Analysis: Solange - Cranes in the Sky (Music Video)
From the video Cranes in the Sky sung and directed by Solange, we took the element of simplicity. The element of calmness and the display of the black female body. In this video we don't follow any story or build relationships with any significant characters, instead, we watch all these people perform these beautifully simple choreographed bits that complement the song in such a way that it becomes seamless.
Riddled throughout the video there were also shots with solo choreography. these scenes, I also found very beautiful and I felt we could implement into our own music video. I thought we could add our own sort of repetitive choreographed dance throughout the video.
Camera Movement
The camera movement in this video is quite basic. They mostly they used the standard wide shot, medium shot and medium close-up. In between some of these shots, they added some zoom in/out hots which made the overall look very interesting and complex but also gave the feel of a hand-held camera even though it was probably on a tripod. There is not much to say about the camerawork as it is quite basic and simple. The transitions used in this video are jump shots meaning that there is no fluid transition added post-production. It just jumps from shot to shot without a transition. Some shots from this video that inspired our concept were those scenes where all these women were either laying, standing or sitting together doing something choreographed or just staring into the camera. these scenes were quite powerful to me as I believe they say a lot about the standard of beauty from the directors’ perspective and from ours. as these women sit they look so graceful and delicate but also very powerful and strong. I personally connect all these descriptions to these women cause of their skin colour which I feel like was a conscious decision to complement their skin tones together. I thought that maybe we could implement this idea in out video by having women of different skin tones, hair colours, eye colours and all, sitting together in some sort of sequence all staring into the camera as an opening shot having it being zoomed in/out of the shot.
Bird's eye view shot, extreme Longshot, Normal Longshot, Shoot from a standing distance above the models on the floor; laying, Midshot, close-up. Mostly it was shot from eye level but at times it would vary from that to being slightly above or above at quite a distance.
Mise-en-Scene
The wardrobe chosen in this music video was one of my favourite parts of the video and one of the reasons it inspired me so much for our video. Most of the outfits in this video are very minimalist and simple in terms of layers and amount of clothing. A lot of the outfits in this video are quite Avant-Garde, meaning an intellectual, artistic and cultural movement characterized by the experimental, the radical and the unorthodox approaches to fashion. In simpler terms, it means dysfunctional clothing that is not really supposed to be worn or should only be worn as a representation of art. At least that’s what I believe it to be. So, she took this approach to fashion to implement into her aesthetic driven video. It works very well as along with the camerawork, the setting the minimalist makeup look of the models the clothing stands out quite significantly. I believe the clothing was one of the things we were supposed to focus on more along with the message. From the beginning of the music video, scenes such as these inspired me to use picturesque scenarios and background for our future music video. The location that they filmed at is very beautiful and scenic. I believe it reinforces the theme of calmness and serenity.
The wardrobe for this video looked a lot like costumes at times
She didn’t seem to make any sort of distinct facial expression throughout the video she was more straight-faced and singing the song. This said lot because it almost made the song seem a lot more serious. I believe this was intentional to make her audience feel a little uncomfortable as the song should make them feel. Even when she was dancing she didn’t seem to make any different facial expressions. What’s interesting is that the dancers around her had no distinct facial expressions throughout, either.
The colours worn in the video were also quite neutral or natural and not artificially vibrant. And if they were quite bright they were quite contemporary or looked more like costumes.
She’s barely wearing any makeup making me personally feel a lot closer together it makes me feel like she’s not hiding anything, and it also makes me feel like by her not wearing much makeup she’s showing that she represents many other women other than herself.
Representation
In this video, the main character also happens to be the singer and director of the video.
The location looked like it was shot in an Arabic dessert. Uncommon for black women in the industry. Usually, women in the music industry are represented as an object or only seen for their bodies. In this video, it was less about her body and more about, possibly her face and dance moves. Not to mention the deeper message behind the song.
She is represented as quite an upper status as she wears quite extravagant clothing and she sings in such a way that makes it look so majestic and superior to the normal women, all this in a very positive way.
The way that she is representing women is in a very gracious way and especially the way that she is representing Black women is in a way that is not commonly seen in the music industry. An industry that only used to show black women as objects for their bodies and rarely their faces. In this video, I see black women represented as, finally, a part of the upper class if you will. We are being represented as sophisticated women, that know contemporary dance and even when sitting, laying or standing together we hold ourselves in a very gracious manor. We hold our heads up high and we show in our faces that we demand to be seen and treated the way we deserve. That is what see when I watch this music video. I see female empowerment and I see the demand to be seen as what we are. I believe she portrayed her message beautifully and she completely changed the game for all women in the music industry.
Narrative
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Audience Reception
In terms of this artist's unique audience, I expect they wouldn’t at all be surprised by content like this. This is not the first (or last) time I suspect Solange release music and music videos such as there. As a matter of fact, this entire album in terms tough topics it dominates. The record is about black survival in 2016 amongst other topics such as police brutality in America, divorce, racial profiling and even annoyances one goes through as a black woman. For some, she sings what some struggle to say out loud and that helps them, but for others, she promotes anti-white and looks down on those that do not look like her. This album has received a lot of glory for the topics it speaks upon. The Rolling Stone Magazine Website said, “A Seat at the Table is a gentle-sounding album, but it is not weak.” 
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