Michael Jackson

He as not only "The King of Pop," but he dominated the whole Pop Video. 

Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana in 1958, and died in Los Angeles, California in 2009. His death caused an absolute uproar, the whole world reacted with utter sadness and shock. Jackson’s children said he was “the best daddy ever,” he cared for his children, which is evident through the teary Paris break down. His music inspiration came from his father who played guitar for an r&b band, while his mother sang as well as played the piano. They were passionate about music, and thoroughly encouraged him to study music.

His father saw potential in his children, and created the Jackson 5 and began playing gigs around town, expanding to bars and clubs – winning several talent shows. From then on, they began making a name for themselves. Jackson 5 eventually signed to Motown Records, fortunately their first album Diana Ross Presents Jackson 5 reached number 1 on the r&b chart and number 5 on the Pop Albums Chart. Their success continued, and Michael as the lead singer gained a massive amount of success. But, music began to more of a chore than actual childhood enjoyment, because of the pressure and hard work, he felt that he missed out on his childhood. 

The song is literally, about a bird, "he rocks in a tree top all day long." But it could be symbolic of a r&b "rocker," as he's "really gonna rock tonight." I imagine a jazz bar, full of people dancing along resembling a "rocking robin," itself. The beat is upbeat, correlating with the lyrics and the bright colours. The camera gazes at the audience, illustrating the age range he reaches out to.

Michael was making even more of a name for himself with a few solo albums. His hit songs include “Ben,” and “Got to Be There,” but as soon as he met his to be music Producer on the st of The Wiz, he broke away from his family bonds and began his first album, Off the Wall. With four top 10 songs, like “Rock with You” he became one of the biggest stars in Pop Music.

Jackson started working with the famous Quincy Jones while becoming a solo artist, which boosted up his success in some way. This video has Andrew Goodwin’s conventions that can be applied to the video. At the beginning of the video there is a dark silhouette with glimmers of bright, optimistic colours like blue and green. This could symbolises how he is a new, fresh and exciting artist about to bloom. It also has an element of excitement.

As the music continues, the light becomes clearer and the audience is able to se that it is Michael Jackson, it is almost like he’s “hatching,” from his childhood, and becoming a solo artist in the music industry. His outfit, is silver and glittery, forcing the audience to focus on him. The light behind him is shaped like a star, foreshadowing his later success. He conforms to the iconography of the 70s, being the centre of just not Hollywood attention, but World domination. The split screen enables the audience to subconsciously remember him, implanting the image to their heads.

Hel later performs an iconic feet movement, Richard Dyer would suggest that his record company perhaps pressured him to perform something that the audience will remember, and try to imitate. Also, here are close ups of him smiling, showing him in a friendly, and fun manner. This reinforces Goodwin’s idea of how this makes the audience see the performer in a certain way. This highlights his star quality, and performing ability. This is also an implicit voyeurism in his eye, watching and connecting with the audience. Again, he dances in the centre, further emphasises his performing ability, and suggests that he brightens up your mood in dark times.  The editing is fast pace, but easy to keep up with so that the audience can grasp everything. It allows the audience to engage, and get to know Michael in a optimistic light.