Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You

Kelly Clarkson

The target audience for this is mainly teenagers or young adults are they can relate more to her situation being around the same age. She also attracts that age group via the way she dresses and the man she uses in her video is good-looking therefore this will also attract her female audiences.

The narrative theory applies to this music video as their is a clear structure of beginning, middle and end.

Camera shots/Movement

The first camera shot is of Kelly Clarkson's feet, it reveals little about the artist to begin with to create an enigma for the audience. Also the fact she is wearing no shoes suggests that she is free and conveying to be open to the audience. It then straight cuts to a medium shot of Kelly's face to portray a soft facial expression, from this the audience can already presume what emotion she is feeling and that this song will convey warm lyrics within her song.

There is a long shot of a boy and a girl playing in a playground together creating a happy and playful atmosphere, at first this does not make sense to the audience as there is no relation between the children and Kelly. The next shot is of the little girl on the swing and then it straight cuts to Kelly on the swing, from this the audience can now gather that the little girl represents Kelly as a child. Now we realize that the two children represent her growing up with a boy and reminising over memories. There is a fast zoom in on the bracelet/necklace which the young girl is wearing with a "K" on it so that the audience can follow the story line more clearly. A medium shot of the boy and girl hugging fit in with the lyrics so that the audience can understand the meaning behind them. 'Guess this means your sorry.'

An extreme close up of the keys to Kelly's apartment conveying that it is her property and she holds them up towards the man which could portray she is offering for him to stay with her, sending the bigger message that she wants to share their lives together.

A long shot is shown of them running around the dinning room table being playful just like they did when they were young, it suggests that there relationship is still the same and they haven't grown up from being children in the way that they behave around each other. Some of the camera shots coming up reinforce this statement. For example, an extreme close up of Kelly's holding the keys up to the camera teasing the audience, will she give them to him? It straight cuts to a close up of her dropping them into the toilet conveying a message to both him and the audience that he cannot come back unless he is desperate to.

There are multiple shots of the camera zooming in on Kelly's face while she is singing with the band on stage, many close ups were taken of her face to highlight how much she means the words she sings and so that she engages her eyes to connect with the audience. Some of her facial expressions are quite flirty, i think this is to appeal to her male audiences. In the scenes where she is singing with a band in the background, straight cuts to the guitarists and drummers are used to enhance how much she means the lyrics in her song and it invites the audience into and energetic and up beat atmosphere.

Mid-way through the song a 2 shot is used on the kelly and this man as children sitting apart on either side of the frame and then jump cuts to them in the same position as adults, again this portrays how their relationship is still the same and how they continue to argue and make up with one another. Evidence to support this statement is shown when Kelly and the man are sitting peacefully on the sofa together, presumably watching television as he then snatches the remote from her and they start to fight, however you can see that both their facial expressions are happy which proposes that they enjoy teasing and annoying each other. It also suggests that this is a disfunctional relationship and the majority of the audience will not be able to relate to this behaviour.

In the next scene they are riding in car together, a side on medium shot is taken of them both with Kelly trying to take a photo of him. This links in with the lyrics at that moment, 'Cause we belong together now.' What is the reason behind the photo? Does it symbolize that she wants a photo to say that he belongs to her. This arguement is established when an extreme close up is taken of the mobile showing her closing her mobile after taken the photograph which implies that she has no intentions of deleting it.

One of the finishing shots is a long shot of them both in the car nearly crashing into another vehicle therefore they end up spinning off onto a side road, this could be related to the way that their relationship works in the sense that they almost crash and fall out but then they save themselves from both the crash and splitting up. The final shot is a 2 shot of them kissing in the car, this also associates with the final lyric line, 'My life would suck without you.' They both had a near death experience so therefore the kiss could represent how much he means to her and feels it is necessary and suitable to show so that the audience can understand how she feels through her lyrics and through the use of her camera shots.

Costume

In the opening scene she is wearing an black evening dress portraying that she is feminine and girly. This challenges the stereotype of pop/rock artists to look punk-like. As a child she is wearing a skirt which again shows that she was a girly girl and not a tom boy. The little girl is wearing long pink and white stripped socks, these extravagant colours are conventional to the pop/rock genre.

The following scene where they chase each other around the apartment she is wearing a light coloured top which could connote happy emotions. The man is wearing a black top to convey that he is the 'villain' in the story line and that he is in the wrong, also that he is feeling bad for leaving all the time. When they fight Kelly's is wearing a blue top, the many changes of outfits promote the fact that these are different occasions and suggest that they fight a lot. At the point when they are sitting on the sofa together but they are happy, she is wearing a man's shirt to imply that they are close in the sense that she wears his clothing like some couples do before bed. The 2 shot whereby they are sitting apart as adults they both are wearing black clothing to represent a sad mood and atmosphere.

When she is singing with the band on stage she is wearing stylish clothing with full face make-up like she is performing for her fans, black leathered skinny jeans and a grey and green jacket and top. These are also conventional colours for the pop/rock genre. She also wears a necklace or chain with keys dangling from the end of it, this could connote she keeps them with her in case he disappears again.

In the finishing scene when they are in the car together, she is wearing a checkered shirt which is black and grey and the man wears a black leather jacket again reinforces the conventional punk or rock look. They both are wearing shades which connotes they both have something to hide as they are unable to see into each others eyes.

Lighting

The establishing scene the key light is coming from in front of her face to highlight her soft facial expression. Fill lights will have been added from above to create soft looking shadows also. In the playground, natural light is the key light, however the light is yellow which shows that the time is set near sundown. in the apartment, all the lights are on which is their key light, however when she sings at the window, the key light again is coming from in front of her to show her facial expressions. When she is singing on stage you can see that light is coming from behind her to silhouette her figure, and a main light is shinning on her face like a proper video set up. Back to the apartment, fill lights are placed in front of their faces again to allow the audience to see what expressions they hold on their faces. The final setting, the key light is natural lighting again, it is yellow therefore is also is set around sundown.