Research for Music Video: EXAMPLE OF A MUSIC VIDEO CONTAINING APPROPRIATE VIDEO ELEMENTS.

I feel that Beyonce's 'If i were a boy' video is a perfect music video to use as it contains many of the video elements I listed in the previous post. Have a look:

Although the music video is just over 5 minutes long it still tells a story which relates to the lyrics she sings. At the very beginning of the video the artist is already promoted and it is instantly very clear to the audience who the main characters are, a good use of close up shots are used:

They both speak a few words before the song is played and Beyonce starts singing.

I only had to watch the video once to notice that it is set out to be narrative. Her lyrics "if I were boy" then her dressed as a police officer, gives of gender content and stereotypes a typical male being, muscular and tough. Being a police officier is usually a man's job. Because of this, it is hinted out that she is playing a male role in the video which fits into the lyrics "if I were a boy."

Below are screenshots of her role in this music video, the first screen shot she looks very masculin, her hair up tucked into her police hat, the police outfit and aviator sunglasses:

Here she holds a gun, again another object representing masculinity, not many women would ever touch one, she looks very tough and assertive:

Structure

The video is also structured well, the first verse introduces the characters and their daily routine, Beyonce comes downstairs to her lover and breakfast on the table, only to ignore it and walks straight out the door  to go to work.

At the chorus, the scenes become pretty busy, and a bit more action starts taking place, like Beyonce arresting a shop lifter whilst getting checked out by her work partner. Whereas her lover looks for a gift for her on his laptop at work. The chorus shows two sides of the relationship, one very deceiving as the other shows loyalty. I put a collage together with print screens showing the two parts.

  

My point is that the video has been clearly set out to portray the right meaning to her song. She tries showing the audience how men treat women by playing that type, but as a woman. We understand this as the video goes on. Near the bridge there is a significant change in the character's roles, you can her a darkening sound at 3:49 when they say"what?" This sound is crucial as it is the 'break' in the video where the roles switch. This scene creates tension as well as the darkening sound continues to echoe in the background as both Beyonce and her lover look at each other. The dark sound is broken by his chuckle followed by "its not like im sleeping with the girl" this makes it clear to the audience that the roles have switched.
After this break, Beyonce now plays the role as the woman being deceived by her lover, as he is now the  policeman flirting with his work partner.

Editing
A good use of camera shots are used in this video, a variety of close ups and mids as well as over the shoulder shots. Not only are the quick editing but also quite a lot of slow motions, mainly at parts where she is deceiving (like her flirting and laughing, and dancing with the other guy)
Extreme close ups are used at the very end which I feel is used to see the emotion she puts into the song, the extreme close ups are mainly of her eyes/face which are important features when it comes to expressing something. The close ups are also for promotion of the artist.

What I have also noticed in this video is that she is the narrator in the video, we do not see her sing whilst the story is being told, the singing is non diegetic, added on during the editing of the video. It is only at the end where she is shown singing, and these are the times she is standing infront of a wall only. This shows that she is singing to the audience (as she also looks directly into the camera) the story is just a way of helping us understand the lyrics.
The way everything was planned and shot is the reason why i feel this is the best example of a music video.