Cry Me a River Justin Timberlake

Music Video Analysis

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-

Mu8MrCR5pQ

Target Audience

Sympathetic Females; thinking that they wouldn’t cheat on Justin as shown in the video

The appealing theme of love, betrayal/cheating

& revenge

Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears & Timberland fans

Female Gaze, this is impacted by lots of close up shots of

Justin

Females; Teenagers& Young Women

Unique Selling Point (USP)

The video was released at the time of Justin

Timberlake & Britney Spears breaking up

It is shown in the video that a Britney

look-a-like is allegedly cheating on Justin & this is linked in with the real life scenario

Fans are drawn in & interested in the reality in the music

video as it is relevant to the times & media

gossip

Due to the USPs, the hit became very popular &

was a great publicity stunt at

the time

Timbaland also

appears & features in the video &

song

The song was supposedly influenced

by the break-up

Media Language Stone cold look

& smirks of arrogance,

shows that he knew & is over it

Shows no emotion of sadness, even though he’s been

cheated on Only at the beginning, close

up seems to show a slightly watery eye; to show that

at first he was upset

Near end shows a bit of emotion when singing

to her

Only see girl #1’s face clearly once at the end; either cut off by camera or in the dark, perhaps

doesn’t want to show that she looks like

Britney Blurriness in close ups; implies vision

when crying

Black/dark clothing; expresses feelings & how he sees the situation as dark,

sad & serious Black represents rebellion; as he is

now cheating on her

Dull colours; brightness been

washed out

Mise En ScèneSetting; girl

#1’s house, set in Malibu,

California

Kicked picture flying through room; looks like a picture of them as a

happy couple

Minimal costume to address emotion

Stays in the same costume throughout;

shows narrative & also emphasises & brings more attention to the

serious meaning of the song & concept of the

video rather than aspects of his clothing

& genre

Lighting; dull to suit the mood &

colours

Special Effects; used when dancing to make

it more interesting

GenrePop, R&B

Genre is not shown that much in this video because it focuses on the meaning

rather than

Wealth; good cars, nice house with

swimming pool & technology such as video camera & tv

Attractive Females; girl #2 is skinny &

half naked & shows a

tattoo

Walks with swagger & a slight limp

showing off, but some genre aspects appear

Clothes; trendy & fashionable clothing

worn by all characters Justin wears black

clothes with the jacket hood up