As you may know, I am a Video Editor – and one of the things (probably the main thing) that inspired me to work in television post production was actually music videos.

Music videos are one of my favourite things in the world and I spent hours and I MEAN literally hours when I was growing up watching them Even now in the modern world, I can find myself getting lost on YouTube watching music videos for hours on end – they are an addiction.

This month we look at a musician that creates some of my favourite videos. At university, my housemate and I used to be so excited on new Lady Gaga Video day as you never knew what to expect from them and they were always so magical. I find her music and her videos really inspiring because she always goes above and beyond to do something that no-one else has thought of. So this month I want to celebrate and look at the queen of pops music videos. Be warned, some of these analysis could be essays because there is a lot I love about her videos from an editing perspective.

Lady Gaga – 911

Why did you choose this particular video?

This music video came out recently and whilst I wasn’t looking to include it, I watched it and right from the first viewing it gripped me how clever it was. There is so much to see in this video and I recommend having a look at this article to really get to grips with all the analysis. We are going to focus on the edits I enjoy.

So, what is the narrative?

This video initially comes across as completely surrealist it is only when you realise at the end that she has been in a car crash and this is her unconscious visions before she gets brought back to life.

Favourite parts of the video?

I have said it so many times before, the use of the color red in any video or film excites me because it is a great cinematography move for the portray of so many emotions. Going into this video you are not sure what the colour is representing and it can easily be misinterpreted for love or passion but when you know the outcome of the video you realise that it is being used to signify pain or blood. The red cover over her eyes at the top of the video represents her being on the floor unconscious and the more you watch this video you notice how much it is used and how clever it is.

When the music kicks in there are some really interesting turning edit transitions these are really effective and also go in time to the music. When you first watch this video you feel that it is very surrealist but when you know the outcome it becomes apparent that it is the mind playing games and being blurry in Gaga’s state.

The thing that I find really clever about this video is that the hints about what is really important in the real world is really subtle, this mirror image above is a very good example of how the real world is implemented into the surreal world. To highlight this and to hint it’s important there has been a blue light flair to sort of symbolise the real world entering the surreal.

After the mirror light has been introduced there is a part of the video where Gaga is floating in the air and dragged down to earth again. This is when you get a really quick flash of the singer in a stretcher and this connotes that she is being brought out of unconsciousness in the real world. It is such a quick flash that you will blink and you will miss it but it is so effective and one of my favourite parts of the video because it is the part where things start to change. The colour grade on this very quick shot is fark, dull and muted to highlight the different realm as the surreal world is highly coloured.

At the end of the video it becomes apparent that all the random visuals were part of Gaga’s imagination in her unconscious state. It is interesting to see this part of the video as the colours are a lot less vibrant and it is graded to look really serious. The important sections that highlight the imagination are depicted in a red tone that is used in a different way to the surrealist part of the video.