Textual Analysis of Music Videos- George Michael Outside

George Michael's Outside, is in the genre of pop as it is upbeat and catchy. The video itself has a strong narrative with an element of performance within it. The video is based on a famous incident when George Michael was arrested for lewd behaviour in a public toilet which makes up the story line of his video. 

Shots of the outside, showing the lyrics being visulaised

There is a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as; the lyrics emphasis the idea of 'coming out' there are scenes of juxtaposing filmic and CCTV images of people having sex in bushes and by swimming pools, which show the lyrics are being visualised in the video. However the lyrics are also being amplified because of the many scenes in the outdoors, such as  the pictures of the blue sky, the bridge etc. 


The start of the music video in the porno style

The relationship between the music and the visuals gives a humorous impression,  at the beginning the video shows a 1970 style porno film as there were scratches on the film stock and a saxophone plays a sleazy tune. There are also onscreen credits saying ' Eine film bi Hu Jarss' which also indicates the video is a comedy. The camera cuts are fast which resembles the beat of the track as they are constantly changing between different angles of CCTV footage of people having sex. The camera style is 'fluid' which emphasises the swooping surveillance and the flow of the upbeat music as tempo of the song doesn't change the constant quick cuts of the video. 

Close up of George, having sexual eye contact with the camera

There are several close ups of George Michael in a three-quarter profile while he is leaning on a door frame, which keeps inter-cutting with different couples under surveillance. His facial expression is very suggestive which matches the lyrics of his song, and shows himself being sexual and being edgy.  
The overall camerawork focuses on the concept of voyeurism as many of the scenes use CCTV  images which spy on people having sex. As well as the CCTV pictures showing a sexualised image George Michael does also, in one scene a toilet is transfromed into a disco where Michael is dressed as a sleazy cop where behind him is a a group of dancers perfoming a traditional Country and Western Line dance which is popular in some gay clubs. This has an intertextual reference of the 1980s band the Village People. Humour is also invloved by their stupid costumes and location and of course the auidence's knowledge of the real-life incident which inspired the video. 
The music video is narrative based, as it visualises Geroge Micheal's arrest but however it is not serious as there is a huge amount of humour behind it due to George's absurdity and the stupidity of the porno at the beginning. From this video I would like to use the quick cutting which matches the beat of the song. I would also like to include the many camera angles which are also used in this video. 

a shot of some of the CCTV footage that appears in the music video