SP - Deconstruction: Sean Kingston - Party All Night (Sleep All Day)

Artist: Sean Kingston
Song: Party All Night (Sleep All Day)
Year: 2011
Genre: Pop
Audience: 15-24
  

In our Media lesson today we looked at the music video 'Party All Night (Sleep All Day)' by Sean Kingston. We only managed to deconstruct around half of the video but as a class we all agreed that it was quite a weak example of a modern music video and all round it was very poor. Music videos like this are becoming more popular in this day and age and are becoming repeated over and over again.  

 

However, this music video is unique for all the wrong reasons. As a class we thought this music video is particulary boring because there was little shot variation and shots were frequently being repeated. There were two shots in particular that were being repeated. These were medium shots and medium close ups of Sean Kingston. This was interesting because there were alot of shots of his face and shoulders but his body was being avoided. At first we couldnt really understand why but we came to the coclusion that there might be a link to weight. He has intentially left shots of his body out because other male artists in his genre are stereotypically fit, healthy and usually have a "perfect" body. A good example of this is 50 Cent. 

As i have just mentioned there is little shot variation, mainly just medium shots and medium close ups. However there were a few good shots that we did discuss. There was a shot that was another medium shot but this time the camera must have been on a track becuase the camera panned across the room showing the people at the party. The artist again is centre framed in these shots and all the focus is on him. This is a continuing theme which is repeated throughout this music video.

We also discussed as a class the representation that "fat people are jolly". We also linked this to the actual song we were deconstructing. The title of the song is 'Party All Night (Sleep All Day)'. This could signify the stereotype of teenagers being unhealthy. It could also connote the youth lifestyle as being lazy.

Once we had deconstucted abit of the music video we begun to discuss the challenges we would face if we were to try and remake the music video.

 

1.  One of the main plus points of the music video is the fast paced editing in the music video. This would result in us having to shoot alot more shots and spend a much longer period of time editing all of this extra footage we had taken.
2. There are numerous VFX used in the music video such as multi-layering for example. A phone had been filmed and then in the editing software the text has been added in, and the different sentences have been added to different layers for a 3D type effect coming out of the phone.
3. There are also a number of shots that had been on a track which would be near impossible to replicate in professionally manner. The camera is put on a track which is timed at a certain speed to capture the perfect tracking shot that doesn't shake and is accurate. Unfortunately our school is not equipt with this kind of professional equipment.

 

Here is the music video Party All Night (Sleep All Day) by Sean Kingston: