Music video research - Stooshe

Stooshe - 'Black Heart' music video. 




History: The 'Black Heart' music video was released in 2012.

Context: 

Artist: Stooshe are a British girl group from London who released their debut album, London with the Lights On, on 27 May 2013. The group - consisting of members Alexandra Buggs, Karis Anderson and Courtney Rumbold, were signed to Warner Music Group in August 2011 and they released their first promotional single, "Betty Woz Gone", in October 2011. 

Ownership: The band are owned by Warner.

Concept: The video involves the three girls trying to persuade each other that a man isn't right for them and that he has a 'Black Heart' however, they still love him and find are finding it very hard to let him go. 

Theme: The theme in this video is love. However this conflicts with the name of the song which is 'Black Heart' as a black heart is referred to people who have no regards for other peoples feelings.

Location: The location is unknown. At the start of the video, you see cameras and the band putting makeup on them which suggests that it's not actually a music video and they are just expressing themselves. However, further in to the video it seems very unrealistic and artificial as the room is mainly all pink. 

Direction: The major camera angles used in this video are close ups, midshots, wideshots and canted shots. These shots are filmed slowly and move smoothly which matches with the timing of the music. The lighting makes the video seem bright and colourful. There is lighting used differently throughout the video; for example at the start there is a mirror with lights all around which reflects on the bands' faces. 

Editing: There are many edits in this video. The main editing transition used is a cut. This is used to show different points in the story and also to help us understand what part is the story and what part is just the band singing. They are used carefully and slowly which makes the video seem quite relaxed and slow paced.

Art direction/styling: The costumes used aren't 'proper' costumes. The band are just wearing usual clothes and their makeup also seems to appear 'usual' like they are going out. The set seems very artificial as we see cameras and like a show mirror used. Also we see a room which is basically all pink and doesn't make the setting seem very realistic. 

Representation: The women are representing themselves as the 'better' people and are basically representing men as having 'black hearts' which is sort of stereotyping men to appear cold and uncaring. 

Target audience: The target audience for this video is aimed at girls aged 16-25.