Textual Analysis - Plan B

Plan B - Writing on the Wall

The story line of the video is based upon a man and a woman's relationship, where the man ends up having a one night stand, cheating on his girlfriend whilst the woman is left at home alone waiting for her boyfriend to come back. The structure starts with an Equilibrium  then goes into disruption and ends with Recognition.

Plan B features in the video at the club as his fictional character "Strickland Banks". He appears performing his song and is shown as popular and a celebrity. At the start of the video, a sign saying - "Strickland Banks: SOLD OUT" is shown, connoting that again, Plan B's character is very popular and has a lot of fans.

The theme of the video is based upon "Relationships". The video raises the issue of stereotypical gender roles showing the woman at home cooking whilst the man is out at a club having a good time.

In the house where the woman is, it starts off colourful as the woman is happy but after she receives the phone call from her boyfriend, a lot of white is shown, connoting that she is innocent and the victim of the situation. In the club where the man is, it is darker and dim connoting that he wants to hide himself and is more of a bully in the situation, juxtaposing him from his girlfriend.

Throughout the video, close ups of Plan B are used to both promote him and make him look good. Close ups are also frequently used of the main woman to show her facial expressions and how upset she is about the situation. Longs shots are also used of the woman to show her dress and figure, which is using the Male Gaze to attract a male audience. There is also a long shot of the woman burning herself on the on connoting a "Burned" relationship.

We carried out this task in groups of 2 to focus more on the content of the video, comparing it to the lyrics to gain a further understanding so that we can use this information for our own video we will later on be creating.





We did this textual analysis in small groups as a class to gain a further understanding  of different generic conventions and what types of video' use which conventions. We also discussed equilibrium stages and how to identify them in music videos.