Over the past year Lady Gaga has become one of the biggest stars in pop, being credited in the same vein as the likes of Madonna and Kylie. This is not only down to her undeniably infectious songs; it is also a result of the iconic image she has built via her live appearances and music videos. Just Dance was the first of Lady Gaga’s music videos and introduced us to a super star in the making.
The premise of the video is a house party which has got a bit out of hand and as the lyrics say everyone has had ‘a little bit too much’. Gaga then turns up on the scene and gets the party going again by telling everyone to ‘Just Dance’. It is a simple concept, but it is executed brilliantly in this chaotic video. The setting isn’t exactly glamorous; it is a pretty standard house. However the mise- en-scène including the furnishings and décor lend it a certain edge that makes it believable that someone of Gaga’s stature would be welcome. Furthermore the remainder of the party goers are young and beautiful, which is a common convention of this sort of music videos. Rarely do you get ‘ugly’ and ‘old’ people in pop/ dance videos.
The video begins with shots of the remaining of the party. I.e. close ups of people laying on the floor, scattered about making the place look untidy, and then Lady Gaga turns up, and the juxtaposition between her bright pink coat, and the not so colourful setting, puts emphasis on her as the star. The video continues to show close ups of the devastation, and then the audience are greeted with a wide shot to show the full extent of the mess. These are inter cut with shots of Lady Gaga thrusting away in a separate room alone. This creates sense of voyeurism.
As Gaga begins to sing there are more close ups of just her face. Including one of her with a blue lightning bolt across her eye this has since become one of Gaga's many iconic fashion statements. Immediately she is a recognisable figure. Gaga’s performance throughout the video is very sexually orientated; again this would be a convention of the genre. It is pleasing to the eye and encourages audiences to dance and enjoy themselves whilst listening. Some scenes are very sexually suggestive, i.e. the lesbian kiss. However they are approached with caution and in that case the scene is cut just before they kiss. This is the sort of music that has mainstreams appeal, and there will be lots of young children watching. Lady Gaga should not abuse her power as a role model. Consequently the video has to be relatively family friendly, yet glamorous and risky at the same time.
The lyrics often reflect what is being portrayed on screen. The lyrics are very self explanatory, and it is hard to interpret them in any other way apart from the scenes in this video. Examples include ‘where are my keys? I lost my phone?’ these lyrics are accompanied by a shot of someone looking for their phone and keys. Moreover when Lady Gaga starts to sing the lines ‘Half psychotic, sick, hypnotic’ there are shots of the party goers going a little ‘psychotic’ and lightly beating each other with the furnishings.
The video is comprised of many shots, it is constantly changing. This helps maintain the viewer’s attention. The editing is fast paced to reflect the pace of the song, and it speeds up/slows down respectively with the music. Also it features a lot of montages, which are common in music videos. It is difficult to make out exactly what is being shown, but that is the pleasure of watching a music video like this; it asks for repeated viewings so viewers can catch what they missed before.
In conclusion this is a perfect example of a pop video. There are many close-ups of the artist, beautiful, young people dancing, fast paced editing, montages and a female star who holds the whole thing together. Additionally it illustrates that as long as these factors keep the viewers distracted the setting doesn’t necessarily have to be glamorous. It could be shot in an ordinary house and still look amazing.
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