Maroon 5 - Payphone ft. Wiz Khalifa
Music Videos Demonstrate Genre Characteristics
Intertextuality
The Demands Of The Record Label
Will Include The Need For Lots Of Close Ups Of The Artist And The Artist
May Develop Motifs Which Recur Across Their Work (A Visual Style).
“Payphone”
is a single by the American pop band Maroon 5, from the album
Overexposed which was released on April 16 2012 by A&M/Octone.
This song also features the American rapper Wiz Khalifa, signed to
the record label Atlantic after leaving Warner Bros. Record
(coincidentally both are subsidiaries of Warner Music Group. The
genre of the “Payphone” is, as aforementioned, pop and this is
evident from the way the music video has been constructed. The whole
music video is a story which has a beginning, a middle and an end,
similar to pop music videos such as “Material Girl” sung by the
acclaimed “Queen of Pop” Madonna the
second single from her sophomore
album Like a Virgin. The video explores the fantasy that a man has
over Madonna and eventually goes to see her at a film set. They meet
and inevitably fall in love, with the audience presuming that they
live happily ever after. Another example is the Chris Brown single
featuring Justin Bieber “Next to You” which starts off with both
the singers with their partners, happy and content. But then
misfortune strikes and an explosion occurs, separating both the
singers from their on-screen girlfriend. The video concludes with
Justin Bieber finding his partner and sharing a tender kiss.
Another
convention that is projected through this music video and various
other pop videos is the fact that the song and music video is about
relationships and love. This seems to be a common theme through pop
genres and is shown, once again in, in “Material Girl” and “Next
to You”. Material Girl shows the love of the actor in the music
video for Madonna, claiming “she's fantastic” and expressing a
desire to meet her, resulting in them both falling in love. In the
music video its is made obvious that both the singers are in love and
have a healthy relationship. But then they are tragically divided and
the video is about both the singers having their love tested. The
music video reaches a climax with Bieber sharing a kiss with his
girlfriend.
One
more convention that can be listed in nearly all music videos is the
fact that the artist will always appear in the music video singing
their songs. The best example would be Michael Jackson and all his
music videos. It is in fact these videos (after appearing on MTV)
that had launched Jackson. The previously mentioned music videos,
“Material Girl” and “Next to You” also feature Madonna and
Chris Brown singing their songs respectively.
There Is A Relationship Between Lyrics And Visuals
This
song is about Adam Levine saying how that his and his girlfriends
relationship is not the same anymore and this is expressed by him
remembering the events that we presume happened earlier and resulted
to him arriving at a payphone at the beginning of the song and that
is where the song actually starts:
“I'm
at a payphone trying to call home
All
of my change I spent on you
Where
have the times gone
Baby
it's all wrong, where are the plans we made for two?”
The
above lines are the chorus and they are constantly sung throughout
the song and from the video begins with Levine physically in a
payphone calling a girl and this is also how the video ends. It
repeatedly echoes the title of the music video and brings the
audience back to this. This music is about how the relationship that
the two people share are turning sour and that is resonated by the
following lyrics that Levine sings:
“And
in our time that you wasted
All
of our bridges burned down...
“If
happy ever after did exist
I would still be holding you like this
I would still be holding you like this
All
those fairytales are full of sh*t”
The
scenery and action that surrounds Levine throughout the video is
desolate and shows that something is wrong. First of all there is a
bank robbery in which he and his assumed girlfriend are running away,
but towards the end of the music video his car explodes and “burned”
to rubble. He is being chased by the police although he is not at
fault, this just shows that the relationship they have is anything
but a “fairytale”.
Links Between Visuals And Music
In
“Payphone” the relationship between visuals and music is not as
apparent as it would be in other music videos, however there is a
relationship there. For example the scene would change from Levine in
the payphone to the actual narrative of the bank heist once Levine
starts singing the chorus “I'm at a payphone trying' to call
home...”. The director of the music video has had the scenes change
at certain drum beats, which gives the effect that they are running
and are taking part in an action sequence. There are a lot of
diegetic sounds such as bombs exploding, shooting, glass smashing
etc. which accentuates the action that is taking place in the music
video, including the car chase, robbery, explosions.
