Analysis of M.I.A. - Bad Girls

I am going to analyse and dissect the music video 'Bad Girls' by M.I.A. which has no specific genre of music as it is a midtempo song with dancehall, middle-eastern, oriental, and R&B influences and exhibiting elements of worldbeat. This more or less a combination of various different genres and samples of music. This song has one of the best visual displays in music today in my opinion and the camera work and editing is out of this world. I am also using elements from this video as creative ideas for my own music video and feel that with the creativity on show it would add class and stature to any music video.


 

The video starts of with a shot of a baron landscape with sand and dust clouds. This then is shown to be somewhere in the middle east as it shows Arabs with their traditional dress.

There is also shots of the Arabic language written on the walls, spelling out M.I.A. This is so unique and creative and I will be using this as inspiration and an idea for my own music video. 

Then a simple beat which is catchy and unique drops in with shots of Arabs standing outside of a car, which isn't your cliche choice of cars in the music industry which mainly is of Maybachs, Mercedes, Bentleys and other cars of the same status. These cars included in this video are Mercedes-Benz TN, Mercedes-Benz W210, BMW E36, BMW E46, Alfa Romeo 156 and the Land Rover Defender. These cars are considered to be of an old age and are not the ideal cars to be presented in music videos which nowadays show class and status along with how much money how spilling. This is extremely unique and the concept of this idea is simple yet so clever.

Then there comes an establishing shot of M.I.A. showing who the artist is, and giving a glimpse into who she is as an artist with pose and structured appearance. As you can see she is amazing beautiful but also there is a rough side to her which is shown, maybe showing that she is a bad girl, as she comes across as a bit tough and not your average.

Then for most of the song is it car stunts and tricks showing things which seem impossible but are far from, and showing skill and creativity not only in the acting and performing, but also in the directing and editing. The visuals on this song are outstanding showing many different techniques used to create a memorable music video.

  

Then the song finishes with an establishing shot of M.I.A. herself showing her personality and swagger. This is a really amazing shot, showing her expression, her movement and also what shes doing aswell. This song potentially showed her rebellion and the revolution she wants to create, becoming an anthem for women everywhere, showing that they can do it as well if not better as men.