Task 2.1- Reseach into existing products (moving image) Lady Gaga Bad Romance

At the start of this video Lady Gaga is dressed in gold and is wearing glasses designed to look like razors.These two elements connote her wealth and danger. While Gaga is sat on a throne type chair all of the people surround her almost look like they are protecting her. This shows that she is the most important thing in the room, she is famous, expensive and worthy unlike the others. Despite this being the start of the video is looks like it should be the end as Gaga is at the peak of her wealth and seems to be heavily sought after, The men are dressed in black alluding to the 'bad' characters with the women in the white alluding to the 'good' or 'innocent' characters. By being dressed in gold Gaga is the center of attention and different than anyone else, as said before this also symbolizes her wealth and importance. This is similar in Lady Gaga's music video for Paparazzi where all of the women are dressed in white, the men in black and Gaga in yellow and black. Later on in the video Gaga insinuates that she and the women in the video are prostitutes and the men are looking to buy them. This could be another reason for the costume colours- the men being the dangerous ones and preying on the innocent women, Gaga being the most important of these women.

The pods shown in the beginning of the narrative are white, again showing innocence and some have the word 'MONSTER' written in red with a cross underneath it. The red cross is a christian symbol showing the religious connotations in the video and monster alludes to her fans the 'little monsters' but also what she will become in this video.


As the women come out of the pods they are dressed in white and have masks covering their faces, this could show how they are blind to the music industry and what will be expected of them. They all have the exceptions of becoming rich and a pop star when they are young but over time (as seen through the video) these girls have to loose their innocence and become more sexualised to become rich and famous.

Gaga portrays this idea throughout the video by showing herself and the women as loosing themselves and who they were. To begin with Gaga is shown as being equal to the other women as they all wear the same costumes and you can't really distinguish her from the rest. In addition to this, Gaga's innocence at the start of the video is shown in this mid shot. She has quite wide eyes which make her seem child like and she is wearing pastel colours which, compared to her usual bold outfits, show her as being quite dull and fading into the background. The reason behind this look s to make her seem quite quiet, young and innocent to begin with so that we see how the music industry changes her. In these shots you can also see her in what appears to be a bathtub this could be done to convey the idea that she is slowly being cleansed of all that she knows and of all of her values so that she is ready to be manipulated.

Later on in the video Lady Gaga gets stripped of her clothing by two other women, Gaga struggles but eventually lets it happen. This could connote the competition between women in the music industry, they all try to be better than the rest and don't care about the repercussions for their fellow artists. This is a different message to what Gaga tried to convey in 'Paparazzi' where she almost tried to show a sense of unity throughout all women against men. However in this video she shows the mistreatment of women as individuals rather than as a collective.

This part of the video could also represent the point at which Gaga turns into this new person in order to be successful- the industry strips her bare and changes her into a famous, rich woman who doesn't know who she is and has to prostitute herself to become successful. The drink she is forced to consume also shows how she is being forced to do/be something that she doesn't want. Gaga uses these visual representations to show what women, and perhaps herself, have to do in order to achieve 'pop star' status.


After she has consumed the drink the women remove what she is wearing to reveal a costume made of jewels, Gaga is then thrown in front of a group of sitting men and expected to dance for them. The women from the opening scenes are alongside her and they now all have no masks on. This shows that they are no longer blind to what happens in the industry and that they now know what is expected of them. Gaga is deemed the most important out of all of them as she is wearing the jewels and at the front whereas all the other women look identical. To begin with Lady Gaga looked the same as the others but the change connotes how she is now the 'chosen one' and non of the other women really matter, they just want to be like her.

The above shot shows Gaga's costume changing from white to black. This conveys her change from an innocent young woman to a dangerous woman. Later on the women are all seen dressed in red which is the colour of blood and seduction, this connotes that they are all now part of this dangerous industry and they will do whatever needed to achieve their goals. The jewels leaving her also imply that she is no longer of much worth to the men they only want her for her money or in this example her body. The men in the video that are 'bidding' for Gaga could also represent all the men that have wanted to 'buy' a part of Gaga throughout her fame. For example, Lady Gaga has a distinctive sense of style and gets paid a lot to advertise certain brands both in her video's and in other forms of media. Many want a piece of her and more than likely at some point there has been a type of 'bidding' to see who can give her the highest amount to advertise their product. Gaga adds this aspect into her video because it shows that once you are at the peak of your fame everyone wants to know you no matter what they have to do to achieve this and it's all part of becoming a world famous celebrity.

Just before this scene, this image is shown in the video. It alludes to a computer screen with 'Lady Gaga' 'SOLD' and a large sum of money on it. This image confirms the idea that she has sold herself to multiple men or companies to get the fame and attention that she has now reached in the video.

At the end of the video, Gaga walks towards her 'buyer' with it looking like she is going to have sex with him. However, the bed is actually set on fire and as you can see from the above shot Gaga stands by looking triumphant. The ending of the video shows how despite the fact that she has potentially sold herself in the past to get where she is, she now has the control and nothing can stop her from reaching her future ambitions, The final shot also conveys this message as Gaga lies on the bed next to the skeleton of the man. She now can do as she pleases and is dangerous if you now try and manipulate her the way she once was.

