Analysis of Music Video 2: Telephone

"Telephone" is a song by Lady Gaga. This song is featuring American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles and is written by Gaga herself and Rodney Jerkins. A critical success, most contemporary critics frequently noted "Telephone" as a stand-out track from The Fame Monster and it was Grammy-nominated for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2011.
Narration:
This music video is 9 minutes and 31 seconds long where the song starts at 2 minutes 53 seconds; giving a long prequel; typical of Lady GaGa's unusual, controversial, unconventional pop videos challenging society. Listening to this song, one would first assume that this song is about Lady Gaga receiving phone calls from someone frustrating, however, this video has infused a second, deeper meaning to the song, giving it an entirely new dimension. In Paparazzi, Gaga plays the role of a mind-controlled slave who was “programmed” to poison and kill her boyfriend. Telephone is a continuation of this story, where Gaga goes to jail for her crime. The “telephone” could be  a metaphor for Gaga’s brain and the fact that she is not answering that phone (her brain) could suggest that she has “dissociated” from reality. This can be portrayed in two separate shots:
Gaga’s head is the telephone. She is not answering that phone, which is symbolic of her dissociative mind state:

The telephone receiver is shaped using her hair which covers her left eye, representing mind control:

Mise-en-scene:

The use of the mise-en-scene establishes the setting of an all female prison. Lady Gaga's costumes change throughout and each time depict something different and unique which is one of the predominant things she is known for. For example, she has coke cans in her hair, dressed in tape, wears cigarette glasses, etc. One could say that the cigarettes covering her eyes represent her blindness to her highly toxic life as a mind controlled drone. These representations defies the social norms of conventional pop video's but follow's conventions of Lady GaGa's own strange pop videos. Later, you see the artist dressed in "caution" tape whilst in her prison cell. This could symbolise the artists dangerous side which is supported by the word 'caution' and the body gestures and movements she makes. The fact that one eye is covered, highlights the trauma mind control victims must go through, her body is a crime scene.  

One could argue that this is could therefore be targeted at the modern youth audience who are scared to defy the norms of society and be themselves; this video could therefore inspire them to grow confidence and become more of an individual as suggested with the 'caution' tape in the prison. Gaga is also dressed in a formal jacket covered with jewels which is covered by the American flag; this emphasises that the artist is patriotic and loves her home country.    
Lady Gaga is constantly seen in extreme strong make up which emphasises her femininity and extenuates her sexuality throughout the video. This therefore links to voyeurism which refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure, suggested by Goodwin. This can also be seen through her outfits as they expose a lot of the artists body. 


Sound:
The first sound used in the video is of female prisoners talking through dialogue which is later followed by a kissing sound, exemplifying the sexuality of the video, again relating to voyeurism. A voice over is used on "intercom" which is a typical feature of a prison location. The song begins later which is use of non diegeic and digeic music as the audience can hear the song and throughout the video, the characters dance to the music, and the telephone noise. There is further dialogue in the video when the prison guards, Beyonce and Lady Gaga are talking and ambient sounds of drawers being opened and closed and keys rattling; these fixtures are all typically found in prison cells.There is further ambience of high heel footsteps which gives a sense of femininity. 
Offensive language is also used in the video as dialogue to appeal to the younger target audience as the youth have been stereotypically portrayed to use this type of language.



Camera work: 
Various types of camera work are used throughout the video. In majority of the shots, Gaga is in the centre of the frame which establishes the protagonists significance.  
There is use of a shot-reverse-shot in the car showing both Beyonce' and Lady Gaga not only allows the audience to see their facial expressions, but also emphasise their importance as the two main characters in the video. 
There is also a pan/ tracking shot following Beyonce' walking into the diner justifying her importance in the video which is followed by an over the shoulder shot from Beyonce's point of view; which allows the audience to directly see from her perspective. 


Editing:
Various editing techniques are used throughout. For example, the subtitle headings are used to entitle the name of the song and who is starring in the video which is something you do not often see in other music videos. Because you usually see titles like these in films, it prepares the audience for the narration giving a 'film' feeling to it.There is use of jump cuts to multiple different scenes which could suggest a metaphor of the teenage audience's hectic lifestyle as it is fast paced which they can therefore relate with the video. 
The CCTV style camera shots are made to look like the characters are under constant observation as they are in prison; this is typically not conventional of most pop videos which makes this video stand out as Gaga has challenged these conventions and has achieved a successful outcome. It can also suggest that the audience is watching the prisoners as well which allows us to engage with the artist.   
There is also use of a flashing camera to give the impression that photo's are being taken of Beyonce as a snapshot image which fits in with the narrative of the video. Subtitles are later used in the video during the diner scene to show the speech from Gaga to Beyonce; this editing technique is conventional of pop music videos. Also, a multiple split screen of Beyonce and Gaga enables the video what both artists are doing at the same time to conventionally send a message to the audience. Majority of the editing is fast paced when the artist sings which symbolises the hectic and chaos in the artist's mind. 
Goodwin suggested that there is a relationship between the music and visuals. Because this 'Telephone' is an extended video with a story being told in between the song, there is less need to illustrate the meaning of the song with the visuals. The director Jonas Akerlund has instead used the editing to represent the feel of the song with the use of jump cuts. For example, this is portrayed in the fast cuts during the more energetic moments of the song where the artist is in the kitchen.  

Intertextuality:
A common technique used in music videos is intercontextual reference. In this video, the director has included a car that says "pussy wagon" on it which relates to the film 'Kill Bill' (2003). Also, Beyonce puts on Mickey Mouse sunglasses, which are the same glasses worn by Gaga in Paparazzi while killing her boyfriend.