#visualreview

Music Video Review

Waka Waka (Esto Es Africa)- Shakira- World Cup 2010

This is one of my favorite music videos of all time because if you haven’t realized it yet, I love looking at the differences and similarities between cultures. The World Cup is literally one of those events that bring the entire world together every four years. It is one of the most human things that human being partake on. Suddenly your individual life is forgotten and you unite with millions of others that have only one thing in common with you- you relate to the country you are feverishly cheering for. 

Now, as for the actual music video, it did a wonderful job depicting just that mania that the world partakes in for a couple of months every four years. There’s a really cool combination between clips of old soccer matches, Shakira dancing and the most well-known players posing and doing little tricks with the soccer ball. The video is in itself a perfect representation of the fútbol community and how it brings the Earth together. The video uses World cup games with some definitive moments from the past to show the former champions of the world. 

The makers of the video were careful to deliberately use vivid, lively colors to show that South Africa (where the 2010 World Cup was held) was teeming with energy and that it was a place for vibrancy and spirit. There’s colors that really stand out such as red, green and yellow in some instances, but there is a very good variation between the colors to show how diverse and eccentric a cultural exchange can be. In the beginning of the video there is a little clip of an Italian player (that I’m pretty sure is footage from the 2006 World Cup) and it shows that he is ready to make the penalty shot, and that is a perfect representation of how tense and competitive the games sometimes get. The makers of the video did a splendid job in capturing the humanity of the situation. Famous players (Messi, Pique, and Dani Alves) are all shown to bring familiarity to the video so as any soccer fanatic could see the video and instantly feel like they can relate. There’s even clips of children playing soccer around the globe, saying that there is no race, age or class in the world that is excluded from partaking in a game of fútbol. It was also great how Shakira included regional, native dance moves and steps from the people of South Africa, and how the beat of the song and the small snippet that is in another language sung by an African woman are included because it shows that we can all learn from cultural exchanges. 

This song overall talks a lot of the American political system and institutionalized racism, while also saying that PE (Pro Era – the name of this rap group) is going to take over and it’ll be a positive thing, spreading the word of unfairness in our system. With the knowledge of the lyrics, the video makes more sense – though dark – and can be dissected to have an extremely deep meaning. If one were to only watch the video in silence, you would probably be able to comprehend what the song is trying to say.

The beginning of the video is close ups with an extreme depth of field: only one thing in the front is in focus and it really puts the viewer into the setting of the video which is Brooklyn, and then Manhattan. They’re attempting to depict the daily life or what they feel being oppressed each day in a video and this is set up as the cameras shakily follow them around areas where there’s graffiti, areas that look run-down, through alleyways, and then eventually you enter a taxi with the main rapper, seeing his view outside the window of Brooklyn. The frames are changed quickly so despite this being a simple tale of where this video takes place, the viewer is extremely interested.

The scene then flashes to the group (PE) in front of an American flag and then back to various other scenes walking around the streets of Brooklyn, finally ending up in an abandoned building. One of the members has a water gun with him and the others pretend shoot with their fingers and with my assumption, I believe they’re trying to get the point across that they’re just kids yet they’re put into the streets and given guns (the lead rapper is only 16 at this point).

Within the abandoned building, there is a wire shaped like a noose (emanating a death theme) as they continue to go through their daily lives, ending up at the building yet again – but this time curt flashes of them hurting people with black masks over their head appears. The main person in the black mask about to be hurt is wearing a nice suit, alluding to the president perhaps – or politics in general. Flashes of different culture references also appear: a Netherlands flag up close, the Jamaican flag, a gold Chinese cat figure; and then there are different cultural references like Martin Luther King’s speech.

The positioning of the camera is also significant as it pedestals up and down in various scenes, especially when they’re at the building, going up to then ease into street shots and Brooklyn, and down to ease into darker scenes where they’re hurting others, or in front of the American flag. There’s juxtaposition between the group of men wearing masks and walking through areas like Wall Street in a crowd and in the other direction, showing their opposition to the way the system is currently working.

