Welcome BACK to the Magic of The Music Video feature! We have been having a break from this but now it is back and this time it is on the new day of Saturday afternoons! Every month we will take a look at the music videos of certain artists and bands more in depth to explore just why I love them.

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.

To celebrate the return of Magic of the Music Video, we are going to start with a Duet Special Part 2. Back in MAY 2021 we had a look at music videos of duets and this month we are going to look at many more!

To kick things off we are going to look at a music video that was so popular and it is funny now because there are so many little Easter eggs in it when you look back at it now – welcome to the world of Nelly and Kelly.

Dilemma – Nelly Featuring Kelly Rowland

Why did you choose this particular video?

This is such an iconic video, it was a huge track at the time and it is not hard to see why as it is really catchy. Also, I think this is one of Kelly’s first ventures away from Destinys Child as well. I love the fact there is an error in the video too but more about that later…

So, what is the narrative?

Kelly Rowland moves to Nellyville and she has a instant connection with Nelly and cannot stop thinking about him when she is with her boyfriend. She gets jealous when Nelly gets a girlfriend as well. They meet in the street to sing together about how they feel about one another.

Favourite parts of the video?

I think the initial thing that stands out in this video is the way the editing changes after Kelly is introduced to video. At the start of the video there is a lot of quick dips to black to give you an idea of what the life in ‘Nellyville’ is like and I think to give an idea of the pace of it. When Kelly is introduced there is one big fade and then they sort of stop, I think this is to connote a different emotion and way that Nelly’s world changes when Kelly enters the picture. and shows the emotion of the track and the characters.

Throughout the music video it becomes clear that a lot of the transitions are very subtle, they are either not evident or they are slow fades. However, there is one scene when Nelly and Kelly are in front of the car and the headlights are used as a light transition which is really clever and very fun. Maybe to connote the light they give to each other metaphorically? Also the colour red is used predominantly on the two leads throughout in different ways to show passion and love.

We cannot talk about this video without talking about one of my favourite shots and also one of the most silliest reasons to get mad at your boyfriend. This I am sure was a close up to promote a new Nokia phone in the music video – but what a way to promote it – by texting someone on Excel! The funniest thing is that she gets so angry that she has not heard back from him. It makes me laugh every time, also, i would love to know when someone first noticed this because I GURANTEE it wasn’t until years later.

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