Week 03 - Expanding on Semiotics
1. Lady Gaga is seen standing in a life-sized top hat wearing a fashionable outfit of a black and white houndstooth turtle neck, green houndstooth blazer and colourful skirt. Her blonde hair is slicked back.
2. Lady Gaga dons an black bodysuit with black hair cap on her head, covering her hair. Her make-up is minimal. She is partially blocked by a white sheet and stares directly at the camera.
3. Lady Gaga in a cage, wearing a mid-length yellow wig that is slightly curled, and a skeletal top is rotating clockwise in a bony-looking cage to face the viewer. Her make-up is ghostly pale and grey, with eyeliner, smudged contour lines and red lipstick, and drawn on black mole above her lip.
4. A black and white scene of a figure with bony wings descending on a podium surrounded by people with their arms up. Elaborate geometric lines in the background, surrounding the figure.
5. Black haired Lady Gaga dressed in lacy lingerie and skinny high heels dancing on a mattress.
6. Lady Gaga in the same outfit as (2), camera zooms out to reveal white sheet is huge in size and puffs up to surround Gaga.
7. Lady Gaga in the same outfit as (2) and (6) without the white sheet is seen walking down a runway while clapping her hands
8. Lady Gaga in the same outfit as (3), doing the "running man" dance while still trapped in the cage as the camera zooms out.
9. Lady Gaga wearing a black hair cap hiding behind white sheets, only revealing her eyes and face partially. She's wearing thick white, blue, yellow and red face paint that is smudged.
10. A black haired Lady Gaga is seen shoulders up revolving in a cauldron, while a knife flies past her head. She mouths the words "Gaga".
11. Lady Gaga in the same outfit as (2) and (6). Her full body is revealed as the white sheet covers both her arms in the shape of wings.
12. Lady Gaga in the same outfit as (2) and (6) without the white sheet. She has the same face paint make-up as (9) and smudges the make-up more with her left hand.
I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong
To crash the critic saying, "is it right or is it wrong?"
1. Commonly associated with magicians and the act of pulling out rabbits from within, Lady Gaga being seen in a top hat suggests that she's the main attraction, a figment of magic. Her fashionable dressing and sleek hair hint at her being a part of high fashion, and this also adds to her "fame".
2. With just her face seen, Gaga looks vulnerable. She is revealing her "real" self and is directly addressing and communicating with the viewer, an effect of the intimate close-up shot as well as her looking straight at the camera. She is letting the viewer get to know her. Her bodysuit and hair cap bears a striking resemblance to the grim reaper from Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal. Gaga is the representation of death, as she "kills" her own identity separate of being Stefani Germanotta, making way for her dominant persona known in the eyes of the public only as 'Lady Gaga'.
3. Lady Gaga is emulating Andy Warhol's depiction of famous pop-icon Marilyn Monroe with a twist. The curly wig and black mole above her lip are clear signs of her imitation. The colour of the wig is a bright yellow, which also throws in a personal touch as it is reminiscent of her past looks in her Telephone music video. Marilyn Monroe was notorious for being a troubled star burdened with worldwide fame, ultimately reaching iconic status. Gaga's smudged and pale make-up completes her dysfunctional representation and gives the same message of a downside to fame - parallel to Monroe's own life that ended with her tragic death. The placement of Gaga's arm above her head and the slow rotation tells us that just like a ballerina in a music box, fame controls the star. Her being trapped in a cage further emphasizes this. A star cannot escape from fame. She is forced to perform.
4. Gaga, assumed to be the figure, is descending from the sky much akin to an angel descending from heaven. Her stage (the podium) is there to receive her, as are her followers (the people). Her fans have been eagerly awaiting her return to the music scene and she is gracing their presence like a higher being. The geometric designs at the back somewhat resemble a stage set, to complete the illusion of a stage. They also bear a resemblance (along with the black and white colours) to Fritz' Lang's stylistic sets in his classic film Metropolis. Much like the character of robotic Maria in the film, Gaga is an invention of fame.
5. This is a throwback to an old-school Gaga at the start of her career, when she had natural black hair. She's hyper-sexualized and full of energy.
6. The shape of the white sheet resembles a flower, seeming to say that Gaga is in bloom.
7. Just like models walk the runway, Gaga as a star struts her stuff and yearns for applause.
8. The camera zooms out to reveal that Gaga (like Marilyn Monroe) is truly trapped by fame, and must do whatever it takes to entertain the audience. She is a trapped songbird and must suffer and sacrifice for fame.
9. Like a jester with a painted face, Gaga is hiding behind the white sheets like curtains, getting ready for her big revelation and performance.
10. As she's seen in a cauldron, Gaga is being invented and persecuted at the same time. Knives are shot at her like critics' and the general public's negative remarks or dislikes. But she is still their source of entertainment, much like the magicians in circuses who are pinned down with knives thrown at them.
11. This further emphasizes that Gaga is an angel, or a magnificent bird ready to take flight. She is going to soar.
12. Lady Gaga in full view now reveals herself as a jester. She is tasked with making her viewers happy and keeping them entertained but that requires pain or sacrifice from her. Her make-up is smudged around her eyes as if she had been weeping, and she further smudges the make-up around her mouth to complete the effect.
While all of the above is unfolding, Gaga's song lyrics speak of her being a subject of fame, a controlled entertainer. This serves to support her visual representations of being trapped or controlled. She is determined to destroy the concept of right and wrong in pop culture, in the eyes of critics. This sense of right and wrong is seen as a duality, and represented by the constant use of black and white in the video - a sign of opposition.
