Textual Analysis of Plan B

In class we did a full class textual analysis of Plan Bs music video for his song 'Writings on the Wall' the reason we did this was so we got used to and understood the how to analyse a music video. We need to analyse music videos so we can understand what is needed in our music video for when we come to making it.

Plan B Writing's On The Wall is a music video in a series of music videos by the artist all connected in a short narrative of the alter ego known as Strickland Banks of the artist, the company and the artist believed this would be a good marketing point for the artist as it will attract the artists fans and keep them engaged and known, especially in this video through the typography of the sign and also to attract knew fans with the narrative contacting a wider audience. 
Genre- The genre for this music video is Pop/Jazz we can tell this because of the band playing on stage with their instruments and the 80s feel makes it in a jazz kind of way because this was the time that Jazz was big, it is also Pop because the sign says "The ever popular Strickland Banks" connoting that he is famous. The artist is also a Rap and Soul artist. Due to this music video being pop and jazz we expect there to be some issues in the relationship shown on screen as pop music will nearly always follow a certain narrative and a dilemma will occur. What is unexpected in the pop video is that the relationship does not have any final conclusion there is no repair in the relationship.There is intertextual references in the lyrics but not in the video, the lyrics references a Stevie Wonder song called Superstitious.

Narrative- The narrative to this piece is that The artist Plan B is with a girl and the lyrics tell us they must have been together awhile because it says "We used to have fun" so this tells us there have been stages in this relationship. So the girlfriend is at home waiting for Strickland Banks to get home (which is Plan B's alter ego) and she's cooking dinner while he is performing on stage. After his performance finishes he goes out with his band to celebrate and instead of going home he goes back with a girl to her place and cheats on his girlfriend with her and the girlfriend doesn't know. the key themes to this music video are love and trust. The trust is in the girlfriend in allowing him to go out and do what he wants and the love is lost between them and the relationship. According to Todorov's theory of the 5 stages in music videos, this music video ends at the third one. So in the music video we have the equilibrium of the nice girlfriend cooking dinner and he's on stage singing, the disruption is the phone call where he says he is staying out and the recognition of the problem is the not picking up of the phone and kissing the other girl. the characters used in this video is a false hero being Strickland Banks who seems to be a good guy with a good girlfriend, the hero will be the female girlfriend who is desperately waiting for him and the villian is the girl Strickland cheats with.

Representation- Age is quite a key representation in this video as the setting changes for different characters in the music video such as when the camera is on the girlfriend it seems very 80s and happy as many people say the 80s were a good decade and people were having fun like the woman in this piece and it's the same for when Strickland Banks is on stage, this could then connote that their relationship has been going on for a long time, we then see a change in time to modern day for when the other woman becomes introduced and when Strickland Banks is at the parties again to connote their relationship is still there to present day but they are not the fun couple they used to be. Also gender is connoted by the woman being in the kitchen which is a main stereotype that woman have received while the man is at work on stage showing that the male is dominant over the female in this piece. The artist in this video has been represented like a villain and the woman is represented as the hero, Plan B may have done this to open up his audience to woman and show that men can be mean in relationships and hurt women, also maybe to give him some iconography as a known bad man to women. He also tries to make his alter ego a big star to make himself as Plan B seem like it is very popular and has many fans.

Visual Codes- This video is set in three main places; the stage, the club and the house. The stage and the house seem to be set in 70/80s time period and this is where the equilibrium takes place so this setting connotes happy times and the relationship is good. Also the white room with the girlfriend connotes innocence and how she has stuck by Strickland. However the club is a lot different atmosphere and this is where the disruption happens, the club has very low key lighting whereas the house is high key to connote happiness at home and evilness in the club with the other woman. The writing of "STRICKLAND BANKS SOLD OUT" is typography that connotes he is very popular.

Technical Codes-There are a few shots that are used to connote certain thing; such as the extreme close up of the girlfriend at home smoking connoting that they're relationship is burning. Also there are many close ups of meals that are being cooked this can connote how important the meal is to their relationship now and what it means and also how the pot is boiling to connote that she is at boiling point of anger towards Strickland and their relationship is on the edge. There is a personaly view shot of Strickland banks connoting to look at his side of the story and look deeper in the relationship.. Many fast paced cuts could connote how fast their relationship has gone by. Finally the low angle of Strickland and high angle of the girlfriend connotes who is more dominant in their relationship which is Strickland as he is higher than her.

Audience- The target audience for this piece are young people between the ages of, 18-25 as this is a stereotypical age for people to go clubbing we know it is aimed at this audience through the use of short dresses and drinking. It is also aimed at Plan B fans as he is painted as being very popular at the start connoting a connection towards the fans.

Institution- The record company pays for the artist to look like a star with the typography on the sign saying "SOLD OUT" to connote he is big. Also when he performs to the audience they are all going nuts when listening to him once again connoting that he is a pop star and has many fans. Plan B also uses his iconography of a suit and performs to the camera so we know it is Plan B and his alter ego of Strickland Banks.