Music Video Analysis: En Vogue - 'Don't Let Go'

After just watching the video for 'Don't Let Go' by En Vogue once, I realised a huge difference that it had compared to other music videos. This was regarding one of Goodwin's theories that no other video I had analysed included. This led me to further analyse the video in detail.

En Vogue - Black Costume

Within the opening thirty seconds of the video, it becomes clear how important the references to colours are and how by understanding the link between the colours used, the narrative becomes a lot more clearer and descriptive. The colours red, purple and black are prominent throughout the costume which is chosen. Not only is this vital within the members of En Vogue themselves, but also the male antagonist within the video.

Purple Lipstick

 All of the girls from the band are wearing black clothing suggesting that they are victims or even struggling to get to terms with something. The black clothing is presented alongside a dark/deep purple lipstick which one of the band members is wearing. This later becomes extremely significant as the male antagonist in the video is seen on screen wearing a purple shirt with a deep purple/deep red waistcoat.

Male Wearing Purple

 The connection between the colours both he and the members of the band are wearing reveals that he is the male that the lyrics of the song are referring to. Furthermore, the use of the colour black in which the girls are wearing suggests that the man is causing them pain (in terms of narrative) without intentionally realising.  Similarly to all of the other girl band videos that I have analysed, En Vogue have distinct moments on screen in which they are dancing a choreographed routine.

Choreographed Dance Routine

However, where the other videos had either a full chorus of choreographed moves or different choreographed sections throughout the video, 'Don;t Let Go'  only has a couple of moves which the girls do simultaneously.  As a member of their audience watching the video, I feel that the lack of dance means that I am able to connect with each of the girls individually for a longer amount of time and therefore listen more to the lyrics that they are each conveying.  Furthermore, I feel that this was an extremely good decision in terms of genre characteristics as it subverts from traditional girl group videos and allows the audience to focus on the meaning behind the song.  With 'Don't Let Go', this is very important as the song is primarily about the lyrics and not so much about the typical ideologies that are based around what a girl group video should be like.

Close-Up Shots

In terms of the demands of the record label, the video of 'Don't Let Go' by En Vogue consists of a lot of close-up shots of the individual members of the group.  The close-ups tend to be directly of the girls' faces rather than a medium close up which is seen commonly throughout other girl band videos.

Close-Up Shots

 I would argue that this has been done to once again thoroughly learn about the group members as individuals and focus on the expressions in their faces in terms of the lyrics that they are singing, rather than combing a close-up shot with some of the clothes that they are wearing.
This allows the audience to connect with the meaning of the song and the emotions that the girls are trying to convey.
The aspect of the video that I had not come across when analysing others was the use of intertextuality.  Within 'Don't Let Go', this is the relation to the film 'Set it Off'.  The film consists of four black women (immediate relation to the members of En Vogue) and their suffer due to a lack of money.

Use of Intertextuality

I believe that this film has been referenced within the video as the clips of the film consist of a male and female together, but the obvious plot of the film is to do with suffering.

Voyeuristic Treatment of Female Body

This relates to the male antagonist within the En Vogue's video and the impact that he has on the women.  (This is described thoroughly through the use of colour spoken about above).  Surprisingly, 'Don't Let Go' has quite graphic references to voyeuristic treatment of the female body.  Even though this is a key ideology which tends to be very prominent within music videos of girl groups, I thought that due to the nature and the meaning of the song, if there was any reference to the female body, that it would be subtle and minimal.

Female Body Used to Atrract Men

However, there are times within the video where close-up shots are used to exemplify the female body.Even though this is this, the images that are presented on screen do also relate to the lyrics of the song, for example 'right to lose control'.  This reveals that the voyeuristic imagery ties in to the link between lyrics and visuals.  Like all of the other video I have analysed, in terms of Goodwin's theory relating to lyrics and visuals there is clear relationship between the two.

'More Than Friends'

Many of the lyrics are shown through actions, gestures and even facial expressions.  Firstly, when the lyrics 'more than friends' are sung, a member of En Vogue is seen taking of her jacket in a seductive way in front of the male antagonist.  This suggests that the relationship they have is more than friendship and based on romantics.

Long Shot of Arm Action

Another example of the relationship between lyrics and visuals is depicted through the lyrics 'don't let go' with emphasis on the word 'go'. When this line is sung, the girls are seen on screen doing a particular action with their arm in which they clench their fists and then open it up, following with letting their hand down.  This action almost has connotations for 'letting go' which is a key phrase sung throughout the song.  In terms of illustrating, amplifying and contradicting the lyrics, the visuals illustrate them in both the examples given above.  Within 'Don't Let Go', there is one main reference regarding the link between music and visuals.

Example of Music and Visuals

This example is mainly in terms of the editing techniques and how the cutting rhythm changes in accordance to the beat of the song.  There are individual close-up shots on screen of the individual members of the group when a certain beat appears to be heard.  Similar to that of the lyrics and visuals, I would argue that this illustrates the music rather than amplifying or contradicting it.  Lastly, the video has many references to the notion of looking, though throughout the same layer.

Notion of Looking

The notion of looking is in terms of the male antagonist looking through a camera, as if to be taking pictures of us as the audience.  The image on screen then switches to him taking pictures of one of the girls from En Vogue as if to capture them after capturing us.
Overall
From analysing 'Don't Let Go' by En Vogue, it has stressed the importance of making a strong connection between lyrics and visuals.  This is something that we will hope to do as a group when making our video of 'Alrite Stillll' by RD.