Textual Analysis of One Direction - One Way or Another

This textual analysis of One Directions's One Way or Another will enable me to further my knowledge on what to include within our music video, and what the positive aspects are that they have included in this video to help it to stand out and entertain the audience. 

This is the very first shot we see of Liam Payne trying to focus the camera on himself and the rest of the band. I find this aspect of the music video very creative and it enables fans of the band to feel connected with them as they have filmed it themselves. The idea of them being in a car and filming it themselves allows the audience to see them as 'normal people', and not just a famous boy band. We felt that this aspect would be a great idea for our music video, as it starts the beginning of a story that can be told throughout the music video. As they are in a car, it creates the start of a journey for them and allows the audience to travel with them throughout this journey. We thought that the idea of us 'travelling' somewhere would create a story that the audience can interact with, and stay intrigued throughout the whole music video, asking questions such as 'what will happen next?', as the audience does in this music video. This is shown in Roland Barthes - Narrative Theory where he talks about narrative codes such as Action Codes and Mystery Codes. 

Further on in the the video the next member of the band we see is Harry Styles. Throughout the whole music video we see each member of the band in a different place, filming themselves which creates consistency throughout the whole music video. It allows the audience to understand what is going on throughout the whole video, so that they stay focused and don't get annoyed that they don't understand what is going on. Having 'Big Ben' in the background on this part of the video, it enables people who live in Britain to relate to the video and feel that they are connected with the band. This is important for the audience as they can feel a sense of belonging when watching the music video. Having a 'sense of belonging' is described in the 'uses and gratifications' theory (McQuail), which talks about the common reasons for media use. 

Carrying on from this, this shot is of a different member on the band, Zayn Malik with Louis Tomlinson in the background. Again, this is showing the consistency of the music video. Here they are in an airport, which carries on from them being in London and then now flying to a different part of the world. As you can see from the screen shot, the two boys have red noses on as the video single and music video was released to promote 'Red Nose Day 2013'. Again, this allows British people to feel a sense of belonging and relate to the band in the music video. Looking at this screen shot and the previous shots, we can see visually that the boys have quite plain clothing on. This is so that the audience are not distracted whilst watching the video and are solely focused on the music and the purpose of the video. 

In this part of the video, it shows Niall Horan in the shower. This creates a humorous side to the music video instead of it being so serious and upsetting due to its purpose being for 'Red Nose Day'. Beforehand it shows Zayn in bed singing and then here Liam drawing the shower curtain open on Niall. In my opinion, this shows them to be normal people that the public/audience can relate to, and shows that the boys do not want to be seen as any different from normal people and that they want to be treated the same. Even though this isn't him filming himself, it shows the band filming each other which still creates the consistency within the music video. It also shows consistency due to this shot linking with, them on a bus, then in London, then at an airport and here getting ready in a hotel room. This ensures that the audience follow them on their journey and are focused on where they could be going next. 

This shows the final member, Louis Tomlinson in New York which shows that this is where they have been next. It shows the excitement from the band and promotes that they are now world famous and are travelling the world touring. It allows young people to be inspired by them and want to be like them in the future, which creates a large audience for them and promotes their videos and music even further. The fact that they are filming this video by themselves shows that they want to be independent and have fun filming their videos while they are young and can enjoy it more. It also proves that they want to be different by filming it like this, as there are very few music videos that are filmed by the actual band that is in the video. 

In my opinion, this shot of the four members of the band shows that they want to be connected with their audience and their fans. This shows how appreciative they are of their fans and the people that come to watch their concerts. It also shows how popular they have become all over the world as they have a Chinese/Japanese audience. This shot shows how independent they are as Harry Styles is filming this part of the video, and they have taken the time out of a concert to film it.  

In the end of the video, it shows the sole purpose of the making of this music video, with the whole band being in Africa to raise money for 'Red Nose Day 2013'. These parts of the video enable the audience to be proud to be British and proud of One Direction for travelling out there to promote the severe conditions and illnesses that the people of Africa are living in and with. By including people from Africa in the music video, it enables people to feel as if everyone in the world is coming together to support a good cause. This, as I have said beforehand, creates a sense of belonging within society and persuades people to give money in a time of need for Africa. Also, by One Direction doing this song and video, it promotes the good side of teenagers which is not usually addressed in the news in a positive way. It enables people to see a good side of younger people and not just the negative things that teens can sometimes get up to. It allows people to want to get involved with charity and the good things that Britain persuades us to get involved with. 


'Now 86' is a current advert before this video is shown on YouTube, this promotes the song and the CD as there is a One Direction song on the Now 86 album. The links to the genre of music that we are using for our music video (pop), as the majority of the music on this album is pop music.