We Can't Stop analysis

We Can't Stop - Miley Cyrus

Singer - Miley Cyrus
Genre - R&B, pop
Label - RCA
Writers - Mike L. Williams, Ricky Walters, Miley Cyrus, Douglas Davis, Theron Thomas 
Producers - Mike Will, P-Nasty, Rock City

Relationship between lyrics and visuals
In "We Can't Stop" we denote Cyrus perform the song, she is lip-syncing whilst performing in a room. The video was put out to introduce Cyrus' new look. In 2011 Cyrus changed her look dramatically and came out with this music video that effectively stopped social media in it's tracks. Fans and others were not sure how to act. In the initial shot we see a close shot of Cyrus and there is large yellow text saying "Miley Cyrus" this emphasised Cyrus' new look. There is also a connection between lyrics and the visuals. The song is upbeat in some sections, then gradually decreases in pace. When the music decreases in pace we see Cyrus acting more sexual and the movements of the characters in the music video are slower; for example at 2:14 when Cyrus is laying on the couch and then in the swimming pool looking directly at the camera. The pace of the music slows down and the audience are connecting with Cyrus due to her looking directly at the camera and stopping the fast pace partying. However there isn't a direct connection between what Cyrus is singing and the visuals that the audience are denoting. For example when Cyrus sings "waiting in line for the bathroom" we aren't seeing anything to do with the bathroom or people waiting. The audience are denoting Cyrus with a dog behind her.

Genre Characteristics
The pop genre generally involves performance and narrative, the narrative is most often 70% of the overall video. In "Can't Stop" we see Cyrus basically having a party and throughout the video she is lip-syncing the lyrics and looking at the camera. This is showing the audience a non-linear narrative and then also a performance due to her singing at the camera. The first shot is Cyrus singing in a white room looking directly at the camera, this is a typical performance style in pop music. Where as in rock generally there would be a band and also there may be references to audience. I "Can't Stop" we denote Cyrus singing on her own looking at the camera. The music then goes on to be an open narrative of Cyrus holding a party and dancing around with the other characters. The music genre is also classified as R&B. The video involves topics such as; violence, drug use, relationships and drinking. These are all typical conventions of a R&B music video. However throughout the music video these are represented subtly and in unconventional ways. We then denote a two shot. In this two shot we see a typical shot of a couple at a party. We can connote that this shot has links to Cyrus' new image of rebelliousness and the sex appeal. The music video also has the typical genre characteristics of a pop song due the fact that Cyrus is drawing attention to herself throughout the music video. she does this by wearing minimal clothing and overall being in the centre of the screen at all times. The audience can connote that Cyrus is showing her confidence. The audience is also able to connote it being a pop genre because of the close up shots and the shots of the dancing, keeping to the tempo of the upbeat song.

Intertextuality
Cyrus uses Intertextuality in the music video by using products such as 'beats pill' and 'EOS lip balm'. She uses the beats pill initially to play her music. The music begins softly and not that loud. We then denote her turning the volume of the speaker up. Her song is being played through the speaker in the music video. This allows the audience to connote that Cyrus is showing us that the speaker is loud enough to play at a party. Showing the pill  in a positive light; therefore her audience will want to buy one. This is an example of an advertisement within a music video. The audience also denotes the EOS lip balm being used Cyrus. Again this is an example of marketing within a music video. Her audience will see one of their idols using it, and therefore want to go an buy one. We can also denote that Cyrus has a lot of them, allowing the audience to connote that they are affordable.  

Performance/narrative
The initial shot in the music video (of Cyrus) is a close shot of her singing directly to the camera. This is a performance of her singing the intro to the song. As the music video prevails we denote that the video involves an open non-linear narrative as well as a performance. The narrative is open because we cannot connote a beginning, middle and an end. The narrative is also non-linear because there are sections in-between the narrative that are performance of Cyrus signing. There are a variety of shots throughout the music video. We are able to connote that the music video is sexual. Through the music video there are many mid shots. In on if the mid shots we see the top half of Cyrus' body and it is panning over her. The angle is used so the audience is able to denote her body. Throughout the video we are able to denote that she is wearing little clothes. We are able to connote that she is implying she can do whatever she wants and is comfortable with her body. The angles allow the audience to notice her body and they highlight the details. Cyrus is implying she wants to be desirable to the audience. When Cyrus starts to dance in the music video, the audience are able to denote that there are more long shots. This is because the long shots get the whole of Cyrus' body in one shot. She is dancing in a seductive manner and this again is highlighting the fact that Cyrus is comfortable with her body and wants to be desirable to her audience. This also has a direct connection with the lyrics "shaking it like we at the strip club". This once again emphasises that she is acting sexual. There is also a scene in which there is a hand held shot. Cyrus is on the floor with her fans. The hand held shot is slightly shaky; emphasising that they don't care about how they are acting and this allows the audience connect with Cyrus and understand. The audience feels involved. The use of the had held shots allows the audience to feel like they are apart of the party. Finally there are also several close shots of Cyrus' face; the audience is able to denote her singing the song. We can see her facial expressions and she is performing the song looking directly at the camera. If there were no close up shots of Cyrus is would be hard for the audience to decipher who the dominate figure is.

Mode of address
Cyrus looks directly at the camera in the beginning close shots as well as in the mid shots when she is laying down and dancing. Cyrus looks at the camera to let the audience feel involved in the music video. The video also makes the audience feel involved in the way that there is hand held camera shots. The gratification theory is at play here. Cyrus is making a direct connection and relationship with the audience.

