Case Study 3

Name Of Song- Akon- Holiday 

  

Produced/Made By- DJ Antoine Ft. Akon 

  

Published on Sep 7, 2015 

  

Synopsis 

This music video called holiday by DJ Antoine Ft.Akon is set in a variety of different exotic places to represent the fact that the song is about going on holiday and living life. The scenes in the music video is a visual storyteller of the lyrics, which is what my intentions is for my own music video. I think that this method of making the lyrics and video match is very effective, especially for my target audience, because I think that they will be able to relate more with the song and therefore makes the lyrics more effective. The helicopter at the beginning of the music video shows the audience that the 'holiday' theme to the song is heavily linked as it represents the thought of flying to different countries and having fun. 

Representation Of Stars 

 

Akon was the main actor in this music video and the was represented as a cheerful, successful young male who is making a good living for himself and is enjoying life. The fact that he was wearing an expensive looking trousers and shirt shows that he is wealthy and when he was lip-syncing the lyrics to the song he always had a smile on his face which made the audience feel connected with the song and can understand the lyrics that was being said.  He is also represented as being mature for his age, most people who are wealthy and as young as him usually waste their money and time partying and getting drunk, however he was associating himself with people who looked mature, the other actors, and he looked smart. 

The car which was used in the music video represented that he was not splashing money out on the most expensive things and knew how to handle his money properly. 

Performance/Narrative Based Video 

 The music video is both performance and narrative because there is moments within the video where akon is lip syncing to the song and the fact that the song lyrics match the video shows a narrative side to the video. A story based theme creates a relation between the lyrics and the music video. Every location which was chosen in the music video had a colourful background which represented the theme of holiday and being in the sun. I think that the target audience for this music video is between 22-26 because the costume which akon was wearing was a suit which would most resemble an older audience to college students. Also, in the boat scene, all of the people were of a similar age to the target audience which further confirmed the intentions of the music video. 

Themes & Motifs 

The car that was used in the video was very old fashioned, and not the sort of cars you would associate with youth nowadays, therefore I think that the theme of holiday was not more or less to party but to just visit various sites etc; Hence having an older target audience. 

 Camera Angles 

Wide Angle- At the beginning of the video when akon begins to perform the lyrics there is a wide angle shot including him and the helicopter behind him to represent the theme of being on holiday. The helicopter is in the shot to represent the fact of flying abroad to different countries and exploring the worl

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Close Up- When the three actors are on the boat travelling across the sea there is a close up on all of their faces to show the emotions that is coming through at the thought of going on holiday and to make the target audience feel and embrace the lyrics to make them feel happy and perhaps dance along with the song. 

Establishing Shot- At the end of the music video there is an establishing shot of the mountains where the video was set from a bird's eye view to show the audience what the place looks like and to inspire them to go on holiday and explore more places such as the one shown in the music video. The whole idea of the music video is to make the audience smile and enjoy life, therefore establishing shots such as this one adds to the overall effect of the lyrics. 

Mise-En-Scene 

In this music video I noticed that akon was not wearing the usual holiday attire that most people are used to, he was wearing a shirt and trousers and looked much more sophisticated and smart. This could be purely because they wanted him to look professional in the video and if he wore shorts and a holiday top then the video would be viewed in a much different way. However I think that the costume which akon had was to show evidently that the video was targeting an older audience to the youth (16-20). The shirt and trousers showed that the video wasn’t just to any person who wanted to feel the vibe of being on holiday, but to working class people who are of an age whereby they provide for themselves. Even the actors used with on on the boat weren't of a young age which means that this music video was, presumably, aimed at those who were between the ages of 22-28 and are living independently or with the absence of their parent/careers. 

Also, the car which was used in the music video was very old fashioned and not the typical cars you would see in the modern day. This further supports my point that this music video was aimed towards an older, mature audience, compared to the outgoing, party youth. 

Editing 

Cutscenes- When the music video began to increase in speed and the lyrics began to be said at a faster rate, the cutscenes increase in speed in order to compensate the lyrics which makes the audience become more engaged in the video and the lyrics especially.

Text- At the beginning of the music video there was text whilst the scene of the helicopter landing was being played in the background. The text said the director's name followed by the artists and song title, which made it clear to the audience from the start who deserves the credit for the production of this video. 

LipSyncing- Throughout the music video Akon was lip-syncing the song. I think that this had a positive effect on the audience as the lyrics had more meaning with the lip-syncing and it kept me, personally, engaged in the music video more than if there was no lip-syncing and just cutscenes. 

Ideas for main video 

For my music video, I want the actor to be as into the song as akon is in this video. I think that once the actor/actress for the music video is as into the music and lyrics as you want the audience to be then it makes a positive impression on the audience and makes them want to join them and feel the vibe of the song as well. I also like the way that the props used for the music video represented the type of impression that they wanted the actor to be seen as. For example, an older looking car was used instead of a, modern Ferrari for example, so it represented how he was a mature young male. I will try to incorporate this effect in my own music video so that the audience can understand the actors personality type through mise-en-scene and also the lyrics being said. This can then lead on to my target audience relating to the lyrics.