Video Analysis

Alejandro - Lady Gaga

Alejandro is a 2009 electropop disco song by Lady Gaga."Alejandro" is influenced by ABBA and Ace of Base. The Ace of Base influences are prominent in the beats of the song, the vocals and the melody and in Gaga's non-English accent while singing the song. On the first watch you can see the video is also highly influenced by the style of Madonna. Gaga has said her self that the video is of a 'homoerotic military theme' as it features an all male dance ensemble. The video also heavily features a religious theme which has been recieved with mixed opinions. The photographer Steven Klein who directed the video has said that,'The religious symbolism is not meant to denote anything negative, but represents the character's battle between the dark forces of this world and the spiritual salvation of the Soul'. The narrative of the video roughly matches the story in the song. The meaning of the song can be easily interperted but it roughly tells the story of a woman (Gaga) and her relationship with Alejandro and also a love triangle with Fernado and Roberto. She appears to not want to be with Alejandro and at the end of the song says goodbye to him. The video shows Gaga at a funeral at the beginning which suggests that she is singing to a Dead Alejandro. I think the audience of the video is primarly people who were already fans of Gaga. The video was released on a countdown and to much anticipation of her fans. So I think it is directed for a younger generation (age 16-25) who want to see something unique and contemporary. I think the video would also attract those intersted in the work of the photograher Steven Klein as his name is credited at the beginning along side Gaga's name. I think overall the video is about religion and death and about a woman's desire to resurrect a dead love and who can not face the brutality of her present situation. The pain of living without your true love.

Paparazzi is a 2009 song by Lady Gaga. The video shows Gaga being almost killed by her fame hungry boyfriend who sets it up so photographers see them together. He then throws her off a balcony after being hounded by paparazzi. Gaga then seen in a wheelchair and crutches as she returns home. She then apparently kills some girls which are seen in the video and then kills her boyfriend with poision before being taking away to prison at the end. The video and the song suggest the pressures of fame which drives her to murder. The video explores ideas about the lengths people will go to in order to be famous. Most specifically, pornography and murder. The video and the outfits also pay homage to films like Veritgo (Hitchcock) and Metropolis (Lang). Both of her videos I have looked at are also beyond the length of the song by a good few minutes. The videos are often refered to as short films as a result.