Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
The music video to the song Paparazzi by Lady gaga begins with jump shots and establishing shots quick and frequent, French dialogue, subtitles and covered by light piano instrumental playing in the background. The video features her singing about her fame, and how there is “no other superstar” other than herself which could refer to her unusual style. She is reinforcing her star image and superiority within the music world to those who watch her. The main narrative of the video is that her boyfriend wants to become a bigger star than her in order to do that he pushes her off a balcony (of which she survives) this then results in her killing him in order to gain more fame and wealth to regain herself in the public eye by the paparazzi. This relating to the lyrics “chase you down until you love me paparazzi”. Lady Gaga is presented in the video as herself, a star icon. This is reinforced by the costume which consists of a colour scheme of bling colours e.g gold and silver. This establishing of the star icon within the video is a typical pop genre characteristic, the artist within the video is dominant within the music video and takes centre stage in performance.
In real aspects, this could be referring to those who want to see Gaga fail in the music industry, who dislike her flamboyant style and diverse contributions to the music industry via her fashion, live performances and music videos. This different take on music within the pop genre which Gaga has taken and those who want to see her fail.
The video then continues to film her as the pop icon she is, by showing her singing, dressing like a superstar in her “quirky” (lyrics: “Leather and jeans, garage glamorous”) outfits and dancing in a big flash hotel. (Lyrics: “(real good) We’re dancin’ in the studio” “(snap snap) To that shit on the radio”)
Lady gaga is looking directly towards the camera which makes her come across as a powerful figure, her clothes show off her curves, this allows her to represent her sexuality whilst still regaining power and control and not being a sexual object through the male gaze (Laura Mulvey). Throughout the video Gaga uses her female status to attract an audience, particularly a male one. She appears empowered and inviting a male audience in rather than appearing to be an object, her provocative facial expressions, revealing costumes or lack of clothes and actions advertise her sexuality throughout the video.
The screen cap illustrates the magazines placed in illuminated colours to explain the narrative (how the media is portraying Gaga) and how “there’s no other superstar you’ll know that I’ll be papa-paparazzi” then following with “but I won’t stop until that boy is mine” this then referring to her boyfriend (earlier in the video). This shot relates to the main narrative and to the whole concept of Pop and Celebrity culture which Lady gaga is a prime subject of. As Lady gaga is very much talked about within celebrity tabloids from her crazy outfits and daring choice of music videos, she is acknowledging this by showing it within her video but mocking the idea of 'no more lady gaga'. As this song was from her first album she was very popular within the pop culture as she was bringing a whole new style and look for the genre which many people disliked therefore she was bound to be topic of conversation from the celebrity world.
In real aspects, this could be referring to those who want to see Gaga fail in the music industry, who dislike her flamboyant style and diverse contributions to the music industry via her fashion, live performances and music videos. This different take on music within the pop genre which Gaga has taken and those who want to see her fail.
At the beginning of the video shows Gaga being thrown off her balcony by her angry overpowing boyfriend. The black and white effects show the downfall and destruction of her at the top falling to the bottom. This could represent how easy it is to fall in the music industry due to bad publicity and negativity and the using of her boyfriend in the video pushing her off before saying 'Do you trust me?' could also be a dig at those who she has once been friends with who abused her trust and sold her out. This technique of montage shots with making framing look like a camera as it takes shots is used within the video so that you as the audience feel as if they're the paparazzi and this involves the audience to be a part of the music video. Gaga is dressed in white, which shows connotations of purity and innocence, this reflecting the narrative and showing how she is a victim of a crime. The black and white editing technique also adds dramatic effect towards the music video. She survives this act of evil as she is shown to be helped out of a limo onto the red carpet but appears to be paralysed in a wheelchair. This could be making reference to her not letting negativity get her down and that it will take more than negative comments to affect her.
Half way through the video she is shown to fall again off a balcony and hit the pavement but in this instance she dies. She lies on the ground in her own blood whilst paparazzi begin swarming round her taking photos of her bloody body. Newspaper headlines fly onto screen proclaiming that her career is over. According to Rolling Stones this scene pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo.
The video then continues to film her as the pop icon she is, by showing her singing, dressing like a superstar in her “quirky” (lyrics: “Leather and jeans, garage glamorous”) outfits and dancing in a big flash hotel. (Lyrics: “(real good) We’re dancin’ in the studio” “(snap snap) To that shit on the radio”)
Lady gaga is looking directly towards the camera which makes her come across as a powerful figure, her clothes show off her curves, this allows her to represent her sexuality whilst still regaining power and control and not being a sexual object through the male gaze (Laura Mulvey). Throughout the video Gaga uses her female status to attract an audience, particularly a male one. She appears empowered and inviting a male audience in rather than appearing to be an object, her provocative facial expressions, revealing costumes or lack of clothes and actions advertise her sexuality throughout the video.
The screen cap illustrates the magazines placed in illuminated colours to explain the narrative (how the media is portraying Gaga) and how “there’s no other superstar you’ll know that I’ll be papa-paparazzi” then following with “but I won’t stop until that boy is mine” this then referring to her boyfriend (earlier in the video). This shot relates to the main narrative and to the whole concept of Pop and Celebrity culture which Lady gaga is a prime subject of. As Lady gaga is very much talked about within celebrity tabloids from her crazy outfits and daring choice of music videos, she is acknowledging this by showing it within her video but mocking the idea of 'no more lady gaga'. As this song was from her first album she was very popular within the pop culture as she was bringing a whole new style and look for the genre which many people disliked therefore she was bound to be topic of conversation from the celebrity world.
The video comes to an end by viewing Gaga at heightened fame after killing her boyfriend.
The lightening (1st shot) is used to represent the paparazzi to us (the audience) which is what the whole video is about. Throughout the most of the video, we the audience are viewed as the paparazzi chasing and focusing on Lady Gaga the main figure within the music video.
The costumes used show Gaga as wealth and fame, through her use of style incorporating rich colours and tones, adding edgy towards her appearance, this makes her an alternative fashion icon within the pop industry and whole culture.
In the following screencap of the Newspaper (2nd Shot) it displays the media reference once again, presenting the narrative.
The video concludes by showing Gaga getting her photo shots taken in prison, the black and white background adds effect to her performance and expression of sucking her finger, showing that “there's no other superstar You know that I'll be” referring to her being the ultimate star and can do what she likes, reinforcing her superiority and dominant female role, rejecting the male gaze but still having sex appeal.
The costumes used show Gaga as wealth and fame, through her use of style incorporating rich colours and tones, adding edgy towards her appearance, this makes her an alternative fashion icon within the pop industry and whole culture.
In the following screencap of the Newspaper (2nd Shot) it displays the media reference once again, presenting the narrative.
The video concludes by showing Gaga getting her photo shots taken in prison, the black and white background adds effect to her performance and expression of sucking her finger, showing that “there's no other superstar You know that I'll be” referring to her being the ultimate star and can do what she likes, reinforcing her superiority and dominant female role, rejecting the male gaze but still having sex appeal.
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