Textual Analysis of Nina Nesbitt- Stay Out

(Acoustic)

By Emily Smith

The Opening…

• The first thing that I noticed about this music video is that it has opening titles where the artists name is on the screen. This is straight away a code to the audience who is playing and creates a sense of importance of the artist. It also means that when the music video is played on music channels on TV the audience straight away have an understanding who is playing and the name of the artist is more likely to stay in their heads and be remembered. This is an important feature of the music video as Nina Nesbitt herself is an up and coming artist so she doesn't have a huge fan base when compared to some people in the charts today therefore more people once watching the music video are more likely to remember her name and become a fan. The typography of the writing is her logo as if Nina Nesbitt is a brand not a person. Therefore if this logo is to be seen anywhere else for example, on merchandise the target market will quickly make associations and understand who's merchandise/CD's they're if they were to watch this music video. The colour of the logo is in white which has connotations of being pure and innocent suggesting that the artist herself is a protagonist creating positive connotations of the artist and the video before the audience even start watching and are more likely to continue viewing the video.

The Opening continued…

• In Addition at the very beginning of the video where her name/logo is the video

looks like there is a vintage film reel being used which flickers, which straight away

gives the music video a vintage feel. There is an establishing shot from the daytime

to establish where the music video is set and the flickering of the film then suggests

that there is going to be a change in location from daytime to night suggesting that

the song is called 'Stay Out' and they're going to stay out at night. There is an

enigma code to the audience as you don't know why its flickering and so you want

top carry on watching the video to see what the artist gets up to through the video

as the first scene doesn't give much away apart from setting.

Location/Iconography…

• As the location changes from the film reel to night time were presented with a long shot of the artist stood outside at night holding a guitar. The long shot makes the audience become aware who the artist is and also what genre of the music video the music video is. As she is holding a guitar there is then a close up shot of her playing the guitar so the audience are well aware that it is an acoustic guitar and this iconography makes it understandable to the audience that the genre of the music video is going to be acoustic throughout the rest of the video. The viewers have an understanding that the music video is set in Scotland, at 0.58 there is a Scottish flag this is so that if the location wasn't clear from the establishing shot at the beginning of the music video it is clear to viewers which may not have the understanding of that's where its set. The setting is also personal to the artist as Nina Nesbitt happens to be from Scotland giving an insight into her life. There is also a long shot of a shop window which has kilts in it this iconography also suggests that she is in Scotland as kilts have connotations of Scotland.

Codes…

• During the video in the next scene she holds a small figure of a tortoise up to the camera, does her makeup and also takes a bite of an apple. The preferred meaning by the artist and director of music video will be that the audience understand why she has included these elements in her video. The tortoise, apple and makeup are all trademarks of Nina Nesbitt, fans will understand why these symbols are put in, as acoustic music videos tend to be quite unique and personal to the artist for example, fans will have the understanding that Nina Nesbitt has a song already out called 'The Apple Tree', she has a pet tortoise and obsesses over them on social media platforms and uses that sort of makeup. The fact that the depth of field has been changed on the video camera so that the tortoise is the only thing clear in the shot suggests that its something significant to the artist and makes it obvious to the audience why its relevant and included. Also throughout this scene there is many things around here room which people will associate to Nina Nesbitt and her style for example, the Nike Air Max trainers which fans of her will know she wears all the time.

Why narrative and performance?...

• Throughout the music video there is a narrative of Nina and her friends going out, going to different places and what they get up to on a night out but there is also parts of the video which alternate from narrative to the performance where she is playing her guitar however she is still in the same place for example, playing her guitar on the bus with her friends means that the narrative is still clear to the audience that she is out on a night out. when referring to Andrew Goodwin's theory this music video is an amplification music video this is because the narrative does not 100% illustrate the song itself as there is performance parts meaning that the meaning of the song and narrative is amplified throughout. This could be because acoustic music video happen to be more personal and unique to the artist as acoustic songs are very personal to the artist themselves therefore the video of them going out at night could be amplified throughout so that its clear to the target market what they're doing but having performance parts also makes it clear that the music video is an acoustic music video, reflecting that the song and video its self is unique to the artist. Furthermore by the narrative being about the artist night out and its very true to real life except the concept of going out at night is over exaggerated to make it seem more entertaining to the viewer as they do crazy stuff by doing this and having the video unique and personal to the artist fans of her get an insight into the artist life.

Costume and Style…

• Throughout the video Nina Nesbitt is wearing clothes which could be considered vintage and quirky for example, a leather jacket with studs, this reflects that the target market will probably share the same style as Nina Nesbitt therefore it could be considered that Nina Nesbitt has a niche market as people don't only watch her videos for the music and video but also they also watch as the target market have interests like Nina which are the vintage/retro theme. When she is looking at the camera and doing her red lipstick which shows that this is part of her style, it’s almost like she’s looking into a mirror, so its like the viewers can see what’s on the other side of the mirror and therefore they get an insight into her life. Nina Nesbitt's style is one of her unique selling points and when referring to Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications Theory people could watch this video for 'Surveillance' in order to gain style inspiration and also to gain a 'Personal Identity' by watching her videos. In addition the colour scheme throughout the music video could be closely identified to the vintage theme for example, where there is the vintage film reel effect throughout the video the colours all have under tones of blue, pink and orange which are carried out as the house style colours to the video making the video appear more vintage and thus attracting the target market.

These images show her style. Top left image she is

wearing bracelets and doing her red lipstick. Bottom

left image she is attending to her blonde hair. And the

middle right image shows that she is wearing a leather

jacket with studs.

Editing…

• The editing throughout the video is quite fast pace and the editing is at the

same pace of the song for example at 1.06 a series of quick cuts which are

used to give the effect that they're taking pictures but the pace of that also

matches the song as the lyrics are 'oh, oh, oh, oh' this makes it clear to the

audience what they're doing and are taking pictures it makes the narrative

clear by not making it complicated therefore the audience can understand the

video meaning easily.

Overall after analysing this music video of acoustic

genre the overall conventions from this genre were:

•The first convention of this genre is making the video personal and unique to the artist, in terms of narrative and mise en scene which is different to every acoustic artist but in turn a genre convention, as artists who are in the acoustic genre tend to make their music videos personal to them and have elements in them which are only considered understandable to their target market. Thus the uniqueness of every acoustic singer is reflected in their video which is a convention of this genre.

•The artists tend to have their own unique style repeated throughout the music video for example in this one the style repeated throughout is vintage.

•The editing tends to go at the same pace as the video lyrics so that the narrative doesn't get confusing and the meaning is easy to understand.

•The music videos tends to be both narrative and performance based featuring an artist playing an instrument played in acoustic music. The narrative tends to be from personal experiences so that the fan base can get an insight into their lives and also relate to the video and lyrics for example, about the own artist opinions and feelings.

•There are close up shots to show that the artist is playing an instrument which would be played in the acoustic genre.

•There is an establishing shot to establish the location before hand and enabling it to be clear to the audience where the music video is located the location tends to be personal to the artist which will be clear to the audience and thus relevant to the song.

•There are certain codes that are only clear to the target market and fan base.

All of these things are what I need to consider if I was to make a music video of the acoustic genre as this is what makes the music video and the artist successful.