Codal AnalysisBy George Ring

Pretty HurtsBeyoncé

Visu

al C

odes

There are a range of visual codes in the Pretty

Hurts video, such as the different locations which

are used throughout the videos. The music video

starts with an acapella video of Beyoncé singing at

a beauty pageant. The lighting in this scene is also

very soft, with dark blues and a spotlight which

isn't harsh shining down. Throughout the music

videos, we are introduced to other locations

including the dressing room scene which uses

much more shadows due to the nature of the lyrics.

Costumes in the music video range, from the lead

singer appearing stunning in a long blue dress and

at other times she is very untouched where her

makeup is washed from her face and her hair is not

done. This shows that the main character is being

perceived to have two different styles, and she

doesn’t feel as glamorous as she looks. These

costumes connote to what we’d expect of the

behind the scenes beauty pageant.

Props used in the video are used to portray the

characters feelings and her increasing desire to

feel beautiful, such as the scales.

Narra

tive

Code

s

In Beyoncé’s music video a strong range of

different narrative codes are used in order to

portray an emotional attachment between her

and young female girls. The lyrics in the video

are inspired by Beyoncé’s experience as a child

at beauty pageants, and a message she feels

that young females should listen too. Below I

have included the chorus for the song: Pretty hurts Shine the light on whatever's worse

Perfection is the disease of a nation

Pretty hurts Shine the light on whatever's worse

Tryna fix something But you can't fix what you can't see

It's the soul that needs the surgery

Narra

tive

Code

s

Todorov’s Narrative Theory cannot really be

applied to this music video due to the genre

and style. As the music video features an

episodic narrative, where different clips from

the pageant are broken up, we cannot see the

beginning or the end. However, in the last few

shots, we see Beyoncé smashing up her

trophies and then praising the other

contestant who won the show. Therefore there

is a new equilibrium as we see happiness in

the video. It can be said, that Beyonce lost

out to a female in which many people find

unattractive, and therefore exploring the

approach of what is beauty? Overall, the video holds a narrative in which

we are shown a young female performing in a

beauty pageant and struggling with the desire

to feel beautiful. This comes across evidently

in the video.

Tech

nica

l Cod

es

Technical codes in this video is used to explore the

tense genre and sad mood. In the final shot for the music video, we see a

home video played on a TV of Beyoncé at a

beauty pageant. This allows the audience to relate

with the music video, as it shows a factual piece

of a much younger singer performing at a pageant

herself. Throughout the music video, there is a range of

editing techniques used to enhance the colour.

This is used particularly in the dressing room

shots. This is done to show the colour as being

slightly darker and duller. They also include blurring, where the cameramen

has decided to place the female artist into shot

while the rest of the frame is blurred. At one point

in the music video, where the female is smashing

her trophies, the footage has been slowed down

slightly to enhance the shots shown and

exaggerate what we can see in them. This is

effective as it means that the audience are able to

see the emphasis and her emotions. There is a

steady speed through editing the entire way

through the video, this is done to give a constant

feeling of anxiety, and the steady theme of

sadness throughout the music video.

Audi

o Co

des

Due to this music video being

nearly 7 minutes long, and the

song being nearly half. It is

understandable that the audio

track isn’t the only sound used

throughout the music video. In

fact, the audio track itself

doesn’t start until around 2

minutes in. The first few minutes show diegetic dialogue,

where Beyoncé sings acapella

to the audience. In between

this, there is also a soft non-

diegetic low tempo sound track

which highlight different shots

on the screen.

Enig

ma

Code

s

This music video creates one main

enigma code. This is the question

asking as to why she is so unhappy.

Although it is slightly answered

through the lyrics of the song and

her persistent needs to feel

beautiful. Other than this, it is not very clear

of any more enigma codes in this

video. Due to the main theme

being that she is feeling depressed.

This code is therefore the largest

and is still left unanswered at the

end of the video.

Actio

n Co

des

There is not much action in this

video as it is reflected through

the lyrics and the main female

character. There is one scene

which focuses on an act of

anger, where Beyoncé is shown

to be smashing up trophies in

slow motion. This action shot

shows how she is portraying

her emotions and how she is

feeling. Previously, it is all quite

slow and mellow as she is

shown through her facial expressions.

The HillsThe Weeknd

Visu

al C

odes

There are a range of visual codes in The Hills

music video by The Weeknd.The music video starts very slow, with a range of

shots from different angles showing a car which

has crashed. With the shots being very long, we

are able to have tracking shots showing two

characters walking away from the single. The

scene is very dark, to enhance the nature of the

car crash as being a negative time. There is also

an explosion which takes place in the music

video. This is probably the most memorable

visual code, as it is such a shock. For about 2

minutes we see the male and female walking

away from the car, and this was so unexpected.

