Purpose and audience: The general audience is attracted by distributing albums through such online shops an iTunes or Google Play as well as through selling albums in real shops. The Weeknd is not a popular artist so he can not really allow himself to launch his music videos on TV but he can make people watch his videos on such social networks such as YouTube, advertise them through Facebook or Twitter. The audience consists of mostly teenagers as this video is about love and problems associated with it. For young people such problems are common for them.
Form: Music Video. The narrative in the music video is designed to shock the audience in the end as people watching it can get the impression that the main character is going on a date with his girlfriend. But in the end it turns the other way round and he kills her. This may attract viewers as such kind of love stories are usually particularly interesting for young people.
Content:The extensive use of ECU both on the protagonist as he makes his way across the city and on the young women as she prepares for her date reflects the intensely personal and reflective content of video. The parallel editing holds the audiences interest as two apparently linked but ultimately separate narratives unfold and converge at the end. The young woman is not preparing to meet him and his intentions are not romantic as the audience led to believe. The use of canted angles of the skyscrapers and later on in the murder scene at the end is a technique typically used in psychological horror movies to suggest weirdness and mental derangement. Oblique lines created by the use of canted camera angles are characteristically used to reflect tension and transition and in the case of this narrative the impending nature of what is about to happen. The slow motion already mentioned is very exaggerated and connotes a surreal almost dream like affect. Shallow DoF is used throughout isolating the protagonist from his surroundings both physically and metaphorically. He feels estranged and this is demonstrated in the technical codes used in this film.
Genre: The song is in style Hip-hop, alternative hip hop, RnB, so the music video is kind of a gangster or crime video which is quite common for this style of music.
Meaning: The predominant colours used are muted blues and greys and this connotes to the coolness both stylistically but also the emotional detachment of the male protagonist. The predominant contrasting colour used in the video is the seductive use of red, in the young womens lingerie, her chose of dress and lipstick all typically connotate seduction, passion and sex. The only other use of red was the splattering of blood at the end in the assassination of both women and her lover, again passion both love and hatred. The significance of the filming at dusk also suggests endings and new beginnings. The protagonist stops to buy flowers. These are chrysanthemums a flower that in many cultures is associated with death given what he is about to do the significance of this is heightened. His meal in the Chinese restaurant has a ritualistic connotation particularly as his ex girlfriend is Asian and as it preceeds his deadly act it suggests the final meal before an execution and for this reason has almost biblical associations.
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