Star Treatment
We see star treatment in the music video throughout. The use of close shots are used so we are able to denote who the star of the music video is. We are able to denote that Cyrus is the dominate figure in the music video. If she didn't look directly at the camera we wouldn't  be able to see who was the dominant figure due to the fact all the characters in the video wearing similar clothing. There are a lot of characters in the music video because the audience is wanted to be able to denote that they are at a party.

Audience in video
We see a lot of characters in the music video who are dancing with Cyrus. They are all of similar ages; therefore I don't think that there is much audience in the video due to Cyrus' main audience being in the younger to late teens. However the music that they are all dancing to and the clothing that they are wearing; could represent her new audience being more mature.

Representations
The audience can denote that there is a group of people of similar ages. The video  is representing how the younger generation is always partying and having a good time. Women's sexuality is also being represented through the use of the small amount of clothing. The audience is able to connote how the sexual dancing is seen and how easy it is for women to be objectified by people even though they are having a good time. Some of Cyrus' lyrics are represented through the visuals. "Cause we can have so much fun now". We then see people emerge from the bushes and are laughing, we are able to connote that they are prepared to have a good night.

Male Gaze
The audience is able to denote that the characters in the music video are wearing little clothing. They are showing their legs and other parts of their bodies in sexual ways. We denote Cyrus dancing in a sexual way (twerking) and looking directly at the camera. This is making the audience feel involved and have a direct connection with Cyrus herself. The camera is also voyeuristic over Cyrus' body. As she is dancing sexually in the mid and long shots. The camera gets closer to her body showing the details. The wide shots are making Cyrus look irresistible to the audience. This attracts the male audience, making Laura Mulvey (a feminist film critic) status that women are on the screen to be eye candy and are often objectified. Mulvey also stated that shots are often on their legs and other close shots of their body, We denote that there are wide shots of Cyrus sexually dancing and the camera gradually gets closer to individual body parts. We are also able to denote that there are also panning shots of Cyrus' body whilst she is in the pool wearing sheer clothing.

Pace
We can denote that when the pace of the music slows down we denote that the shots last longer and the movement in the shots are slower. For example when we see Cyrus in the pool and at the beginning and the end of the video. The music is slower and Cyrus doesn't twerk or dance as sexually than in the other shots. she is looking directly at the camera and there is close shots. The pace is manly upbeat, due to the fact it is a pop and R&B song. They are often dancing to the song as if they are at a party therefore it has to be fast paced.

Shots
Overall the music video focuses on sexual aspects of the party scene. Throughout there are many mid shots. There is a mid shot that focuses on the top half of Cyrus' body, the angle is used to show off her body and let the audience connote that she is comfortable with her body. Throughout the video Cyrus wears minimal clothing to show off her body; this is allowing the audience to denote her new look and possibly get new audience. We are able to connote that she is flaunting her body to show that she shows she can do anything and be anything. When Cyrus begins to dance the shots change to long shots. This is so the audience is able denote her whole body. This is to highlight Cyrus' body once again and sexualize her. This adds to the aim of the video. She is trying to show her audience and get new audience to understand the new Miley Cyrus. Like I said earlier in the analysis there is also a handheld shot. This is to enable to audience too feel apart of the music video and get involved. The shot is of Cyrus and her friends having a good time, this implies that she doesn't care what she does anymore and is going to be who she wants and do what she wants. This is also a sense of intertextuality, due tot eh fact outside of this video, Cyrus herself was going through changes in personality and showing her audience who she really is. She stopped pretending. to be something she wasn't (so she claimed).

Effects
The editing puts everything together so that the visuals match the lyrics. There are many quick cuts throughout the music video. The use of the quick cuts draw attention to the variety of scenes and what is happening in these scenes. The music video is swift moving and the audience are able to denote that the clips fit well together and all the shots are cut quickly. The use of quick shots allows the audience to denote the many personalities of Cyrus and we see her being crazy, seductive and funny. She sings "we can do what we want". This has a direct connection with the visuals of Cyrus acting crazy. Through certain scenes we can see jump cuts. The jump cuts are used to show that there is a variety of things happening throughout the video. We can denote that there is drugs and alcohol references in the video. The jump cuts could be used to allow the audience to connote that the characters are on drugs or drunk. There are many random topics that are in the jump shots. there are a lot of irrelevant and random scenes. These make the scenes look like hallucinations. The scenes change from innocent dancing to sexual dancing because the drugs and or alcohol has changed them. The music video also appears to have quick editing. Some of this quick editing is to occur to match the lyrics and the visuals. We can denote that a lot of the visuals match the lyrics. "So la da da di we like to party" we then denote the characters in the video partying in the pool and dancing. the quick editing also implies to the audience that time is going by quick and they aren't paying attention to the time. Time flies by when they have fun.

Mis-en-scene
In the establishing shot we see a pink pair of scissors. Other pink items that we see throughout the music video are the EOS lip balms, beats pill and the pink goo that represents blood. There is also pink dimmed lighting throughout. The colour pink could be represented as youthful and feminine. Therefore could represent the youthful partying in the video. Cyrus is constantly wearing little clothing or tight clothing. This represents that she is comfortable with her body and she is showing herself in a sexual way. Because this was one of her first videos after having a change in appearance; she was showing the audience her new self and how she is now more mature. She is gaining a new audience. We can denote Cyrus' facial expressions throughout the video are constantly smiling and her being happy. This is the new her and she is happy with it. she doesn't care what people think of her anymore and is enjoying herself. Throughout the video she ears two predominant colours; black and white. This has been used to contrast the rest of the music video, using bright colours and bright lighting. For example we see a bright coloured donut and bright backgrounds. By Cyrus wearing small simple clothing, this doesn't fit the general conventions of the pop genre. Generally they wear over dramatic clothing. However with Cyrus wearing simple small clothing she stands out in comparison to the other characters in the music video.