PILLOWTALKZAYN

Concept of the video: The concept of this music video links in closely with the lyrics and underlying themes of the song. The lyrics talk about the way that love and passion can turn abruptly into recklessness. This message is portrayed very clearly throughout the video which was called by The Guardian a “theatrical interpretation of intimacy and romance”.

In the first scene of the music video we are introduced to Zayn Malik (the artist) and Gigi Hadid (an American model). In this scene the couple are filmed in close contact with each other, making it clear that they are in a relationship, hinting at the concept of the video. In the entirety of this scene the couple are shot from a variety of angles whilst the camera gradually zooms into them.

The lighting in this scene reflects the concept of the video. The couple are in a dark room and are lit with red lighting. This lighting carries the connotation of both love and hate due to the fact that it utilizes the colour red. It is interesting that only the couple themselves appear to be red because it draws all of the audience attention to this as it looks unusual.

From this scene onwards the music video focus’ a lot on the artists ’new image’. Zayn Malik used to be part of the successful boyband ‘One Direction’ but has now left the group and is venturing out as a solo artist. He has changed his artist name to just ‘Zayn’ to make it clear that he is now a solo performer. ’Pillowtalk’ is his first release as a solo artist and has become a huge success as it became number 1 in the US and in the UK is the fastest selling single of 2016 so far.

The reason he has included Gigi Hadid in his music video is not only because he is recently in a relationship with her (so she is fitting to the theme of the video), but is also because her popularity as a model and celebrity means that just by being in the music video, she attracts a lot of fans to the video and single. This is important because as a newly solo artist trying to change his fan base, Zayn needs as many new people as possible to listen to his music and watch this video so that he can acquire an audience and fans for himself rather than his old boyband. It is clear that her appearance in the video has had an effect on the viewings of the music video because it now has 644,623,209 views on YouTube.

His new image is not at all like it used to be. He used to be a teen star and his group attracted a very young audience that mostly consisted of young girls. However, in an attempt to change this, his new image and artist representation gives off a very grown up and ‘bad’ vibe. This is an important factor in attracting an older audience. This new style is evident in the first scene because he is smoking and appears to be in a seductive pose with Gigi. The black and white effect further exaggerates his new ‘bad boy’ style.

Throughout the video is montage editing is used. The entire video is made up of a montage of images, some mediated, some extremely artistic, and some of Zayn just lip-syncing the lyrics of the song. Overall, this has a very artistic and visually appealing effect. From these factors we can tell that the video is performance based, as there is no narrative aspect.

In these images it is evident that a lot of the shots have been edited to create a psychedelic/ kaleidoscope effect. This is very different to a lot of other videos I have seen and really does make the video stand out amongst others in the pop genre.

This kaleidoscope effect could be representative of how complicated relationships can be or even the complex emotions experienced whilst in a relationship.

Editing and transitions

In this music video there are some really interesting transitions between images. One you can see here is the silhouette of the artists head gradually expanding to reveal a new image.

These quirky transitions make the video appear very artistic. The transitions also take place in time with changes in pace of the song. This makes them appear to change even smoother.

Here are some other examples of interesting editing used in this music video.

Throughout the music video there are a series of sexualized images. These images link in closely with the theme of relationships and are particularly relatable for an adult audience.

The adult imagery and themes show that the artist has matured along with the content of his songs. This suggests that his new target audience are definitely adults.

Due to the fact that the genre of this song is R&B/ alternative R&B, there is a lot more freedom to include adult themes and images.

One line repeated throughout the video is ‘It’s a paradise, and it’s a war zone”.

These lyrics are portrayed through imagery in the video. For example, the flowers symbolize paradise, but they are melting, so they carry the meaning that the paradise (relationship) is a warzone because it is destructive.

The idea of a relationship being war-like and destructive is also represented in the image below. The sticks coming out of this woman’s face look like weapons, which links in with the idea of war.