Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk
Released: 20th July 2010
Format: CD Single, Digital Download
Recorded 2010
Genre: R&B, Pop
Length: 3:40
Label: Elektra
Writer(s): Bruno Mars, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Khalil Walton, Khari Cain
The music video is filmed in both narrative and performance. The lyrics of the song and music are visually mimicked to audience.
The music video starts on with the actress Nathalie Kelley listening to “just the way you are” on her music player then Bruno Mars stops the music player and get the cassette out of the Walkman and makes images from media tape of the cassette on the table. The instrumental of the song begins in the background as Bruno Mars pulls the media out of the cassette tape and organize it on the table in to letters forming his name followed by the song title. After that Bruno creates image of a drum, on the table using tape media, Bruno Mars continued making images out media tape throughout the video, which also included the image of the female character which is his girlfriend in the music video which is also played by Nathalie with her eyes blinking and an image of Bruno Mar’s singing. The images looks very artistic as well as I think it makes the video and story cute which links to the lyrics and the meaning of the song which Bruno mars have said before from his previous interview that he wrote the song ‘Just the way you are’ to make all the girls feel beautiful and that no matter what; with or without makeup, they’re beautiful just the way they are! Furthermore I think the used of the animation will attract more people to watch the video as it looks very artistic and interesting.
In the music video, the it shows the love story of a couple which shows how much Bruno Mars loves Nathalie Kelley and how he thinks she is perfect the way she is which basically links to the song, as well as she doesn’t need to change which also represents his feelings about her. Moreover, he also creates Nathalie Kelley’s face out of cassette’s media tape and then at the end, he plays the piano, which also shows us, the audience that he is also musically talented, that he can play the piano as well as sing. I think this can make the audience fall in love more with the artist the fact that the video shows us what Bruno Mars can do more rather than just sing which also means that he can gain more fans as well as more people will watch his music videos and buy his records.
In the music video, I don’t think there are lots of switches and I think most of the camera shots are medium and some were zoomed in to the faces of the characters to see their reaction and facial expressions. Also I think even though the director didn’t use that many switches and camera shots, I think by showing the characters facial expressions made the video simple however it makes it more entertaining for me because I find really sweet and cute. Furthermore, I think it represents Bruno Mars personality because I think he was just starting to become famous when this song was released which I think from this video he gained a lot more fans which most likely will be teenage girls because this music video shows how he’s a sweet guy and a loving boyfriend to his girlfriend in the music video. Also, I think in this music video he wanted to convey his message more than he wants to sell the song because I think that’s just the way his personality is but then in the end, the song became a really good hit. Another things is that his message is that girls doesn’t need to change what they look like and put on lots of makeup to become beautiful but instead he wanted to say that they’re amazing just the way they are. I’ve noticed that the emotions showed by the characters were happy, smiley, joyful and calm which I think it goes really well with the genre of the music and attracts more audience. Also it helps build a calm, relaxing and comfortable mood on the screen. They also edited the video by using fast motion when Bruno Mars makes images out of media tape from the cassette to save time.
The music is supported by the animation in the video; for like example, when there is bell and drums played in the instrumental, a bell and drum are shown in animation and is as if they’re being played or being played by Bruno Mars like in the first scene before he started singing, there was a drum music in the background and that they showed him playing the animation drums; which I think makes the video more entertaining and actually clever because the use of animation basically links to the song lyrics which also can make the audience love what they’re seeing making them watch the video.
“When I see your face, there’s not a thing that I would change, because you’re amazing, just the way you are”. This is a line from the lyrics included in video and in the video, I like how he’s directly facing the actress because it shows how he is singing those words to the actress, like describing the way he feels towards her which I think can make the love story in the video entertaining especially for couples because it seemed like Bruno’s serenading the girl in the video which makes like the girls’ audience jealous and fan girl even more to Bruno Mars which means more fans and more people to buy his CDs as well as in the video Bruno also tries to impress the actress by playing the piano. Moreover, some of the shots used where it’s a close up of Bruno Mars face which is to capture his facial expression making his feelings more powerful and effective towards the actress. Again, the lyrics also match the animation in very clever way because when Bruno sings about her hair and eyes, it’s shown amazingly through the use of moving the animation of the cassette tape into shape of her face, hair and eyes.
I love how everything like the animation in this music video is cleverly linked to the lyrics of the song like for example; when Bruno Mars sings, “Because you’re amazing, just the way you are” it suggests that he feels as if she’s perfect the way she is and he loves her because the way she is. I think the director used a high key lighting which can make the set and can give out bright and cheerful lighting as well as atmosphere. Furthermore, I like how in the background, they used the lighting of the sun which reflects like behind each person through the windows which helps to set a happy mood on the set. It also represents his feelings for this woman the fact that this woman makes him happy and feel so in love which I think can inspire the audience more making them focus t the video. Also I like how the girl is getting embarrassed when Bruno Mars’s telling her all of this because it just shows how most girls will actually feel if their boyfriend tells them how beautiful they are but I like how she made it look like not too embarrassed but I like how she made it look like she finds him really sweet and shows that she loves him a lot too.
I love this music video because I love the use of animation and because I also love the singer because he can actually make you feel what he wants to say which I think is a good quality for a good singer which is to make the their fans valuable and feel what they want them to feel. I also love this music video because I think it quite simple however the use of animation made it more entertaining allowing the audience entertained however not only that but the use of lighting too created this very happy and cheerful mood in the video which actually attracts more audience to watch the video. I also like how the animation linked to the lyrics of the song which I found it really sweet and cute because o the love story in the video. I think this will influence my own music video because I would love to include the happy and cheerful mood from this music video as well as to make the audience believe what my message is about.
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