The music video for American R&B singer Khalid’s song ‘Location’
was released on 26th September 2016. The video was shot in El Paso,
Texas (where the artist comes from). The video has both performance and
narrative elements to it.
The opening shot is an extreme long shot of the desert and
it immediately sets the scene for the audience. There is also another extreme
long shot of El Paso (in this instance, the audience are told that it is set in
El Paso), however it is more of the city rather than the plain desert. This
shows the audience the variety of the town. All of the aerial shots which have
helped to set the scene have been filmed using a drone, which can not only
establish the setting, but can move around it too.
The first few opening shots also show the artist and the
title of the song, and even how to pronounce his name. The audience are shown
the director of the music video, however we are shown his name on social media,
which reinforces the power of social media today. This has been included to spread
the word about this director, and if people like how this music video is put
together, then they can see more of his work by following him on social media.
As Khalid starts to sing, there are many close up and
mid-shots of the artist to help the audience to establish who is singing. This
was the artist’s first big hit song, so many people watching the video or
hearing the song for the first time would not have heard of him before, so it
is important to build a relationship between the audience and the artist. The
artist is next to a vintage Chevrolet Camaro, a car that he drives during the
video to get to his ‘location’.
Throughout the shots of Khalid singing, there are some shots
that fade into the next shot instead of just a simple cut. This edit is
associated with slower songs, and this is used throughout the slower parts of
the song. When the chorus begins and the song’s tempo increases, there are more cuts which matches the increased pace of the song.
The lyrics of the song is Khalid talking to a girl that he wants to meet up with. We are introduced to the girl, who sends Khalid her 'location' via a text message. Khalid receives this message and drives off in his car. The beat of the song picks up and there are more cuts as a result. The cuts match the music so that each new shot begins when there is a beat of music.
There are a lot of shots in the video which are of sunshine and people having fun. This is to show that El Paso is a fun and happy place, and Khalid is, in a way, showing off his home town to the audience (who may not have known what it is like at all before this video). The music slows down after the chorus, so cuts are less frequent as a result, and some of the shots are also in slow-motion, just like they were during the first verse of the song.
There is another extreme long shot of El Paso included during shots of Khalid turning up at the girl's 'location'. There are a lot of shots of Khalid dancing to the song, perhaps showing the audience how the song should be received. It is a very relaxing song that people would listen to when they are 'chilling out'. Despite the song being something you can still dance to, it is not a song that would be played in clubs, for example.
The next few shots follow both Khalid and the girl as they try to find each other. Khalid follows the girl's directions and eventually finds her. They are now together, despite being so far apart at the beginning of the song whilst the artist was stranded in the middle of the desert. There are certain lyrics in the song such as "Let's focus on communication" which shows how the artist doesn't want to build a relationship through digital technology, he wants to have a personal relationship. The lyrics to this song are relatable to a lot of people who will listen to this song, due to the number of relationships that start online nowadays.
Throughout the song, there are a lot of shots (usually extreme long shots) which set the scene of the music video. Khalid told American magazine 'The Fader' how he felt it was important to have the music video shot in El Paso, the place where he grew up: "I have so much love for El Paso and being able to return home to shoot a music video there was incredible. In all honesty, I feel as if it was the first city that I've ever lived in that truly accepted my creativity. I'm excited to finally give back and show off where I came from."
The music video follows the convention of most music videos in that a story is being told as well as the artist is performing. The performance and narrative elements to the music video are not separate (for example the performance and narratives being in two different settings) ; they combine so that the artist performs his song while the story is being told. The story of the music video is told through the lyrics.
The lyrics of the song is Khalid talking to a girl that he wants to meet up with. We are introduced to the girl, who sends Khalid her 'location' via a text message. Khalid receives this message and drives off in his car. The beat of the song picks up and there are more cuts as a result. The cuts match the music so that each new shot begins when there is a beat of music.
There are a lot of shots in the video which are of sunshine and people having fun. This is to show that El Paso is a fun and happy place, and Khalid is, in a way, showing off his home town to the audience (who may not have known what it is like at all before this video). The music slows down after the chorus, so cuts are less frequent as a result, and some of the shots are also in slow-motion, just like they were during the first verse of the song.
There is another extreme long shot of El Paso included during shots of Khalid turning up at the girl's 'location'. There are a lot of shots of Khalid dancing to the song, perhaps showing the audience how the song should be received. It is a very relaxing song that people would listen to when they are 'chilling out'. Despite the song being something you can still dance to, it is not a song that would be played in clubs, for example.
The next few shots follow both Khalid and the girl as they try to find each other. Khalid follows the girl's directions and eventually finds her. They are now together, despite being so far apart at the beginning of the song whilst the artist was stranded in the middle of the desert. There are certain lyrics in the song such as "Let's focus on communication" which shows how the artist doesn't want to build a relationship through digital technology, he wants to have a personal relationship. The lyrics to this song are relatable to a lot of people who will listen to this song, due to the number of relationships that start online nowadays.
Throughout the song, there are a lot of shots (usually extreme long shots) which set the scene of the music video. Khalid told American magazine 'The Fader' how he felt it was important to have the music video shot in El Paso, the place where he grew up: "I have so much love for El Paso and being able to return home to shoot a music video there was incredible. In all honesty, I feel as if it was the first city that I've ever lived in that truly accepted my creativity. I'm excited to finally give back and show off where I came from."
The music video follows the convention of most music videos in that a story is being told as well as the artist is performing. The performance and narrative elements to the music video are not separate (for example the performance and narratives being in two different settings) ; they combine so that the artist performs his song while the story is being told. The story of the music video is told through the lyrics.
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