The first shot we see is an establishing shot where Lady Gaga is sat in the middle and is surrounded by men and women, the men in black and the women in white. This could indicate that the women are innocent and the men are evil/dangerous. Gaga is wearing gold which could indicate power and royalty. The glasses she are wearing indicate there is going to be a flashback from the way they look and they are made out of razor blades which shows the fictionality of the video. There is a close up on a parrot music player and also there is an ipod nano in the background. This is product placement and companies pay Lady Gaga to feature their products in her videos to advertise them. Lady Gaga is a popular worldwide celebrity so companies would choose her to feature their products in her videos because she has a lot of fans meaning a lot of video views.
Shortly after this product placement is used again but this time with a vodka brand named Nemiroff which is Ukrainian. We see a montage of shots featuring some pods, one with a red cross saying "Monster" on. Similar pods have been used in films like The Matrix, and Prometheus which is intertextuality between films. The red cross could represent religion. There is a sign saying "Bath Haus Lady Gaga" which gives the impression that the video has an element of prostitution in. People in white costumes climb out of the pods, the costumes covering the their hole body and half of their face, only revealing their mouths. The costume may be covering their eyes to indicate they are blind to what is happening (prostitution) and to emphasise their naivety. There is a wide shot which reveals all 7 pods and the people climbing out/dancing round them. The fact there is 7 may represent the 7 deadly sins, further connoting the religion theme.
There are a few mid shots/close ups of Lady Gaga in the bath where her eyes have been enlarged. This may emphasise her innocence, like when babies and puppies have wide eyes. She is wearing headphones which is further product placement but this time they are from her own products range, to advertise her own products. She makes a gun gesture with her hands which foreshadows the violence further on in the video, and contrasts her innocence and connotes danger.
Lady Gaga is trying to cover herself with a shawl but that is ripped off her by the women, which is sexualising her again. She tries covering herself, emphasising her innocence that is left. She is dancing for the men like she is a stripper doing provocative gestures. There is a mid shot of her with low key lighting in what looks like a cage surrounded by two tiled walls. This further supports the idea of her performing for the men because it is like she is a caged animal at a circus, and is locked away until she has to perform again. The men are drinking the vodka shown previously in the video, bringing about the idea of alcoholism which is widely associated with violence and sex, which is what they are probably planning on doing to Lady Gaga. There are beats laptops in this scene, further product placement. On the screen there are numbers which are going up, which comes across as if the men are bidding for Lady Gaga. This is further sexualising women and is turning Lady Gaga into an object.
Lady Gaga is in the middle of a room surrounded by the men watching her, which gives a feel of a show room where people look at cars, further turning Lady Gaga into an object. She starts posing in a provocative way while the men evaluate her, which comes across as if she has came to terms with what she is doing. However she starts doing religious gestures which makes it seem like she wishes to be innocent. She is shown in the centre of the room surrounded by rings, this gives the impression that she believes she is the centre of her own universe. The gold outfit is very abstract just like Lady Gaga's fashion sense in real life. it is like she is incorporating her own style and advertising it through the video. She is wearing a polar bear coat she is wearing gives a sense of strength and beauty and the fact she is wearing it shows her powerfulness. This is further shown by the dead deer on the wall.
She makes a further gun gesture but this time she pretends to shoot it. This may indicate she has gained power and strength to kill someone, foreshadowing the end shot. She used to be innocent and conform with the rest of society over how she should act, but is now expressing her individuality and power. Power is further shown when she steps on the dead bear. The last shot is Lady Gaga sat on the burnt bed with the skeleton of the man she has killed. She is expressionless, showing she has no remorse or emotion over what she has done, also she is still shooting fire, indicating how she is no longer innocent, she is evil.
No comments:
Post a Comment