Title: Me Or The Lifestyle
Channel: Link Up TV
Date: July 17, 2016
Artist: Tion Wayne
Time: 3:48
Time: 3:48
Synopsis
In the music video for 'Me Or The Lifestyle', there are four different settings. the first one is in a kitchen with all of his friends, another is the streets of Central London, an expensive London penthouse & streets in north London. The videos Tion with his onscreen girlfriend (Aleeyah Petty) throughout, and he is asking her 'Is it Me or The Lifestyle?' that she is in love with, as his lifestyle can afford to buy her lots of expensive gifts. The scene in the kitchen with all his friends shows Tion being antisocial and his friends all talking around him, this tells the audience that even when he isn't with her he is still thinking about her.
When Tion is with Aleeyah, he is always wearing expensive designers such as Christian Louboutin and he buys her gifts from Dolce and Gabanna, however at the end of the song/music video he is shown with a different girl who appreciates the little things about him, such as his phone calls and dates to the cinema. This clearly shows that Aleeyah was in love with his lifestyle and the mystery girl at the end is in love with him.
Conceptive, Narrative or Performance Based? & Themes and Motifs
The music video is narrative and performance based as it tells a story as well as Tion lip syncing almost constantly throughout the song. The main theme of the song and music video is primarily love however there is a secondary theme of money.
Representation of Stars / Mise-en-scene
Tion and Aleeyah in the first half of the music video both represent themselves as being very wealthy. Tion is not seen without his watches/gold pendants/pinky rings, designer sunglasses, diamond earrings and expensive belts and shoes. Same as Aleeyah, throughout her appearance she is seen with Chanel handbags, Louboutin shoes and long, luxurious hair extensions and a full face of makeup. The girl in the second half of the music video seems very down to earth and more humble as she has less makeup on and simply wears a tracksuit when she goes to see Tion.
Authorage
Tion's authorage is his haircut, in Edmonton, where Tion is from, his haircut is known as 'Same level' or 'The Tion cut' as it is unusual to have all your hair one level, as well as having his beard in a 'chinstrap' design.
Camera Angles
Camera angles are mainly low angle tracking shots, they enable you to follow what is happening in the shot as well as making the artist look important.
Editing techniques
An editing technique that I noticed was slow motion/ fast motion, it allows for a scene to flow in time with the music and encourage us to follow the characters. An example of slow motion is 1:12 where we are encouraged to watch Aleeyah walking with all the class she carries.
I also noticed an eyeline match at 0:51 where we see Aleeyah looking at something out of frame then it cuts to us seeing Tion looking at something out of frame, the audience would conclude that they are looking at each other. Their facial expressions suggest lust.
Lip syncing is used throughout just so that Tion could focus on his performance.
Target Audience
The target audience is both genders from teenagers to early twenties, they are encouraged to buy the song as it might be similar to things that are going on in their own lives, or it might be an inspiration to have lots of money and be successful in the future. The music video illustrates the story.
Ideas to take and use in my own music video
Ideas I can take from 'Me Or The Lifestyle' music video and use in my own music video is the use of a very strong narrative as I think it worked very successfully here.
