Miguel ft J. Cole -‐ All i want is you

Music video analysis By Harland Greenhill

Fletcher

Background Information

Miguel is a singer songwriter from Los Angeles. He was initially signed in the year 2000 yet he released his debut album (All i

want is you) in 2010. Miguel is a R&B/Pop and neo soul artist. He went on to produce another album Kaleidoscope Dream in 2012. The song i have analysed features Hip hop singer and songwriter J. Cole from North Carolina.

Camera Work

The opening shot in the video is an aerial pan of a city landscape at night this shot and movement sets the scene and gives some context straight away. The audience is being placed into the location.

To begin with the audience is introduced to J. Cole instead of Miguel which appears to be done because at the time of this video miguel was not as well known as J. Cole. Miguel uses J. Cole to promote himself showing that he is artistically on the same level as a more successful artist.

Camera Work Cont.

Before any lyrics are heard the audience enters a bedroom with a girl not wearing a lot, this conforms to Laura Mulvey's theory of The Male gaze. The misogynistic outlook on this character presents her as nothing but a sexual object. As an audience we are forced to look at her because of the shots that move along her body. Additionally she is wearing white underwear that is illuminated by light to draw attention to her.

used to sell Miguel to the audience and fans that are attracted by both him and J. Cole.

Camera Work Cont.

Moreover within this video we see the camera work illustrates the lyrics. In a number of circumstances we see

close up on this girl who is in his house.

Extreme close ups are used solely on this girls and different parts of her body. This is effective when telling the story of him missing her because the shots seem to show what he misses about her.

Camera angles in this video do not vary as much as we might expect the only noticeable angles are low angles on J. Cole looking up to him which places him on a pedestal almost as though he is idolised.

Editing Cutting rate in the video changes throughout the video it varies from being slow when each verse is performed to a faster cutting rate when the chorus is heard. Towards the end of the video (second half) we see the cutting rate is at a constant speed this is faster than at the start of the video. The increased cutting rate seems to portray Miguel's feeling of confusion. Many different shots amplify this feeling by giving the audience a lot to think about.

Post production effects in this video include the visual scanning effects on this girl we see a sort of line going down her body scanning her. This effect looks as though in his mind he is scanning over every detail of her.

Editing Cont. Further more lip synching is used a number of times in the video even when the narrative is being played out we see Miguel and/or J. Cole singing the song. Use of lip synching is a key part of the video because this is the majority of the performance aspect that the audience experiences.

During some parts of the video we see that Miguel is in the room with several copies of the same woman this would have been filmed a number of times with the same girl and edited over each other to give the effect of her many copies. This particular technique is useful in presenting the

multiple presence in the room.

Mise en scene The lighting through out this clip is essential in amplifying the story for example we are introduced to a city landscape at night time. Cities are used in R&B song because of the typical urban connotations. Miguel could be sending a subliminal message that this girl is his light in the dark just as these buildings are lit up at night. Additionally use of Ultra Violet lights allows the white clothes she wears to light up , using this effect attracts the audiences eye to these underwear like clothes. Typical of Laura

chest and lower body being lit up to draw attention to these areas of her body. Furthermore her lips light up this gives us another aspect of the male gaze because lips are sometimes seen as a symbol of sexual promiscuity when heavily made up.

Mise en scene Cont. During this video we see that the weather portrays the

general emotion of the video. This use of pathetic fallacy is effective in amplifying the mood of the video. For example he says a number of times that no other girl compares to her and the use of pathetic fallacy with the rain gives a visualization of his feelings.

Although a similar feeling is given off by J. Cole when performing we see that he appears to be happier than Miguel. Cutting rate when J. Cole performs is higher than with Miguel. Faster cuts mean the audience sees more so this could represent all of the thoughts in his head.

Genre Settings and location in the video are typical of the R&B genre we see that they are in a city which has connotations of both the rich and the poor. Using the two locations of the street and the apartment could be to remind the audience of J. Coles background from the streets and gives the impression that Miguel is linked to a similar upbringing.

However in contrast to the locations we see things unusual to the genre for example Miguel is represented as the vulnerable character he appears to mope around because of this girl. A number of rappers talk of their endless sexual encounters with women, so by doing this he is challenging typical conventions of the genre.

Genre cont. In the video we see J. Cole is represented in

a typical fashion of his own videos. J. Cole is sometimes represented as a vulnerable character in his own music videos, by having J. Cole in his video Miguel appears to want to be connected to J. Coles image. J. Cole is not a typical rapper he shows his emotions more than other rappers do, so it seems as though Miguel wants to be similar to J. Cole. This particular video seems to be what is going to connect them to each other in the future. Both of them sing in a similar manner and they seem to share a lot of ideas the both of them have been seen as vulnerable when it comes to girls.

Narrative

This particular story at a glance would come across as a stereotypical male rapper with girls and drinks yet when analysed more closely we see deeper meaning behind the visuals. It appears that he is thinking of this girl in a sort of condensed memory sequence this girl seems to

implying they used to be together.

Miguels behaviour around this girl in the video is as though she is not present he only looks at her once or twice and it looks as though she is just in his head. For instance there are a number of times when there are more than one versions or copies of this girl yet she is the same girl in different places which seems like he is replaying memories in his head while he sings this song. Pure illustration is used in the narrative because the visuals give the impression that she

looks like he thinks of nothing but her.

Narrative cont.

Furthermore throughout this video he is seen to be speaking the lyrics of the song rather than actually performing them this appears to be giving the words more meaning as though they are directed at this woman. According to Laura

theory of the male gaze woman are represented as an object to look at. The video obeys a number of ideas presented by Mulvey for example we see his ex come out of the shower wearing very little this is not connected to the story particularly, it is placed here mainly for the male gaze.

Narrative cont. It appears that each time she is shown to us

represents another one of his memories. Throughout these memories a number of close ups are used on her different body parts. According to Laura Mulveys theory of the male gaze we see that this particular woman is underdressed in all her scenes. Additionally she wears a lot of white outfits which are illuminated by UV light to draw attention to her body.

The whole video is presented as though it is performed to an individual rather than to the whole audience this could show us the song was written about someone specifically. In compliance to Andrew Goodwin's theory in a number of instances we see illustration used; for example the majority of the time we see the main woman he speaks of his feelings towards her.

Performance Although the video has a strong narrative it holds aspects of a performance based music video. First of all we see both J .Cole and Miguel singing to the camera directly this is making a connection with the audience and allowing them to focus just on the words and the artist. From the very start we see J.Cole performing in the street as it rains giving the impression he will perform anywhere and that music is their shared passion. Both miguel and J. Cole

concert layout the both of them are just performing within the narrative of the story it is not separated they are merged together.

Balance of performance and narrative

Generally the videos balance of performance and narrative is evenly spread between the two. As an audience we see both aspects of performance and a narrative based music video both in which are used effectively in the clip. For example we see a complex story that is built around Miguel who appears to be missing his ex girlfriend. His story is built up with complexity throughout the video, first of all the repeated image of his ex that we see shows how she goes through his mind. Further more we see him and J. Cole sing about the same topic so they relate to each other. Additionally we see that he performs throughout and in some cases he appears to be performing at her as though she is in the audience.

Overall Opinion

All in all the narrative is effective in illustrating the lyrics of the song the whole story shows the inner meanings of the lyrics and gives the audience a lot to think about. Typical of Miguel's music the audience is supposed to empathise with his story and this video achieves this by making a connection with the audience both

songs we see an aspect of the male gaze the video has this aspect also and therefore appeals to the different audience in which this is aimed at. Furthermore this video was designed to sell Miguel to new audiences and old fans, so by using a number of close ups or