Music Video Analysis - Lonley Island ft. Michael Bolton - Jack Sparrow

The video contains many codes and conventions that are synonymous with the pop/hip-hop genre. Fast cuts are constantly thrown in the video to keep the video at pace with the music. This is done extremely well when switching to different movie references and the club scenes as a whole. The flashy lights in the club appeal to the side of the song that could be identified with the hip-hop genre and the initial setting, in a bar, is also in the same conventions as the hip-hop genre. In the colour of the song there are many bright colours and unique visuals that appeal to the pop genre side of the song as a whole.

The relationship to the lyrics in this video is pretty obvious. When they mention the various film references such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Scarface, the same film is recreated in a shot on screen. This is used for comedic effect to the video and does this successfully which achieves the videos primary purpose. In the versus, there is a large theme on imagery to depict what is being said in the song. Such as when they mention themes such as alcohol and the bar of a club, the person rapping or singing the part will be in that exact setting. Another example of this would be when they are approaching the club and someone looks at them in time with the song saying so.

The tone definitely reflects the video due to the fast pacing of the music as a whole throughout the video. This is most notable in the club scenes where the shot duration of any one scene is no longer than 2-3 seconds. This allows the tempo of the music to be in time with the pacing of the video which allows the audience to identify this video with a hip-hop song as the codes and conventions are used in this.

The idea of close-ups and celebrity cameos seem to be a code and convention of the Lonely Island music videos. This is then always reinforced through a music video parodying something or making it more of a comedy sketch than a serious video. The light-hearted nature of the video is always reinforced through comedic effect and the artists have created many characters and motifs that appear in other music videos such as "Shy Ronnie", which is revealed to be Rihanna's partner in crime when they make a video together.

The idea of "Scantily Clad Women" is frequent in the club, Hip-hop, scenes in the music video. This is done to reflect the atmosphere the artists wish to go for and the initial codes and conventions of a pop video and a hip-hop video. The idea of looking is also reinforced through the idea of reflections off sunglasses and the spotlight being on them when they go on the club. Them pushing in line and no one caring is also a specific example of how the camera always revolves around them in the shots.

The references to other media is very clear in this video. Pirates of the Caribbean, Scarface, Erin Brocovich and Forest Gump. These are sung about in the song and the lyrics have done this in a way that it can remain comedic; the references to these films in the music video are also done to promote the idea of comedic effect and show that they are real fans of these films.