Men In Black by Will Smith

http://imvdb.com/video/will-smith/men-in-black

 

The Men in Black music video was directed by Robert Caruso. As well as Caruso directing this music video, he has also directed another of Will Smith’s video, “Just Crusin’.” This video also features special effects, where Will Smith changes his car. Another feature they both use, is that they both have vehicles in, this means that shots have to be made when the car is driving. This is effective as the audiences can then discuss what types of cars are used in the videos. The video was distributed after the release of the Men in Black film. The purpose of the music video is to promote the film and sell the song. This is important because, they have targeted certain people who watch music videos, so they want these people to watch this new film.

The genre of the music video is sci-fi. We know this because the scenery is mainly made of metal colours, such as silvers and black. This gives it more of a professional style and will come across to the audience as a high production value video. Also, there are many techniques used, such as cut to the beat, where Will Smith is in a long corridor on his own. This technique helps captivate the audience’s attention, as it is up to beat. It also uses the ‘Rule of Thirds’ in its closer shots. This is important, because as well seeing where the talent is in the wide shots, we can also see where he is in other shots. An example of this is the end scene where Will Smith wipes the audience’s memories. Caruso also uses the classic wide shot where Will Smith and the other men in black are dancing in a big warehouse, with an alien. The reason why he uses this type of shot is because Caruso wants to capture everyone dancing, and so his audience can imagine what it would be like if they were in this shot.

Robert Caruso has also included intertextuality, because the video shows short clips of the feature film. He did this to help promote the film. In addition the music video uses CGI to create the aliens, this is because Caruso wants to give his audience a taste of how good the quality of the aliens will look in the film. Furthermore, it has narration at the beginning of the video. Tommy Lee Jones is giving an introduction of who the Men in Black are. This will be helpful for the audiences watching this music video who then go on to watch the film, as they would have had a brief introduction of what these ‘Men in Black’ do and who are they are. Also Caruso uses conventions of the video, for example; the video illustrates the lyrics by showing Men dresses in Black and doing their jobs.