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 I thought we would take a different approach to this article and instead of focussing on just one band, instead I wanted to focus on a particular subject – the duet. I am fascinated by the world of the duets and this will not be the only month that we will have a look at this subject. I love the way that when two musicians collaborate the videos see bigger, better and bolder and they really go into overdrive when it comes to the editing. So this month we will take a look at just a handful, but because there are so many I adore this will be a topic we will visit again in the future.

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Crazy In Love – Beyoncé feat Jay-Z

Why did you choose this particular video?

This is such an iconic video and when you watch it, the emotions you had the first time you watch it all coming back. The editing is sophisticated and really glamourous that it creates this wonderful video that you just want to watch over and over again. I think when it comes to the glam that I was talking about duet music videos this really defines what the perfect one entails, you can tell a lot of money went into it and it is a very effective video.

So, what is the narrative?

According to an interview that Beyoncé did with MTV at the time, it apparently celebrates the evolution of a woman when they are crazy in love

Favourite parts of the video?

The one thing that I love about this music video is the drama and the effort that has been put on the opening sequence of this video to give Beyoncé a huge introduction. I think it could be one of the most powerful introductions to a musician and automatically creates this power and empowerment of the artist. I love the use of flares, the vignette and the fast paced panning shot intertwined with Jay z. It look cinematic and really reels you in that is why I love it.

I really like the transition into this section of the video and it has some really interesting edits to this part of the video which again makes it really striking for me. I love the quick editing between close ups and long shots and that the use of the camera lights are used as unique transitions. I really adore the way that camera lens reflections again are used to create a flare on the image and it really does create this slick appearance to the video. The last thing that I really like about this part of the video is the use of sped up and slowed down shots it really creates a sense of sexy to the video.

When Jay-Z is introduced to the video there is this car set on fire with his silhouette at the front of the screen, just like the Beyoncé introduction this is also a bold statement and really striking and could connotate to an ‘explosive welcome’ to the video. The editing in this section of the video is starting to look different to what comes before and it creates this really effective way to introduce another person to the track. It is very clever.

The last part of the music video is also I think the most iconic part of the video and it is also a fun one for the editing as it mixes between a lot of the pat locations in a fast montage whilst also showing different parts of the dancing. It is sections like this that make this video really striking.

DUETS MONTH WILL RETURN LATER IN 2021