This has honestly been one of my favorite commercials since middle school and although now that I’m older I realize how culturally-marginalizing and racist this is... I can’t help but to laugh at the underlying truth that everything DOES sound better in Spanish (Disclaimer: I am allowed to say this, I am a native Spanish speaker). 

Even from the opening line, man “Here in Veracruz, Mexico, we speak Spanish, mostly because it is the language that we speak” as the obviously Latin woman walks on the center of the screen towards us, because she never takes her eyes off of her audience- it addresses the audience all throughout. Even the dramatic flamenco music in the background give it an overall dramatic, zesty vibe that is typically related to most Latin stereotypes. 

It’s interesting how in the opening scene, the camera trucks right to get a feel of the marketplace with all of the fruits and vegetables as the woman comes into play, I think it is to depict how you are now in a foreign place, or a more rural place at least.

There are dolly shots (in and out) throughout and it gives it the more dramatic feel of what a stereotypical Latino commercial would look like. Also there is extreme close-up shots of the woman’s face, because yes, latin drama, and it is so stereotypical it is hysterical. 

The commercial begins more so like a movie; it’s in black and white and all that’s being shown is the skyline of New York, the Brooklyn Bridge. I believe it’s black and white to allow the viewer to picture an old picture book, going through memories. The scene is moving though, and we’re panning with it as though we’re driving – and we soon find out that we are in fact inside a cab. The music started just as the skyline was showed to us and is played throughout the video. It’s Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” in which Derek Jeter, the main focus of this commercial, and the singer are from the same state – and have New York engraved in their hearts.

It’s as though we’re sitting beside Derek Jeter in the taxi, but he doesn’t know we’re there. He’s too busy reminiscing of his past – growing up in New York, playing baseball as a young kid – and this is shown through the frame of the window like when there’s a baseball game played in the neighborhood. The shot then zooms up towards his eyes creating an extreme close up, a reflection against the mirror and NYC. A short change of focus to now see in his point of view outside the window at a kiosk are newspapers with the headlines all about him ending his career in baseball and with the Yankees. We’re still looking from his point of view as he looks to the driver’s steering wheel and out the front window of the car to see the stadium not too far in the distance.

He decides to take the reminiscing further and asks to step out of the car. The picture is now a wide view and the car and train poles are in the rules of thirds as he leaves and is automatically greeted with fans. The focus of the video goes in and out showing that we too are just a fan that has followed along on his journey. Now as he walks closer to walk – to Yankee stadium – he is greeted with crowds of people, the camera all focused on their reactions to him with excitement, joy – conveying emotion for the viewer.

As that scene is ended with a wide-shot of everyone crowded around the stadium, the view changes drastically to extreme close ups of Derek Jeter getting prepared for his last game. Close ups of him putting his jersey on, of him looking beyond the empty stands, and then widens out to the view of him leaving the locker room that is extremely overexposed, only having it possible to see the back of his jersey and a Joe Dimaggio quote. The over saturation fades and Jeter nods, now leading to the wide screen of entering the field with all the seats filled and screaming. The cheers take over the Frank Sinatra song probably wanting to convey the effect he’s had on so many lives.

The first scene of the movie isn’t a scene at all – it’s a black screen with a simple dictionary definition in a boring font for the word pulp. It has two meanings but when I think of how the two meanings can relate to one another, I think on the deeper level. The first definition has to do with how pulp is a shapeless mass of matter, and the second is a book or something vibrant but written on something unfinished and rough. They’re both able to be beautiful things yet seen as not (shapeless, rough). Since the title is “Pulp Fiction” I assume it will be more regarding the second definition about a book or magazine, but if both are listed, both are most likely to be intended and important.

