In this essay i will be analyzing one of musics most memorable music videos to date,Michael jackson's thriller. At the time of its release, 1984, there had never been a music video and it was the first to have a movie like style to a music video. this video has alot of devices and effects which make it spectacular.
In the video there are alot of relationships between sound and images. for example when we hear the lyrics 'you hear the door slam' we hear a sound effect of a door closing and michael jackson does an action as if he is slamming a door. Also, the narration in the song tells us whats going on in the video, for example the narration talks about things lurking in the night as the zombies come out of the graves.
the mise-en-scene of this video os very dark and foggy and for the most part, set in an isolated area where there seems to be alot of warehouses and such. this is a very typical setting for a horro movie, which is the theme the video is set on. the mysterious fog and isolated area gives the audience a feeling something bad is about to happen. in addition the graveyard scene is very typical of a horror movie. the costumes in this video are very significant. Michael Jackson is wearing a bright red leather jacket and bright red trousers with his trademark white socks visible, this outfit was very stylish in its time and proved to be quite effective as in the 80's shortly after the videos release, many people were dressed like that. this outfit also makes Michael jackson stand out as the real contrasts with other dull and dark colours. the female lead in the video is very stylish and trendy for the time, she sports a denim outfit with stilletos which exude class. the make-ip in this video is also very spectacular, especially on the zombies as it looks very realistic and effective.
some of the effects used in the video consist of the film within a film but at the beginning of the video. the video starts with a couple in a car who have run out of gas and they begin walking in the woods where the male turns into a werewolf. suddenly we see michael jacson and the female lead watchingthis at the cinema. Another effect used is the fog surrounding the graveyard and coming out of the grave along with the zombies. this gives a very erie feeling and reinforces the horror movie effect created in american werewolf and dawn of the dead.
the video consists of alot of tracking shots, following michael jackson and the female as they walk through the abondoned area, there is akso alot of long shots used accompined by mid long shots throughout the video walking sequence. few close-ups are used at the begininnig of MJ's face and later during the dance sequence. a high angled long shot is used as MJ and the female are surrounded by the zombies empasizing their vulnerabiltiy in the situation. one of the most effective moments of the video is when the camera is panning around the zombies and MJ and the girl, suddenly there is a close-up of the female looking terrified and then the camera pans around to MJ, who has turned into a zombie, the camera then cuts to the female lead, and the background zooms whilst she is stood still without moving, this emphasizes her disorientation and confusion because of what has just happened. as there is alot of long takes in this video, the shots are not edited very much. at the beginning of the dance sequence after MJ has turned, there is a slight low angle of him, showing him as scary and intimidating, there is then a high angle shot showing al the zombies, again this effect is to show the impact of all of them against one girl. suddenly MJ back to normal and we return to centre frame, suggesting everything is back to normal.
the intertextuality refrences in this video are to the movies American werewolf and the dawn of the dead which are both horror movies and this video has a horror theme. the american werewolf intertextuality is at the beginning in the cinema and the dawn of the dead intertextuality is throughout the video as the theme is zombies.
the video is a combination of performance, narrative and concept which is one of the things along with the mise-en-scene, camera, editings and the overall concept that make it one of the greatest videos of all time.
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