Genre
Pop/Funk
Audience
Both genders, of any age
Narrative
The video is of story inside a story. Michael runs out of gas when in a forest at night and asks the girl to be his. At this point the equilibrium in Todorov's theory is balanced as everything seems fine, but once he gives her a ring, he says he is different and turns into a warewolf. The equilibrium at this point is disturbed as he then chases her through the forest until he captures her. As he is about to kill her, the scene changes to him and her watching a film in an old cinema, where she gets up and leaves because she is scared. The equilibrium is restored at this point, where he follows her and they end up down a dark street where he starts singing and dancing to her. They then walk past a grave yard where zombies are coming out of the ground and start walking towards them. Once again the equilibrium is disturbed as they are surrounded by the zombies in a circle and Michael then turns into one, where he starts to dance with them all. The girl then runs to a house, where she is followed by them all, as they all start breaking into the house. She is then surrounded by them all before the scene changes again to a motel room where Michael is normal again, and the equilibrium is again restored. As they leave the room together Michael turns his head around and still has zombie eyes, as if he is trying to show he will always be a monster, or that he will never be normal. This has a slight hint of Propp theory as he is a secret villain, along with the rest of the monsters.
Representation
Michael Jackson is represented as a well mannered gentleman as he treats her very well and buys her a ring to confirm that they are in a relationship. He also tries to protects her from the zombies by guarding her behind his back. He then turns into a zombie and is clearly represented as the leader, as they all start copying him, which connotes he has obviously done this before. Overall he is being represented as a monster a he turns into one three times and the look at the end shows he is trying to hide it.
She is represented as a stereotypical vulnerable young girl at the beginning but this contrasts when the scene changes to the movie as she is a lot more grown up and seems to be having more fun.The video is represented as a stereotypical thriller/ horror movie within a music video as it is all set at night, in the dark, with monsters, forests and graveyards, which are all common conventions of a horror.
Analysis
mise-en-scene:
The scene starts off with a car running out of gas in a moonlit forest at night. Michael and a young girl get out of the car and walk into the forest, where he turns into a warewolf. He becomes extremely hairy with huge ears, teeth, hands and evil eyes. He then chases her through the woods, until he jumps out of a tree and lands in front of her. She falls on the floor where she is represented as a innocent vulnerable girl, as she is wearing a baby pink and purple dress with her hair tied up on her head.
There are bright lights outside of the cinema which stand out as they leave, as it is late at night. As they walk down the dark street they pass a creepy graveyard where zombies start to come out. They are covered in dirt and blood, wearing ripped clothing. The zombies along with Michael start dancing, and at this point the girl runs away, where she turns up at an old abandoned house which falls apart when the zombies turn up and break in.
The scene cuts and she wakes up from a dream in a quiet motel room with Michael standing over her.
Camera:
The video starts with a long panning shot of the car running out of gas, and panning shots of them running through the forest and dancing in the street, also of when they leave the cinema there is a panning shot from the film title to the girl. There are group shots of them talking which are fluent throughout the whole video, like the ones in the cinema and with the zombies. There is a low angle shot of the pairs feet as they are walking towards the forest. As she falls to the floor there is a low angle shot looking up at the warewolf from her point of view, which connotes she is over powered and trapped by him.
There are lots of close ups of the girls face as the zombies are breaking into the house which shows the fear in her eyes, and lots of point of view shots to show why she is scared.
Editing:
There is a sound bridge at the beginning of the video, before you see the car. There are lots of shot reverse-shots throughout the video to show the expressions on their faces.
When Michael turns into a warewolf all his body parts grow and get hairy and his eyes also change colour.
Sound:
The video starts off with a sound bridge as you can hear the car and frogs before you see the scene. There is then narrative between the two as the car stops and they walk out into the forest, where there is also screams from the girl.
The roaring of the warewolf is non-diegetic sound along with the creepy music which starts when you see the moon. The music added in, when they leave the cinema is also non-diegetic, along with the music added when he is dancing with the zombies.
The music stops when she enters the house and all you can hear is zombies crashing through the walls and screams. This then stops as she wakes up from her dream and dialogue is used.
Institutions
Artist: Michael Jackson
Thriller was released in November 1982, by Epic Records. It was produced by Michael Jackson himself along with Quincy Jones.
I have decided to analyse this music video as it was one of the first to ever be produced, and it was one of the most popular videos ever to be shown. Music videos have been influenced from this so it is an important part of the music industry.
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