Task 2.1- Reseach into existing products (moving image) Lady Gaga Paparazzi

Lady Gaga is a globally famous music artist, her work is known for being unique and different from any other artist out there. Video's such as 'Paparazzi' convey this in a range of differing ways.

To begin with the video gives a calm and tranquil atmosphere, the digetic sounds of birds and the sea and the non-digetic quiet and slow music in the background creates this. The first few shots add to this idea of peacefulness:

The above establishing shots and close up allow us to understand that the video is probably set at a beach house in a hot country. The calm atmosphere, big house an nice location create a foreboding feeling for the viewers as it almost seems to good to be true. The actual house and the interior show wealth which indicates probable fame, the title of the video being paparazzi also adds to this idea. Fame and wealth are usually the basis for negative situations and as we saw in the Johnny Cash 'Hurt' video, having money and fame doesn't always have a good ending.

The 1940's style opening sequence alludes to a time when many successful Hollywood films were made. Gaga uses this to try and connote how successful she is and to make the video more like a short film as to attract a wider audience. This style of video is new for Lady Gaga which isn't surprising as she likes to try new things often and to challenge expectations. She does this not only in her video's but in many aspects in her life such as fashion. Gaga likes to try and encourage her fans to try new things and be different which is portrayed through her music and her life.

As the music video continues we see that Lady Gaga is, as expected, very famous and rich. This is shown through the fact that she has money with her face on it. The money is scattered about and the room in general is quite messy. This leads us to believe that Gaga probably doesn't really care about her money and she lives quite a rich lifestyle perhaps having many parties and living like a usual A list celebrity.

Gaga and her boyfriend are talking in Swedish at the beginning of the video. Lady Gaga is American so therefore her speaking a different language is unexpected. However, by doing this Gaga again shows that she can be diverse and can therefore connect with a wide range of fans. In addition to this speaking in a different language could be seen as romantic/dangerous. the danger comes from her being in a different environment.

The hidden paparazzi start to take pictures of Lady Gaga and her boyfriend, by looking straight into the camera it is thought that her boyfriend knows that they were there and is trying to get himself famous/make himself money. As Gaga realizes what has happened she begins to struggle and slaps the man. As things between the two get more out of control the rate at which the pictures are being taken speeds up until finally Gaga is thrown off the balcony.

As she falls the camera's are still taking pictures rather than helping. This shows that the media doesn't actually care about Lady Gaga as a person but as a product which they can make money out of. This idea is shown through the headlines 'Lady Gaga is over' and 'Lady Gaga hits rock bottom'. As these headlines are revealed the song begins insinuating that this event is the reason behind the song.

By showing Gaga at her lowest point to begin the song we can assume that as the video continues we see how the paparazzi effects her attempt at trying to rise to the top again. This is shown in the picture below where Gaga, wearing one of her usual unique outfits, uses a wheelchair and crutches to try to walk. By doing this Lady Gaga shows that no matter what happens to her she will always continue to be herself and that she will rise to the same fame she always has. This could also be a message to her fans or the viewers telling them that no matter what happens as long as you pick yourself up you will succeed.

In addition to this, Gaga also highlights  differing problems in her video. Her boyfriend throwing her off the cliff shows domestic violence which is also portrayed later on in the clip with many women seeming to have died or committed suicide. One of the reasons for the suicides/deaths could be because of domestic violence being a problem and the video shows the women and Gaga as being a symbol of this. Another reason could be that everyone that gets close to Lady Gaga (all of the women work for her) dies, this links in with the money and fame that she has being deadly. The ending of the video (her boyfriends murder) also fits in with this idea.

Another issue that Gaga highlights in her video is sexuality. Worldwide many of her fans are gay and lesbian meaning that it is unsurprising that the artist should use sexuality at some point in her video's. In this video she is seen kissing both men and women leading the viewer to believe that she is bisexual. By doing this Gaga is again addressing the idea that it is okay to be different. She is also attracting a wider audience by doing this as she shows that she supports gay and lesbian rights.

 In the above shot you can see Lady Gaga dancing with some fellow dancers copying her. The dancers are doing the exact same moves and wearing a similar costume. This could represent Gaga being a celebrity in which many copy and follow. Her fashion taste has been widely copied in particular over the past few years and she has become quite a big fashion icon. Despite this, she has had many negative comments from the press. These criticisms could be one of the reasons behind this song and video as she is trying to tell people that no matter what they read or think she won't change and people will continue to copy her and love her,

Nearer the end of the video a headline is shown on a magazine saying 'THE NEW IT GIRL' this shows that Gaga is no longer the best in her business and she has been thrown aside by the media, After this she uses poison to kill her boyfriend. She does this to get some more attention on herself. Once she has killed him she calls the police and confesses as well as leaving her glasses on him. She does this things so that she can get recognized again for being outrageous and to be loved and famous once more.

During this scene Lady Gaga is wearing yellow and black. Yellow is a happy color which detracts from the black as being a sign of death. The clothes represent her mood and personality at the time, she wants to be back as the most loved out there but she is also dangerous with it. 

Later on you see the paparazzi crowding round Gaga once more and there are many headlines shown such as 'SHE'S BACK' this is what she wanted from the beginning to be back in the public eye and loved once more despite the consequences.