Now into the actual movie, the camera is set at the angle meeting with the table at a diner. We’re able to see the entire conversation these two characters are having at a level below them, able to see their every move. The lighting is also significant since it is so light outside and so dark inside, showing a large contrast on the people’s faces. This can be seen in a deeper light as good and evil, especially since the topic of conversation is robbing places. The movement of the camera doesn’t much change –the viewer is an outsider – until they begin the hold up and it is tilted upwards to the people with all of the control with the gun.

The title sequence begins and fun, exciting music that the Black Eyed Peas will once sample begins to play and you get a feeling that the movie is going to have a lot of action – perhaps following these two people robbing places across the country. The title itself is large across the screen but fades into nothingness as the important roles are listed, maybe showing that the characters are more important than the movie ideas itself? Just as the music supervisor is on screen, the music statics out and “Jungle Boogie” begins to play; a different, more funk inspired song that is continued into the car of the next scene with two different characters.

In the car, their faces are seen very close up as they speak on about something so meaningless – burgers – only to enter a new scene with guns as though we’re sitting in the trunk of their car. They’re above us, more powerful, and are acting as though dealing with guns is no big deal – black guns, black suits – against the bright blue sky. The viewer seems to always be a step ahead of the characters (we know where they’re going next), wherever they end up and are able to view them from the side, never knowing we’re there, especially when we view them from the top of the empty room, giving the thought that no one else is there. While in the elevator, the rule of thirds comes into play with the rectangle background and the two men standing right between the lines.

There is a lot of contrast within the movie; the black suits against the white walls, the intense jobs versus their nonchalant conversations, the characters themselves, the depth of field compared to hearing their conversations as they walk away. The characters walk in and out of the door frame, and also in and out of the actual frame, keeping us moving and changing scenes. The door is shut in the viewers face, only to flash us into the room (the scene changes are not smooth, something also contrasting) and there are two men sitting below the stronger men in black suits. Faces are often a close up, in focus showing expression and when the character is speaking; when the man had the monologue from a part of the bible, it created more contrast since he was committing sin shortly after (where the picture then zoomed out to both men in suits shooting the man sitting).

Scenes have changed, and there are new characters introduced yet again. I’ve noticed color in this movie: yellows, reds, tans, they’re in every scene. Blood, heat, passion – this can represent a lot. Marcellus’ face hasn’t been shown yet, but he’s been in focus for the majority of his monologue, color and contrast returning with the background and lighting of other characters.

Scenes change with a black fade and the next scene is bright and white – and now regarding cocaine. More contrast. The cocaine is close up as he’s placing in the bag, etc., there are a lot of close ups while other conversations and things are going on, as though we’re not supposed to be seeing everything. The entire drug scenes are focused on the car while the road is hazy like the driver is seeing. Things are zoomed, trippy, and the music is also jazzier. Now he’s arrived at his destination and the letter is zoomed in to show its importance; he then magically enters the house as though it’s futuristic, and then her having a loud speaker throughout the house also represents this all-knowing, powerful figure, along with her red lipstick. Her face isn’t shown until they’re in the car (which uses the rule of thirds). She’s somehow magical, even a rectangle appears when she draws it – putting the fiction in pulp fiction. In the restaurant they’ve chosen to go to, everything is fake as well adding to that – but what also is notable is the ‘bloody’ burgers they’ll be having, as well as the same table seen but this time the camera isn’t below the table.

Fast forward and they’re now in the dealer’s home; the camera is shaky as the scene is shaky and the life of Marcellus’ is shaky as well. It’s interesting that there is so much chaos going on, yet the camera is focused on the corner of a wall – the viewer is calm beside hearing the yelling, observing all that is going on.

Since this film doesn’t have much setting or different sets – it’s just the main character on his wheel chair, his apartment, and what he sees (but also the lives of who he sees) – a lot of what the movie is about can be found through the visual grammar. From the first scene, what stood out to me was the coloring. It was high exposure, everything seemed lighter, but it also seemed as things were glowing.

