A2 Media production. Text Analysis.

This music video is for the R&B group 112 (Pronounced One-Twelve) It is for the song "What If" which was released in 2005.
The video is built up of narrative and performance elements. It is a complex narrative type of music video. The band members all feature through out the narrative, as well as with in the performance element of the video.
The setting for this music video is in California. The performance element mainly sticks to an under lit road underneath a bridge. That is where all the band stand as four and perform. For the narrative side to the music video, the setting is in a town or neighbourhood which is brightly lit up and a big comparison the performance element. The narrative is outside in the open, during the day and colourful, the performance element is enclosed, at night, and very under lit. However there is also performing by the band members during the narrative. This is post modern because it shows the product is aware of its construction, as the band members are breaking the set lines of reality by singing along to a song that is non-diegetic inside the video. This is proved at the start of the video as the music dies down slightly in sound and the diegetic sounds of the girlfriend crying as she runs away and mike chasing her shouting become louder.

During the narrative elements in the video, the camerawork is similar to that off a television programme such as drama based programmes. This is because the narrative is itself dramatic and the director wanted to show it to the audience as serious rather then part of a music video. During both the narrative and the performance elements of the video, there are many close ups of the band singing. This is conventional of the music video and shows that despite this music video showing unconventional traits ,such as a complex narrative, it is still a music video itself. During the performance side to the video, there are also frequent mid shots of the band all together performing. This is again conventional of the music video genre as it is promoting band image, by showing all four of the members looking stylish and showing off their success through there material wealth, such as nice clothes and jewellery. This is also conventional of the musical styles genre of music videos.

During the performance side to the video, the location has switched to an inner city site rather then a quiet neighbourhood that is shown in the narrative performance side of the video. In this inner city location, it is extremely underlie and the brightest and most colourful things seen at this point are the four band members dressed in all white and the occasional emergency siren flash. This matches the narrative at this point as there is also emergency sirens playing a part in the narrative story. This could be seen as postmodern because it shows a clear link between the narrative and performance elements in that they are performing on a crash scene which is what happens in the narrative. However in the narrative, we clearly see that the band members do not know each other, as when their characters come into contact with each other (Mike running to his wife while Q plays a Doctor) they do not act any different or show any recognition of the other person. There are no special effects used during the video. This is because the director wanted to give a realistic effect to the narrative, to make it seem just like day-to-day life.

The main theme and idea of the video is that a man comes home to his wife, who has found out he has cheated. She then proceeds to run away and get into a vehicle to leave him, but as she is driving while crying she eventually crashes her car while her partner pursues her. This however isn't revealed till the end because it is revealed while the suspense and drama reaches its climax. There is a clear match between the lyrics and the visual aspects of the video. Almost all of the lyrics can be related to the video.

The majority of symbolic elements in the video are mainly to do with showing wealth and success of the band. For example during the narrative, big expensive trucks are what the main actors drive. This shows wealth and success. Another example from the narrative side of the video is how mike and his girlfriend have, at the time, top of the range mobile phones. During the performance side, there are many close ups of all the band members dressed in all white suits wearing fancy jewellery, this again shows wealth and success. This features heavily in this type of music's conventions and this video does not differ from these symbolic elements.

Looking at the editing, there are many slow fades between the narrative and performance sides of the video. This shows a clear distinction between the two and clears all possible link with each other. However this does not change the pace of the video as despite using slow fades, the actual footage in each part goes at a quick pace. There is also a usage of slow motion effects a few times through out the video. This is only in the narrative side of the video, but this is because this technique is used by the director to add tension and drama to the narrative.

The performers are all members of the group 112. With exception to the female lead. All four band members appear in the narrative playing different roles. Mike plays the lead character. Slim appears second in a car next to Mike when they are stopped because of an accident. Q plays a paramedic treating the female lead and Daron plays the person she crashed into. Interestingly, the lead singer does not play the main character. All of the verses are sung by Slim who plays a minor role in the narrative. What is more interesting and very postmodern is that during the narrative we see Slim singing the song which is at the time non-diegetic sound to the characters in the narrative. This is postmodern because it shows that the media construction did not follow to the strict guidelines of realistic and fiction. What is more postmodern is that just after this scene, Mike then runs to his injured girlfriend and then proceeds to sing the song despite him not even singing it really. Again this questions the reality of the narrative but also it is strange because it shows a music video where not only is the real singer singing, but also the band member with him who does not sing that part, but does play lead in the narrative, also then goes on to sing the part that Slim does not sing. Meanwhile in any of the purely performance parts of the music video, it shows a mid shot of the whole band singing, then alternates by showing a close up of one of the four singing.

Overall, there is a clear moral to this song and video, it shows a story which basically means that people should stay faithful in relationships. It is a good moral because R&B music is too often stereotyped as negative towards women. It leaves a sad feeling for the audience as right at the end, the viewer discovers that the girlfriend died from the accident.