The setting is mainly in the street, as they spend

the majority of the music video walking down the

street from the car. There is also setting inside

the house, where we see them walking towards

and entering the house. The music video ends by

using these two scenes. There clothing is both

messy, as it is clear they have just escaped a car

crash, however they do not look injured.

Narra

tive

Code

s

The narrative codes in this music

video are confusing to me. As I do

not feel as though they match

with the lyrics of the song. In this

music video, we see the car crash

as one narrative. Although we

cannot see how it happened, we

can see that it has occurred. This

is one narrative. The second is

the abuse that the male is

suffering from the female. This is

a narrative code as we delve into

the life of the couple, and

question why she is being abusive

and keeps on pushing him.

Tech

nica

l Cod

es

Due to the lack of different shot

types this music video uses, there is

not many technical codes that can

be used. The main camera shot is a

tracking shot which follows the two

actors down the street. It can be said

that some of the jump cuts used are

edited in slow motion to exaggerate

the pushing and shoving in which the

female is giving the male.There is no really notable editing

done in this music video, and only

some shots have been used in slow

motion as the rest of it the male is lip

syncing.

Audi

o Co

des

Other than the soundtrack, there has

been no other diegetic or non-

diegetic sound effects added in. The

music video purely use the song

which has been matched up to the lip

syncing. It is clear that some diegetic sounds

have been silenced from the

background as you can see that the

female appears to be shouting at the

male however we cannot hear it over

the music video. The fact that the

sounds have been silenced amount

to the feeling of being alone, as they

are the only two people walking on

the street.

Enig

ma

Code

s

There are a few enigma codes in this

music video which has been left

unanswered. The first is being, how did

they crash the car? Although it might

seem small, the car is shown to be

completely upside down in the middle of

the street. This leads the question as to

whether they were drunk. The second enigma code is are they in a

relationship? This is a question as

although they walked out of the car

together, they are shown to be arguing as

the male is walking away and the female

is pushing him in an aggressive manner. The third and final enigma code is who are

they in the house, and why did they look

at each other the way they did. In the

final shot, we see a look of dismay within

the male actor and the group on the bed.

All of these enigma codes have been left

unanswered at the end of the video.

Actio

n Co

des

Other than the explosion in the

car, there is no other action

codes in this music video.

There is a constant action code

used by the female in the

music video as we can see her

continuously pushing the male

actor. This is not what we

would expect to see, and subverts the stereotypes as

she is the dominant character

in the music video. The male is

shown to be innocent and

walking away from her.

We Can’t StopMiley Cyrus

Visu

al C

odes

In Miley Cyrus’s comeback video

‘We Can’t Stop’, there are a range

of different visual codes used to set

the scene as being sexual and

drugs fuelled. There are a range of

different shots from scenes which

present the party atmosphere in

which this scene is trying to

explore. Mise-en-scéne is used in

the music video by her outfit and

the props used. A lot of this is

shown to be ‘wacky’, for example,

in some of the video she is walking

around with a giant bear costume

on her back. There is also shots

showing Miley with a blow up doll,

and props showing a fake hand

getting sawn off with pink blood

and a skull made out of chips.

Narra

tive

Code

s

The narrative codes in this music

video link to the title of the song

‘We Can’t Stop’. The narrative is

supposed to be biographical,

reflective of the life of Miley Cyrus

and her transition from her

Disney character. The main

narrative really is just to shock

the world with what she has

turned into, and what she has

always wanted too be. The music

video doesn’t follow a linear

format, as the shots are very

jumbled and are just a mixture of

strange angles and sexual

innuendos.

Tech

nica

l Cod

es

The use of editing in this music

video makes it match the fast

and random pace of the music

video. There are many jump cuts

in this music video. The use of

this draws attention to different

scenes and situations we have

used. The use of this is to be able

to montage and get through as

many different shots in the time.

The jump cuts aid to the fact

there is drugs used and it makes

some scenes in the music video

appear to be a hallucination.

There is one prime example of a

jump cut which is used to

highlight different shots in the

music video.

Audi

o Co

des

Other than the soundtrack,

there has been no other diegetic or non-diegetic sound effects added in. The

music video purely use the

song which has been matched up to the lip syncing. At most points in

the music video, the editing

has been suited to match

the song, as Miley is only shown to be lip syncing at

some points in it.

Enig

ma

Code

s

There are some enigma codes

in the music video and the

main one is, what is going on?

The reason this is an enigma

code is because the audience

may be unaware as to what is

going on in the music video.

When watching it, you can

see it is very jumpy and goes

from shot to shot very quickly.

Thus giving no strong narrative, and very random

enigma codes.

Actio

n Co

des

Due to the fun nature of the music video, there is no strong action codes. One scene that stands out

to me is when Miley is in the swimming pool and she

is splashes the water around her. There is a lot of

commotion around the shot and the scene is very

busy. Other than this, there

is no strong action codes.