. This is Pop song written and produced by Bruno Mars and the Smeezingtons. The single is part of the album ‘Doo-Wops and hooligans’ and was released on September 28 2010. The length of the video is 4.10 minutes. The songs start of in a slow tempo but crescendos into musically and lyrically into the climax of the song where lively beats start to enter.

Synopsis

The song starts of by setting the scene where we can see it is dark and raining which in effect tells us this song will be a not be a cheerful song. We then see Bruno mars sitting alone on a bed which again sets the mood.  We also see Bruno Mars looking at a picture frame showing a picture of him and a woman which tells the audience that he is anguishing over a woman. There is also a second narrative in which the video cuts between. In the second narrative the audience see’s Bruno mars dragging a piano with a rope through a tunnel.  We then see a scene in which Bruno Mars encounters a gang who confront him and throw a picture of the girl on the floor he looks dejected yet does not feel intimated of afraid of the gang as his mind is elsewhere and picks up the song and moves along. When he arrives outside the woman’s house he sees that she is with another man and he looks down deflated and leaves. We then see Bruno mars drag the piano up to a rail track where we see a cutaway of the rail barricade lights flashing and then see Bruno mars playing the piano on as we can hear a train horn in the background. Last scene from a wide angle shows the train approaching Bruno Mars and the video cuts to black.

The music video is performance based. Bruno Mars can be seen singing the lyrics to the song in the bedroom scene.  At the start of the song he sings in a low placed tone which corresponds with the background beat which shows he is upset and hurt. Nearing to the middle to the end of the song he sings in a high pitch tone which shows his suffering and pain. The video must be performance based so that the audience understand the emotion of the singer and this in turn is also more relatable to the audience.

Themes and Motif

Themes in this song included heartache Bruno Mars is heartbroken cause the girl he loves does not love him back, another theme is also betrayal as Bruno Mars would do anything for her but he knows deep down she wouldn’t do the same and feels upset about that.

Representation
In the music video Bruno mars is represented as upset and devastated as the woman he loves does not love him back. The video starts with a denotation as it is dark and gloomy which connotes the singers feeling of sadness. Lightening of the room is dark and the only thing that stands out is Bruno Mars orange t-shirt and this is used to show that he is the main vocal point. The fact that he is alone shows that he wants to isolate himself from everyone else as he thinks about his lover. In a scene a special effect is used to make the picture frame that he is holding suddenly crack this connotes that the relationship they had is over.

The scene which he pulls the piano through the tunnel shows how he would do anything for as his desire for is her is endless. The chorus of the song also shows this as it goes ‘I’ll catch a grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya, jump in front of train for ya; you know I would do anything for ya’.  He feels hurt that although he would anything for her she wouldn’t do the same. The close up shots of his feet stumbling as he is walking down the road represents his struggle to do anything for her just as long as she loves him back. There is also a difference in contrast when the video switches between the two narratives. When Bruno Mars is singing in his room the lightening is always dark however near the end of the video when the girl appears through the window with another man the scenery is
sunny and bright this represents the difference of feelings between the two individuals as Bruno Mars is distraught and heartbroken while the girl is happy with her new life.

 Bruno Mars is constantly looking down at the floor his body language shows that feels dejected and disheartened and this makes the audience feel sorry for him and feel for him as they can see how much he loves the girl he gets the sympathy from the audience who watch the video.

There are close up shots of Bruno Mars lip syncing which is to show the emotion in his voice. He is passionate about the way he feels. His facial expressions can be seen to show his agony and he rarely ever looks directly at the camera and this shows his hurt and demoralised. Also in the video he empathises the word ‘Ever’ twice as he goes ‘YOU NEVER EVER EVER LOVED ME’ and he screams this out loud and this represents how much he is hurt.

Furthermore, in the scene where he drags away the piano from the woman’s house the camera is shown from a point of view shot of the woman and as he walks away the image of Bruno Mars becomes blurred this represents how she already quickly forgotten about him. Bruno Mars appearance also looks scruffy he wears a shirt with the top unbuttoned and his tie is loosely hanging off him and this shows that he has been through a horrible time.

Near the end of the video Bruno mars goes up to the railway as he has the intention to end his life. There are cutaway shots of individuals in the public looking at him as they can see that something is wrong with him as he looks demoralised pulling up a piano up the road. There is a fast cutting rate and the scene cuts to a shot of railway crossing light which is flashing red which connotes danger. Long shots are used to show the scene which is the railway tracks however; the camera switches to close up shots of Bruno Mars as he sings so the audience do not know if he is actually on the railway tracks. The last shot of the video then shows Bruno Mars sitting and playing the piano as the train approaches him chimney blaring the video then cuts to black which in turn tells the audience how the video has ended without showing the consequence. 

Target Audience

This music video is about the heartache of the male lead who sings of how the person he was with never loved him. This can be generalised to mainstream audiences as they could relate to this as they may have been through a personal heartbreak and can understand the singer’s emotions in the video and this how they are encouraged to buy the record as this song can make an audience think about a past experience. The chorus is catchy but also meaningful and can easily stick into audiences heads which in turn will make them want to buy the single. Audiences who would like this song would be into the genre of Acoustic Pop. Also the niche category of teenage female audience would like this song as Bruno Mars is young, popular and also would feel an emotional attachment to the artist.

Ideas which can be subverted into my own music video

Elements from the video of grenade that I like and would like to include in my own video would be the picture frame moment in which Bruno Mars looks back on the picture of him and his former lover. This gives the audience the visual illustration of what the artist in the video is missing. In our video our male lead will have photos of the time when he was together with his lover and it will show the audience what there once was. Our ending sequence will show the male lead ripping up the photo into pieces which shows that the relationship they had is now over. Furthermore, the artist’s body language in the video shows a lot about how he feels.  I would like to incorporate this into my music video as it shows what he feels inside but in a physical element.