TASK 2: Lady Gaga "Paparazzi" - Music Video Analysis

Paparazzi's music video was released in 2009 and directed by Jonas Åkerlund. It is a combination of both performance and narrative, but also it contains elements of an abstract music video. In the opening shots we see Gaga in bed with her boyfriend. We can see clearly that she is wearing Dior rings, and this is to promote the brand that creates a lot of her costumes. She is wearing white and black. The white could represent innocence and purity, whilst the black could represent death or power.

This next shot is one of the abstract shots of the video, as she is falling into spirals of black and white, which look like an optical illusion. This could connote that the boyfriend has an illusion of power, and that despite knocking Gaga off the balcony, she remains in control. This is also shown by the way she is falling, as she changes her positioning so it is almost like a dance.

The shot of her in a wheelchair shows a purple carpet. This is known to represent royalty and this is reinforced by the Limo and her butlers. She has gone from wearing white to majority black now and while this could represent a loss of goodness, it could also symbolise that she is regaining power. She is also wearing a red neck brace which has a hospital cross on it. It is made to look like a fashion accessory and the only way we can tell it is a neck brace is the cross and her position. She is almost glamorising death.

The next shot is a cross-cut and shows Gaga fully recovered sitting on a gold couch. The gold could again show wealth and royalty. We also see that Gaga is breaking the fourth wall by looking directly at the camera. Whilst this is unusual in a narrative based music video, it is unsurprising as this music video combines narrative with performance, which is why the majority of her acting is done whilst dancing and singing. She is wearing a lightning bolt earring as she has in several of her costumes and it could show that she wants it to become iconic, so that the viewer will think of Lady Gaga when they see it.

The next shot is part of several shots of maids that are displayed dead. They all wear a combination of black and white which links directly to Gaga at the beginning and show both innocence and death. The colour scheme of the bathroom is very striking as it is a combination of black and red. The red symbolises blood and whilst there isn't actual blood in the shot, it looks graphic, and maybe a deeper meaning to this is that there is little meaning behind the suspected murder.

Going back to Gaga's recovery, she is now wearing what looks like armor. This could represent her being very vulnerable at this stage and damaged by what her boyfriend has done. However the fact that she has four men circling her shows that she still has power and is still popular. She is using crutches but is also dancing which is a conflict and connotes that perhaps the injuries had less damage than originally seemed or were made out to be.

The transition effect to finish the scene is of dollars but with Gaga's face on. This again shows her power and wealth and also control. This transition could symbolise her recovery and rise to power again. However, by the transition used, it could also show that she is being consumed by greed and wealth and that may foreshadow that she is going to take revenge on her boyfriend now that she has returned to power.

This shot is of another maid but this time there is what appears to be blood. It could also be make up, however, as it is very dark like the makeup on her face. She could be wearing the makeup as a mask to protect herself from the superficial society she is in, and this has been exposed and left her damaged. The makeup as a representation of blood also has deeper meanings in itself, as it could show that the makeup is making these maids vulnerable and in danger of being exploited.

This shot is another cross cut to a dead maid and this one is more significant than the others, as the blood is gold. This is very powerful as it shows wealth, but also glamour. This could be Lady Gaga showing that these maids have had their lives taken from them too soon and they are lives that matter. The camera positioning is very prominent, as it is high angle and an extreme long shot. This is to emphasize the height of the fall to the viewer.

 When the maid goes to the table of drinks, we see Gaga's boyfriend looking up from his newspaper to her direction. This tells the viewer that he is the one that is causing these deaths and that he is treating them like objects. Alternatively, as the maid that looks exactly like the one featured in all of the death sequences, it could show that Gaga is exaggerating  the evils that this man has done and plans to poison him to protect them from what he is capable of. The boyfriend is wearing an eye-patch which covers up one of his eyes. This is used earlier with Lady Gaga as well as she covers one eye with sunglasses but leaves the other revealed. It could be a link to the eye of Horus, the 'all seeing eye' and is used to give them power.

When Gaga goes to get the poison, the shot is an exact replica of the one which showed the maid at the table earlier on. This has deeper meanings as it could show that she is just as vulnerable as the maids. The maid has now disappeared and it almost shows that Lady Gaga is protecting them from her boyfriend. Lady Gaga is wearing a Mickey Mouse themed costume, and while this could represent her childish behavior, it could also be used to show how she is not taken seriously by her boyfriend and is unimportant. The fact that the costume is yellow could suggest what she is doing is cowardly, and that she is doing it for fame rather than for good. She is also wearing large sunglasses which almost suggests she is hiding behind them. This can be used similarly to the make up earlier and could be to protect herself from the boyfriend who could exploit her.