MUSICVID #13 Depeche Mode - Strangelove

POSSIBLE POINTS OF INFLUENCE:

• The scenes with the women 

ACT: Depeche Mode
TRACK: Strangelove 
ALBUM: Music For The Masses
YEAR: 1987
DIRECTOR: Anton Corbijn (the band's stalwart director)
GENRE: Electronic, post-punk, synth-pop
SINGLE?: Yes, lead single released five months before the full album. The version used for the video was the single version, different on the album (same as the third single, Behind The Wheel)
LABEL: Mute Records (owned by TBA)

The MTV carried out censorship on this video due to overly sexual material of nudity

In the USA, MTV objected to some of the more revealing footage of the models and the video was edited to replace them with images of the band.

IN SUMMARY

• Use of lip-synching interesting not always when lyrics are playing and the band is on screen, there are some pauses, similar to Lana Del Rey's High By The Beach.
• Voyeuristic use of camera angles, reminds me slightly of Peeping Tom.
• The end looks like outtakes/bloopers, the band and models laughing, takes away some of the dark themes hinted at throughout the video of sexual depravity. Reminds me of what the Year 11 students Neo and Ruslan and Olivier and Christian did as part of their GSCE coursework)
• Representation of ethnicity (choice to have a non-Caucasian model, was this still challenging then?)

References to their other videos.

Dave Gahan falling down, reference to Shake The Disease video?

Mundane, casual characters walking by, also used in Corbjin's visualisation of their 1997 single Useless.

MUSICVID #1: Despacito

I have decided to start my music video analysis by looking at the most-watched music videos on YouTube. I will look at the top three, and then briefly compare them to others down the immediate countdown in another post. 

ACT: Luis Fonti feat. Daddy Yankee

TRACK: Despacito

ALBUM: N/A Non-album single

YEAR: 2017

DIRECTOR: Carlos Perez

GENRE: Reggaeton-pop

LABEL: Universal Latin (owned by UMG)

SINGLE?: Yes

LYRICS

The title translated means "Slowly".

Translation from this site:

Yes, you know that I've been looking at you for a whileI have to dance with you todayI saw, that your look was calling meShow me the way that I'm going ohYou you are the magnet and I'm the metalI'm getting closer and I'm setting up the planJust the thought of it accelerates the pulsenow I'm enjoying it more than usualAll my senses are asking for moreThis must be taken without any trouble SlowlyI want to breathe your neck slowlyLet me tell you things in your earsSo that you remember when you're not with meSlowlyI want to strip you off with kisses slowlySign the walls of your labrynthAnd make your whole body a manuscriptTurn it up turn it up..... turn it up, turn it up I wanna see you danceI wanna be your rhythmI want you to show meYour favourite places places places PlacesLet me surpass your danger zonesTo make you screamAnd forget your name If I ask you for a kiss , come give it to meI know that you're thinking about itI've been trying for some timeMommy this is giving and giving itYou know that your heart with me makes you bom bomYou know that this baby is looking for my bom bomCome test my mouth to see what it taste like to youI want to see how much love do you haveI'm not in a hurry, I want to do the tripLet's start slowly then wildly Step by step, soft softlyWe are going to get caught little by littleWhen you kiss me so skillfullyI think that you're malicious delicatelyStep by step, soft softlyWe're going to get caught, little by littleAnd it's just that this beauty is a puzzleBut to put it together here I have the pieces SlowlyI wanna breathe your neck slowlyLet me whisper things into your earSo that you remember if you're not with meSlowlyI wanna strip you off with kisses slowlySign the walls of your laberinthAnd make your whole body a manuscriptTurn it up I wanna see you danceI wanna be your rhythmI want you to show meYour favourite placesLet me surpass your danger zonesTill I make you screamAnd forget your nameSlowlyWe will do it on the beach in Puerto RicoTill the waves scream dear lordSo that my seal stays with you Step by step, soft softlyWe're going to get caught little by littleI want you to show meYour favourite places places places PlacesStep by step, soft softlyWe're going to get caught little by littleTo make you scream (Fonsi)And forget your name (DY)Slowly

This translation website offers nine translations of the song:

Versions: #1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9

From these translations one can see that the song has strong overtones of stalking.

It was banned in Malaysia on government-radio stations and TV outlets, though not at all on private stations or YouTube, does that make the ban at all effective?

AUDIO LENGTH: 03'48

LENGTH ON VID: 04'41

• The most watched Vevo upload, music video and YouTube video in general
• Non-English song, a Brazilian song Ai Se Eu Te Pego had enjoyed similiar success, Alors En Dance French example
• Male Gaze incorporated extremely through dance moves and twirking, as well stereotypical representation of woman as maternal carers for both children and older men (no job for men)
• Nearly only male children focussed by the camera
• Multicultural message?
• Diegetic intro and outro, a real-life recording is used at the end a long with diegetic sound of laughter

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

No titles.

 Extreme longshot (drone or helicopter?) tracking across    the coast at the La Perla neighbourhood in Puerto Rico. Diegetic intro of the sound of water splashing and seagulls has been added while the track has already started. This continues with the sound of chickens. It is phases out at 0'24 as the slow guitar notes play. 

 Rule of Thirds isn't applied, so you could  say that makes the Male Gaze less focused.

Paternal role, a female stereotype. So far she stands for the sexual ideal of and caring for (more less definitely heterosexual) young males!

...

UPDATE 30th August 2017

A parody video by Sesame Street

Source: Article by Cosmopolitan.

Despite being the two most watched (music) videos on YouTube, have Despacito and See You Again garnered as many parody videos as the video right below them on the list, Gangnam Style, even in the same time after the video premiered online? Neither of them really have original dance moves that have been mimicked on all sorts of platforms (Terry Wogan in Children In Need), just like Harlan Shake.