Analysis of Kelly Clarkson

Kelly Clarkson – Since u been gone


The music video depicts the revenge the artist takes on her boyfriend after he has broken up with her. The music video takes the form of a narrative and a performance and conforms to the codes and conventions of a pop-rock video: upbeat music, normal clothes, bright lighting, close ups and performance with a narrative. The performance is iconographic of a pop-rock video as it is dark (dark clothing and lighting) and has a live stage performance with an audience. The video starts with the camera panning across the room, which sets the scene in which the music video will primarily takes place. The lighting is dark, which suggests a negative tone to the song as the song is about revenge.

The media forms in the music video are standard camera angles and shots, which conform to Goodwin’s theory, amplifying and illustrating the lyrics of the song as there is a relationship between the visuals and the meaning of the song. There is mid shot of the artist sitting on a chair with furniture surrounding her. This camera shot conveys the idea that she is alone after her boyfriend has broken up with her, amplifying the lyrics. The voyeurism of the music video also conforms to Goodwin’s theory as there are many close ups allowing fandom to take place. The record label wants to inspire loyal fans and the close ups allow ‘contact’ with the star. Close ups of the heart necklace she has in her hand suggests to the audience that she has broken up with her boyfriend, allowing the audience to sympathise with her. By using the mirror in the bathroom voyeurism is used, again allowing contact with the artist from the audience.

The facial expressions of the artists through the close ups show how she is confident and smug about her revenge. However, when the bridge and chorus plays, her facial expressions are more hurt and angered, illustrating the lyrics that she is ‘moving on’. The camera shot of the artist jumping on the bed suggests how is enjoying her revenge. This idea is also conveyed through the close up of her smiling. The artists triumph is shown through her smug smile as she puts on the hat and walks past the couple, only the audience and the artist knows what she has done in the apartment. The closing shot of the music video is a close up of the artist looking pleased and relieved. The panning of the apartment reinforces the destruction the artist has inflicted on her ex-boyfriend and closes the scene.

The editing of the music video is fast cut montage, which indicates the fast pace of the music. The straight cuts give a smooth transition from the different scenes, e.g. from the bathroom to the bedroom or to the performance, allowing the audience to easily follow the narrative. There is also editing of the music and the visuals. For example the scene changes from a room in the apartment to the performance when there is a significant guitar beat in the bridge of the song. Also when the artist sings the lyrics ‘Since u been gone’ the audience jump up on the beat. The editing of the camera shots of the instruments are also carefully constructed as when there is a dominant sound in the song, e.g. the drum, there is a shot of the drum player and the same for the guitar and the shots quickly change to the pace of the music. Slow motion is used when the artist smashes photo of her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. This reinforces her anger and upset and the revenge she is taking. It also makes the audience pay attention, as when the artist walks outside, the couple the audience sees is the couple in the photo that the artist smashed. There is intertextuality of the music as the chords of the songs sound like The Strokes especially of their song ‘Barely Legal’.


The artist is represented as a ‘normal’ person as she is wearing everyday clothes: converse, plain t-shirt and cropped trousers. By wearing these clothes she is represented as being down to earth. She is also represented as a strong independent woman as she is taking revenge on her boyfriend and her body language suggests her confidence: she leans back with her arms resting on the back of the sofa and her facial expressions. During her performance she is wearing black suggesting sophistication and defining the rock-pop genre as black is commonly associated with the rock genre. The music dictates the genre rather than the music video. This is because the music has more presence and there is an emphasis on the music as the music video has a lot of lip-syncing and performance. Throughout the narrative there is lip-syncing suggesting the artists wants the audience to listen to the lyrics. The theme throughout the music video is revenge and how the artist is trashing her ex-boyfriend and his girlfriend’s flat: ripping up clothes, trashing the bathroom reinforcing the theme and narrative of the music video.