Analysis of a Music Video - Beat It by Michael Jackson

You can view the video here-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkGOiS75Lwk

Beat It
Michael Jackson
Released - Feb 14, 1983
Length - 4:19mins

This Music video is different to other one of the same genre. There is a strong link between performance and narrative and is almost like a short film. At the beginning there is 22 seconds of footage which isn't supported with music, which is unusual for music videos, at the very least there is a beat running underneath the action. However, in this one it opens like a film.

There is a narrative to 'Beat It' which is about a fight that is soon about the start, word is spreading and the gang members are being rounded up. We follow the members through a diner, pool hall, and finally a warehouse where the fight is taking place. However, Jackson hearing this heads down to share his views on this unnecessary violence. His performance is strongly linking with the narrative as he dances and sings throughout the narrative sections.

We get many close-ups and mid shots of Michael while he is performing, this is typical of music videos as the fans want to see the artist up close and most of all they want to see them sing the song. This can be seen when Michael is alone in his bedroom, he is always the centre of the shot and not to far away from the camera. On the other hand we get a wider range of shots during the narrative sections, this is so the viewer can see everything that is going on. We get an even mix between performance and narrative throughout the video while Michael dances along to the warehouse. The cuts between each section of footage are straight cuts and they increase in speed to match the pace of music. This is especially dominant during the dance sequence, towards the end of the video as we see the dance from many angles and positions. These shot are now either mid or long shots so that the audience can see the whole dance group as well as Michael.

The lighting in this video is quite dark, there is no natural light, only light from street lamps and buildings which helps to set the mood of the video, gangs want to be hidden, and only having their faces lit like at 0:22, helps to show this. Near the end of the video there is more light this is so that the viewer can see the dance sequence. The type of music also helps to show gangs and their personalities, gangs want to look hard by fighting. By having loud electric guitar solos and drums for the bass shows this. Michael Jackson wanted to show that violence doesn't solve anything and used these techniques along with the lyrics to represent this.