In Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball’ the song is instantly noted as self-degrading and heart broken. The first shot is a close up of Miley Cyrus’ face; she’s wearing bright red lipstick and eye make-up that makes her blue eyes stand out very well to the camera. She’s against a white background that shows nothing but her face and all her features.
The first thing we instantly notice is that before she’s even starts singing one tear starts rolling down her face which immediately suggests that she’s weak, sad and lonely. You instantly know that the song is going to be emotional and heart breaking from the stripped back atmosphere of the artist.
The first shot is the same for 31 seconds which suggests that she wants to get her message and song across as simple as possible before she moves onto the rest of the video. A sledge hammer is a key prop in the music video which suggests how her life has been destroyed by someone so easily and it’s not simple to be put back together again perfectly.
Her outfit is also very plain and at some points no costume at all, she wears a white plain tank top and white underwear in a few scenes which could suggest that she’s innocent and angelic. Other scenes she’s seen completely naked which could suggest that she’s been so stripped back and she feels vulnerable and exposed to everyone and the world.
The location is in a warehouse with a massive wrecking ball in the middle of the room, there are a few brick walls and rubble around the scene to set the mood and feeling of the song. The masculine side of the wrecking ball, sledge hammer and destroying things could suggest that’s how she’s trying to deal with her heart break without being too girly and feminine about it. Sometimes the mood is set as if she feels like she deserves what was coming to her, that she wanted the pain and she wanted to take it like a man. She didn’t want to come across weak to the audience but she did through crying and being stripped back naked.
A few times she licks the sledge hammer almost like she loves what she’s doing to the pieces of brick and rubble, as if she’s trying to feel the same thing as her boyfriend did before ending it with her. This can make the audience have a connection with the artist and almost feel sorry for her and understand her pain and suffering if anyone has ever had their heart broken before.
Miley is seen to be sitting on the wrecking ball which could suggest how she feels as if she wrecks anything good that ever happens to her. She wants the audience to understand the things she is going through and she wants to share that with her fans.
Beth Lemondine A2 OCR Media Studies 