Cherish, Madona's Music Video Analisys

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Analysis project on Madonna’s FRASHERI Bledar music video “Cherish” Music videos seem to have ranged from simple band performance to an enormous industry. Born of a sudden expansion in new broadcast channels like MTV, music videos continue to influence popular music. They help to create an artist's identity, to affect a song's mood and determine chart success. During many years of development, music video has changed our idea of how we perceive popular music today. The book by Carol Vernallis, “Experiencing Music Video, aesthetics and cultural context”, treats music video as a distinct multimedia artistic genre, different from film, television. Based on Vernallis’s book, I discuss how musical, and visual codes operate in Madonna’s music video “Cherish” and show these works in a temporal flow. Firstly I give a chronological description of the narrative and its relationship with the lyric, music and image. Secondly I further analyse and show examples of how the image responds to the musical parameters in terms of flow, continuity, contour, form, motive, phrase, lyrics timbre and harmony. Thirdly I further discuss the narrative and how the music video creates defining representations of race, class, gender, sexuality, and performance. “Cherish” is one of Madonna’s most widely available music videos. The video is shot in black and white throughout and is set on the beach. Madonna lip-syncs, wearing a dark, wet dress. Directed by photographer Herb Ritts the musical parameters are clearly balanced with the images. In the introduction, “Cherish” opens with sounds of the ocean and the image of a child running along the shoreline. When the song begins the word “cherish” is repeated like an echo in distance. During the first verse, Madonna sings wile the waves crest behind her. The
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