1. Rebecca Gooch
Textual Analysis of a music video
Name of video: Commander
Artist: Kelly Rowland
Date released: May 17th 2010
Producer: David Guetta
Writer: Richard Butler Jr.
Kelly Rowland, Commander music video has the genre of R&B, electronic, house and
dance. The characteristics of the music video define its genre. In this particular video the
music is upbeat, the costumes used by the artist are leather and are of a tight fit; these are
all features of an R&B, dance song.
Links appear between the lyrics and the visuals throughout the song. “DANCE,
DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE” the lyrics have been repeated
several times and appearing in the music video is the crowd dancing and Kelly Rowland
walking towards the camera stating this example the links
can be clearly seen between the lyrics and the visuals in the
music video. Furthermore the lyrics being acted out in the
video are to make it more appealing to the audience of R&B.
Another example of the lyrics being emphasised or acted in
the video is the line “This dress wont go to waste” as the
artist sings, the camera pans down in a close up shot of the
costume Kelly Rowland is wearing. Having links between the
lyrics and visuals allows the audience to understand the lyrics of the song. A final example
is when the chorus is sung the visuals are the same person
(Kelly Rowland) but wearing a different costume. Whilst the
lyrics are sung the audience can see it is a face off between
the two – maybe the two different sides of the artist or the
stronger side of her taking control with the lyrics “I’ll be your
commander” but I feel it has been left for the audience to
come to their own conclusion why the producer has decided
to choose this as an option.
There are also links between the music and the visuals.
With every beat the video cuts from shot to shot an example of this is when the chorus is
sung there is a close up of the same person shown twice in the shot which is then cut to a
medium shot of the two (as
illustrated in the pictures left).
Kelly Rowland moves in time with
the beat so the video fits in with
the beats and is run smoothly all
together. This can be seen when
the Kelly is in the middle of the close up shot and a dance group move out to the side from
behind her all actions and movements are in time with the
beat. Another point to show the link between the two is the
video changes pace with the music; when there is a slow
pace beat the actions and movement are slow and limited,
compared to when the music is more upbeat with a faster
pace which is when the shots tend to change quicker and
the actions and movements of the actors are in time with the
fast beat.
Throughout the video shots are mainly between
medium and medium close ups of the artist because the audience can see the expression

2. Rebecca Gooch
and the make up on Kelly Rowland’s face and it also gives the feel as if the song is being
sung towards the audience making it seem more personal instead of being just a song, the
lyrics could mean more. The record company use the music video and the artist to
promote and sell the track. Using well – known artists as they can be seen as a role model
to people and also using the music video that appeals to the target audience of R&B and
dance that includes the main features of the chosen genre would promote and sell the
track. An image is created through the music video and the lyrics of the artist interrupting
Kelly Rowland is in charge of the situation and has main control and likes to dance and
party as sung out in the lyrics “And I’ll be partying til hella late”. Its also shows the image of
how she has changed in her music videos, in most she dances on her own but in the video
“Commander” she has a group dancing behind her. A previous video by Kelly Rowland
“Work” includes a fast beat which relates to “Commander” as it to has a fast pace and the
use of bright light on the artist. It appears that all previous videos each tell a different story
therefore the context of the music video varies and may not relate to the this newly
released track or past tracks.
I think the artist, Kelly Rowland is on sexual display, because of the following
elements; camerawork, costume, make – up and dance. Using camera work this can be
implied, in particular a long shot at the beginning of Kelly Rowland walking through the
smoke slowly being revealed and only her body outline can be seen which can be an eye
grabber for the audience especially males. Other types of shots that have been used are
close ups of the face to show the expression on her face and the make up she is wearing
e.g. the black eye shadow. Most shots the camera stays still and the artist walks to and
from the camera as if to make the audience feel as if she is walking to them making it
seem more personal. My last example of how camera work implies she is on sexual
display is the camera is in line with Kelly Rowland but looking down on the ground either
side of her, where the crowd dance and look up at her this shows she is the main display.
Costumes imply the point; she is wearing a black costume and a red costume made to fit
tightly, made out of leather which implies she is on sexual display mainly because of the
material it has been made out of. I think these features have been used because they fit in
with the genre of the music therefore appeal to the target audience. The costume also fits
in well with the lyrics that are being sung. Chorography is another element, the dance
moves that are executed throughout are stylish, sophisticated and are precise in time with
the beat again making the song and video overall
more sexy and upbeat.
No intertextuals references appear to relate
to any separate texts such as TV programmes or
films. But Kelly Rowland costume has gold, red
and blue pieces of jewellery on it, shaped in the
way of what would appear on a soldiers or army’s
clothes and also the lyrics of the song “I’ll be your
commander” combining these two points together
it could make the audience wonder whether the
song has reference to the army and soldiers.
The music video mainly is performance –
based. From the points and elements I have mentioned above to sum all the main points I
have discussed; the characteristics included in the video define the genre of being R&B
and dance song. Links appear between the lyrics and the visuals as do the links between
the music and visual which makes the overall video run smoothly. Camera shots help the
audience to understand the feeling and help understand the meaning behind the lyrics.
Through camerawork, costume, make – up and dance looking at each of the elements it’s
was clear that these imply sexualised display. From studying the points I have mentioned

3. Rebecca Gooch
above we can define the genre of R&B, dance and the type of video is upbeat and the
script suits the genre well.