Analysis of Cry Me a River Music Video – Course Work #1

Justin Timberlake

www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=-Mu8MrCR5pQ

Target Audience Females; Teenagers & Young Women  Female Gaze, this is

impacted by lots of close up shots of Justin  Justin Timberlake,

 The appealing theme of love,

Britney Spears & Timberland fans

betrayal/cheating & revenge  Sympathetic Females; thinking that they wouldn’t cheat on Justin as shown in the video

Unique Selling Point (USP)  It is shown in the video

 Timbaland

that a Britney look-a-like is allegedly cheating on Justin & this is linked in with the real life scenario

also appears & features in the video & song

 The video was released at the

time of Justin Timberlake & Britney Spears breaking up  Due to the USPs, the  Fans are drawn in &

hit became very popular & was a great publicity stunt at the time

interested in the reality in the music video as it is relevant to the times & media gossip

 The song was supposedly

influenced by the break-up

Media Language  Stone cold look & smirks of arrogance, shows that he knew & is over it

 Only see girl #1’s face clearly once at the end; either cut off by camera or in the dark, perhaps doesn’t want to show that  Shows no emotion of she looks like Britney sadness, even though  Blurriness in close ups; implies vision when crying he’s been cheated on

 Only at the beginning, close up seems to show a slightly watery eye; to show that at first he  Near end shows a bit of  Black/dark clothing;  Dull colours; brightness emotion when singing to her expresses feelings & how been washed out was upset he sees the situation as dark, sad & serious  Black represents rebellion; as he is now cheating on her

Mise En Scène

 Special Effects; used

when dancing to make it more interesting

 Setting; girl #1’s

house, set in Malibu, California  Minimal costume to

 Lighting; dull to suit

the mood & colours

address emotion  Stays in the same

costume throughout; shows narrative & also emphasises & brings more attention to the serious meaning of the song &  Kicked picture flying through concept of the video room; looks like a picture of rather than aspects of his them as a happy couple clothing & genre

Genre

 Walks with swagger & a slight limp

Pop, R&B

 Genre is not shown that much in this video

because it focuses on the meaning rather than showing off, but some genre aspects appear

 Attractive Females; girl #2 is skinny & half naked &

shows a tattoo  Wealth; good cars, nice house with swimming pool & technology such as video camera & tv

 Clothes; trendy & fashionable clothing worn by all characters  Justin wears black clothes with the jacket hood up