Textual Analysis 2

Ariana Grande ft Zedd - Break Free (2014)

It was the second single from Grande's sophomore studio album My Everything (2014) "Break Free" was written by Savan Kotecha, Zedd and Max Martin. It reached the number one spot on the iTunes Sales Chart soon after its release. "Break Free" received general acclaim from music critics upon its release. The music video was filmed from June 10–12, 2014. Having an intergalactic theme, Grande stated that the video was inspired by the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella, Star Wars, and space in general. The plot consists of Grande on a fictional planet giving up her allegiance to an evil regime and freeing a group of prisoners from their cages. She is subsequently attacked by a giant robot and the planet's overlord. Her character succeeds in killing the villain. The video was directed by Chris Marrs Piliero.

At the start of the video there is an establishing shot of the fictional planet where Ariana is a slave for aliens. The video is like a short si-fi film.The next shot is a close up shot of her face, where the emphasis is on the lyrics and and the si-fi make up. The mise-en-scene of the costume, props and location follow conventions and iconography of a si-fi film. She is wearing space suits and futuristic costumes, using space guns, floating in 0 gravity, being captured by aliens and flying in space ships. However the si-fi genre has changed and this video compared to an old star wars movie will be different. Steve Neale states that “genres are not ‘systems’ they are processes of systematization” i.e They are dynamic and evolve over time. 

She has been labelled with the aliens rune to show she is under their possession, but she rebels and rips it off, throws it on the ground and stands on it. Showing that she is breaking free from her captures Using an individuals own interpretation they decide who the aliens represent based on their own experience and knowledge of media texts. For example the aliens could represent a religion that is having restrictions and struggle on a persons life, or the group of aliens could be Ariana's record label who might be trying to change the artist she wants to be, so she is standing up for herself and being free. There are lots of opportunities on what the story means and who the characters represent. Therefore the video allows many people to relate, and it covers many themes for example rebellion, romance, coming of age, sexuality, bulling and religion. 

The cinematography in the video is strong. There is a continuous use of low angle shots through out the video which shows that she is powerful and the heroine in the narrative. A tracking shot is used to show all the characters trapped in cages on the planet guarded by the aliens. It is almost like they are animals captured or like they are prisoners. Before Ariana destroys the aliens and lets them escape. Setting them free. This video is about good vs bad, Ariana being the protagonist and the aliens being antagonist. Claude Lèvi-Strauss’ ideas about narrative amount to the fact that he believed all stories operated to certain clear Binary Opposites e.g. good vs. evil, black vs. white, rich vs. poor. Things are either right or wrong, good or bad. There is no in between.

There is a lighting change and scene change, it is darker and Ariana is surrounded by fire and she is chained up to the walls. But she pulls hard at the chains and frees herself. The darkness and chains represents her struggle and hurdles she faces in becoming herself. Through out the video she is wearing a red tie bracelet on her wrist this is the bracelet for Kabbalah. Kabbalah is an accident wisdom that reveals how the universe works. It's a way of looking at the world to allow you to have permanent fulfillment. The video has greater ideology, when you look deeper, representing this group.