Research 2 : Black Eyed Peas - 'Where is the Love?'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc

Genre : R&B
Style : Performance and concept based

Close ups of the main artists looking into the camera are particularly important in promotional music videos. These shots help fans fulfill their need to see the artists up close. Due to this entire video being mainly performance based, close ups and medium close ups are used regularly, these adhere to Goodwins theory of close ups establish an artist. These specific close up shot types were used because fans could not always get to the artists live performances, so being up close interacts with the audience more.
Close up shots also help the audience see emotion in the artists face as you are able to see their facial expression. As the song is about asking "where is the love" because there is so much hatred in the world, close ups and emotional shot types help get the artists points and emotion across to the audience.


Thoughout this video a range of shots and cuts are used, some performance based and some concept based. For example, throughout the video, there are jump cuts that are on each beat of the song. There are some actions, handheld and steady cam. 



Lyrics and Visuals match

1.) The lyrics 'Where is the love?' is sung when a visual of a question mark is shown.

2.) The lyrics 'Will you practice what you preach' are synced with a man holding the bible to show what he believes in. The man is stood in the middle of a street with people surrounding him.

3.) 'KKK' is referred to as well as other racist groups, this was show through the text 'We are not a minority' on a wall behind the artist.

5.) The visuals link with the lyrics when 'feeling under' is sung. This shot shows the artist sat on stairs outside a building speaking to police. Proxemics are also represented by the police man standing up which can suggest that he has authority over the man. Stauss's binary opposition theory is objectified as the man is wearing black which connotes to evil, however this music video is trying to promote unity.

Concept

A range of shots were used, showing people running through a city putting posters up with question marks. This links into the lyrics as it says "where is the love".

Performance

Throughout the music video there are a range of different shots of the artists singing into camera. in this screen grab a medium long shot is used capturing the whole band singing into camera "one love".

Intertextuality

The question mark appears in crop circles, this could represent the meaning of something else out there. A long shot is used to enable to watcher to see the large question mark in the field.  

How This Research has Influenced my Planning and Creativity

1] The videos concepts are shown very well throughout. I love how they had people sticking questionmarks around the city.
2] The costumes in the video look very modern for the time the video was released. I now know that in POP music videos you can just use modern costumes and outfits.
3] The close up shots in this video really work with godwins theory. many people now associate WillIam's voice with his face due to the close ups in alot of Black Eye Peas videos.