Pastiche
- “An
artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work”
The
intertextuality shown through this music video is pastiche of many
action/thriller films. This is strongly shown through the bank
robbery that takes place within the music video and the chase that
commences straight after. This is reminiscent of many films that has
graced the screen over the years, for example a recent film which
includes a similar bank robbery is the 2008 film The Dark Knight,
starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. The film comprises of a
bank robbery carried out by The Joker (played by Ledger) and his
accomplices, in which The Joker orchestrates their death one by one
so that he can have the money all to himself. The robbers, just like
the ones in Maroon 5's “Payphone” were masked and entered a vault
to fill their bags with money. The antagonists in both scenes faced a
civilian with a gun. Another film which shares a media relationship
with this music video is the 2010 film The Town, starring and
directed by Ben Affleck. This is a American crime film that has
multiple ban robberies, including one where the actors in the film
dress up in a nuns outfit and rob a bank. After they are chased and
cornered by the police, only to fire at them which eventually leads
to them escaping. In “Payphone”, Levine carries out a resembling
act by forcing the police cars to crash into each other and blow up
into smithereens.
Being the lead singer of the band, this music video constantly
focuses on Adam Levine and the director makes the audience very
familiar with him by creating the video using a lot of close-ups of
the American. The music video starts off with Adam Levine and also
ends with him, leaving a lasting impression of him on to the
audience. The beginning starts off with a fade in of Levine at a
scene that is on fire, the fade in allows the audience to slowly come
to terms with what they are witnessing and forces them to pay
attention to Levine. The first clear image of Levine is one of him
wearing a white vest, with his tattoos bulging and blood running down
the right side of his mouth. This composes a mental image of an
action man figure, and it is this style and characteristics that
become his motif throughout the music video. Roughly 27 seconds into
the video we have 6 quick close-up cuts of Levine's face, which
emphasizes his importance in the video, especially after quickly
browsing through the face of surplus actors. An important scene of
the music video is when Levine is in the payphone alone and it is a
mid-shot of him singing through the phone. The fact that he is in the
payphone, all alone, would give his figure added impetus considering
the title of the song is “Payphone”. Once the robbers have got
everyone on the floor with their hands on their heads, it is Levine
who jumps up, grabs the gun and makes an escape. This little action
shot would make the audience more familiar with Levine due to the
role of the protagonist Levine plays. Another part of the music video
which helps promote Levine and Maroon 5, is when he steals Wiz
Khalifa's car. After doing so he is chased by numerous police cars
but manages to evade their clutches and drive off to safety. The fact
that all the cars in the scene are the same except for his, would
single him out and make him stand out. Even more so due to the fact
that he executes impressive stunts with the car, and reinforces the
idea that good will always prevail.
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| Shot 1 |
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| Shot 2 |
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| Shot 3 |
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| Shot 4 |
There Is Frequently Reference To
Notion Of Looking (Screens Within Screens, Telescopes, etc) And
Particularly Voyeuristic Treatment Of The Female Body.
This
music video, “Payphone”, has voyeurism appearing throughout the
video, although it is kept to a minimum. The narrative of the music
video is about Levine escaping a bank which is is being held hostage
by robbers and the video is hugely influenced by action movies, which
inevitably would have people looking. The best example of this is
when Wiz Khalifa is standing outside the compound where Levine is
driving into before his car explodes. This is like a typical action
film scene where extravagant action takes place and then all seems
normal. This allows the audience to understand that the scene has
reached an equilibrium. Another notion of looking within the music
video is when the police officers chase Levine and the lady but then
lose track of them. They are left standing there watching after them,
which aides the audience understanding by making them aware that both
the characters have escaped the clutches of the police, and they
would expect the video to unfold from here.
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