Lady Gaga - Judas Video Analysis

At the beginning of the video no music is played, this makes the person viewing the video interested and wanting to find out why there is no music playing. This also introduces us to the narrative of the video, which throughout we see follows the generic conventions of a pop video by mixing the narrative with performance from the artist. The colouring of the video is almost black and white, the colours have been dulled down and this gives a dark effect. The first thing that we see on the screen is the title 'Judas' with a crucifix over the top of a scene of a motorcycle gang. This gives the immediate impression that this song may be themed on rebellion or betrayal, as Judas betrayed Jesus , the motorcycle gang also supports this impression as they are typically seen as being bad news. There is also a required element of shared knowledge needed to get this impression, as people who are not familiar with who Judas is may not be able to make the link however this is helped out by the use of a crucifix which gives the title religious connotations, even to someone who is not familiar with the story of Judas. The red writing for the title is cleverly used as this could signify passion, rebellion or possibly even blood.
As the title fades and we are introduced to a scene of a motorcycle gang driving down a road. All of the gang are wearing stereotypical matching black leather jackets with their names on the back. The first time that we see Lady Gaga we see that she is wearing bright colours which makes her stand out against the dull setting of the video. This is because she is seen as the most important person in the video and the record company want you to focus on her. The quirky and strange costume choice also signifies her personality, something which is easily recognisable to her fans.
The song is very repetitive and uses the word ‘Judas’ a lot in the beginning of the song, this sticks in the viewer’s mind as it is catchy. We see her on the back of the motorbike wearing a crown, this could symbolise her star image as she is thought to be one of the most famous people in the world but it also supports the theme of the video as we see the male who is on the front of the motorbike wearing a crown of thorns. This once again requires shared knowledge for the viewer to make the connection to Jesus. This also helps with the narrative as it could suggest that ‘Jesus’ the man who is on the front of the motorcycle is her boyfriend and she will betray him with ‘Judas’. Throughout the video it tends to follow many of the generic conventions of pop music videos whilst also having original ideas which reflect the personality and style of Lady Gaga. The costume choices used are extremely creative which appeals to a female audience for the fashion aspect, she is also portrayed as a strong individual woman which appeals to the female side of the audience. However, some of the costume choices are quite revealing and this could be saw as her being objectified, which shows that the male gaze theory is used to appeal to the male side of the audience. There are scenes of both narrative and performance throughout which is a generic convention of videos of this genre, the narrative tends to follow a linear sequence however there are some times when the narrative is completely random and does not make sense. There are shots of dance sequences which are also a convention of this genre.