Music video deconstruction - Gregory Porter - Be good (the lion song)

Music video deconstruction - Gregory Porter - Be good (the lion's song) Jazz/ Soul

Usually in jazz and soul music videos the conventions are:
- Bright happy colorful costume and set.
- Dancing
- Bright lights and often big posh performances with a full orchestra.
- Costumes include suits for the men and sophisticated dresses for women as well as bright makeup.
- Props include old fashioned microphones.
- Jazz music videos portray sophistication and elegance.

Close up shot of a homemade cello with bright light colours to show the jazz genre. The trumpet and cello noise in the background follow Goodwin's theory as there is a relationship between the visuals on screen and the audio.

Here is where the narrative of the music video starts as we see the story that goes with the music video. The jazz convention of the bright coloured costume continues as seen in the girls costume.
The shot changes are simple cut shots to show the simplicity and naturalness of the music video and the jazz genre. In this song Gregory Portor uses the metaphor of the lion and its mane to describe how a man tries to tame his wild nature for the woman he loves.

The transition into the next shot shows how this music video follows jazz conventions as it uses a simple cut into the next shot where the artist Gregory Porter is dressed smartly in a bow tie, ruffled shirt and jacket that are all brightly coloured.
The mise-en-scene is simple and fairly bare that leads the viewers attention to the artist in the foreground and the content of the song.

 The music video then cuts back to the storyline of the music video where through this shot we can see the tense relationship between this man and his presumed daughter as there is a fairly big proximity and the father always seems to leave his daughter behind.

Here the storyline continues as the girl tries to make the man happy by showing him a smiling face.
This storyline doesn't really follow the conventions of jazz music videos or Goodwin's theory as there isn't a clear relevance between the song and the visuals.

The music video then follows the conventions of jazz music videos as there is a dancing lady (the lady that is being talked about in the song) The dancing girl in the foreground is wearing smart sophisticated clothing and is wearing a bright coloured flower in her hair.

The use of the simple camera angles and editing means that there is more focus on the story and  rather than diverting their attention. It also makes the story and song more believable as the visuals are naturalistic.