TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF STILL SHOT.

I have chosen to do a textual analysis of a still from Justin Bieber's Beauty and a Beat video:

 

The Beauty and a Beat video was released in October of 2012. This video is different to many of his others because the camera is in a style which looks as if it is a handheld camera. His other videos are much more like mini movies, telling a story. Whereas this video is entirely performance based as we can see from this still shot of Justin staring at the camera singing with dancers behind him. In this image we can see that Justin Bieber is holding the camera, this handicam type view makes the shot look very informal and almost amateur. The scenery around him is a swimming pool and what looks like a bridge or platform over it which he and some girls are dancing on. The atmosphere looks like a lively party and it looks like a hot or fairly exotic country. The climate of the setting is suggested by what Justin Bieber is wearing at what looks like night time in a water park. His casual clothes expose his tattoo on the left arm which holds the camera. The fact that he has a tattoo connotes a free spirit and artistic person. It is also quite iconic as there has been a lot of exposure of his tattoos recently on social networking sites. Even Bieber's hair connotes his intentions as a musician. The iconic Bieber sweepy frringe has been ditched and he now goes for a more sophisticated quiff. This suggests that he is ready to be thought of differently, maybe taken more seriously rather than the teenage pop sensation with a high pitched voice who everyone finds adorable. Bieber seems to be urging his audience to think more about his sex appeal in this video rather than his cute factor.The girls around him are supporting this idea because they are dressed in summer/swim wear which means very little clothing is worn and quite a bit of skin is shown. As Bieber is surrounded by these dancing girls the connotations are that he is a ladies man and gets a lot of female attention. The name of the song is a parody and inter-textual reference to the Disney film Beauty and the Beast. This could connote Justin Biebers Disney connections that everyone seems to make, he has never appeared on Disney Channel yet he is constantly categorised as a 'Squeaky Clean Disney Kid' because of the image that he first promoted and his relations with other Disney Stars such as Selena Gomez.