The women of the movie seemed to always have an extra glow as well which makes me think of all of the 50’s stereotypes found in the movie; the women are all dressed well and seemed to be ‘perfect.’

This brings me into the next section to talk about regarding things not being as they seem. There is a big point of view and change of perspective within the movie; it plays an important role. The point of view changes to be on the main character, but then through his lens to see others and outside the frame of the window, and then sometimes the viewer has the omniscient view of the people he’s looking at, without him being aware. Things may seem perfect at glance, through his lens, but what he doesn’t know is the full picture – how things really are. The couple, for example, seemed happy at the beginning and ‘seemed’ a lot, however they weren’t but the viewer knew this before the characters. This can be applied to the murder as well; it’s not known for sure until the end that the wife was murdered, but it was what it seemed to be. He’s only confined to looking within his apartment and outside the frame of his window. Maybe this speaks to looking at life through certain boxes rather than the entire thing, and missing a lot because of it.

The setting was small and the frames were rarely changed, and when they were changed there was usually a literal frame around the scene – the camera frame, the window frame, etc. The camera moved side by side as though you were looking through the eyes of the main character to his neighbors and seeing his perspective. When it wasn’t dealing with his perspective, the camera was usually still and only changed to focus on different characters. There wasn’t much movement – just changing of angles. The angles inside the main character’s apartment were small and it always seemed so much darker than outside through the lenses or before the chaotic scene when light took over. I believe this represented the broken-legged character’s solidarity and loneliness. I mean, he spent his time living through other people’s lives… The darker compared to the brightness of outside of the window created his life to seem more daunting and depressing.

Alfred Hitchcock’s visual adaptation of Cornell Woolrich’s short story ‘It had to be Murder’ titled ‘Rear Window’ took a few artistic liberties in regards to details along the plot of the original work. 

The details regarding the artistic liberties regard the addition of characters in order to manipulate the plot in a more aesthetic way, such as how in the short story, the main character, Jeff, has no romantic interest, but in the movie, his girlfriend plays a massive roll in helping him solve the mystery of the murder. She acts as a friend, a guide, a reflection of his inner-feelings, which in the short story is played by his helper, Sam, which in the film is also doubled onto the roll of his insurance company’s nurse. 

The creation of the romantic interest also allowed for a deeper character development of Jeff, since we were able to look more deeply into his life and into his career, which was the life of a photographer, or as Lisa put it, “a spectator” which is what he is since he mainly spies and figures out the lives of his neighbors. His main struggle in this film is to decide whether to play an active, or a passive role in his neighborhood, a question every spectator must at least once ask himself. 

There are many “gramatical” uses of this film in order to further convey the director’s main goal of the piece. Deliberate choices such as the great amount of high-angle shots, and how there is no scene in the entire film that was shot outside of the small room or out of Jeff’s point of view, only add to the limited perception that we are exposed to, making us feel as Jeff feels and discover things as Jeff does.  

It was also very effective how the director of the film decided to frame each of the neighbor’s window as a square, symbolizing each neighbor being exposed by a TV screen, because in television shows, the actors aren’t supposed to be aware of having any audiences and people look into their lives as a form of entertainment, which is exactly how Jeff saw his very own neighbors, as a way to pass the time, as live, unscripted entertainment, the premature version of reality television programs. 

I liked how there were barely any references to the time era in the short story, and it could have happened in any decade at any (recent) point in time in the last hundred years, but that Hitchcock decided to illustrate it in the current decade and so we, as the viewers of future generations, get an insight on the personal lives and intimate relations of the society of the nineteen-fifties, with their fashion choices and habits and ways of speaking. It is very demonstrative of the times, and it is always entertaining to see how the times have changed. It is also interesting what was considered to be aesthetically pleasing, or beautiful, at the time, since both of the main actors were considered attractive for their time. Seeing how the standards of beauty have shifted will never cease to amaze me.