This song is my favourite song to listen to, since it had been released on YouTube. The main highlights of this music video would be the use of editing, but most importantly, the locations and on-screen performance. I had done some individual research on the meaning of this song, as it was sung in Spanish. This song is a collaboration between a Columbian singer, J Balvin, a French DJ, and the producer, Willy William. The track is a blend of Reggaeton, Electronic, Latin pop, and Afro-beat. (But is sung in Spanish)
The definition of "Mi Gente" is "My people".
The story behind this music video was a latino culture on the rise, getting ready to be accepted and embraced in the whole wide world. J Balvin wanted to achieve the goal of erasing barriers in terms of continents, races, genres, colours, and languages. He had said in an interview with E! News that "We can achieve the whole world moving the head to the same beat. We hope "Mi Gente can prove that beat. Again, his aim is to become ONE (ONE= the world working together), and come together in fun and stylish manner.
The first 9 seconds of the music video just show a few of the main locations with the tune immediately dropping. J Balvin begins to sing dead on 9 seconds, initiating the groove and atmosphere. The music video starts off with a high angle / birds eye view shot of the city, Medellin, a city in Columbia. Eventually, a white person is shown, followed by a black person, then later on in the music video, many many people of different skin tones coming from different backgrounds and ethnicity's expressing their cultures how they have been brought up to. This instantly sets the scene and impacts the audience massively, on the seriousness and story of the music video. The various performances shown also highlight a mix of differences, uniting as ONE. I really think that this idea is amazing because it emphasises on that fact that we, as the audience are are going on a journey with the "people" by entering the city.
EDITING:
What really caught my eye was how they had managed to bring the 2D Orange still wall pattern to life constantly, from the beginning, to the end. (throughout) For example, the Orange pattern can be seen on the train tracks, moving left to right. (Direction of the train) This movement of direction could signify how masses of people and the community need to go towards the right path... Negative to Positive. It highlight's the importance of progression. Also the same pattern is seen moving left to right on a wall, and down to top on another wall, with an interval of approximately 3 seconds between the shots. Again, these are all hints to the audience on having a positive mind set, and to keep moving forward. At the very beginning of the music video, the words "Mi Gente" appear on the screen whilst there is a high angle / birds eye view shot of the city...showing "My People".
My most favourite aspect of the music video is the use of colour.
There is not 1 part of the music video where colour is not shown. With the help of colourisation, the reds, oranges, greens and blue's really stand out, and is very appealing to the eye. There is quite a contrast in colour between the first half of the music video in comparison to the second half. The first half focuses on a wide range of colours, ranging from bright tones to darker tones, with a vivid background, whereas in the second half, we see an introduction of a black background with the help of coloured smoke and neon lights to add the same party like celebratory feel to the atmosphere. At exactly 2 minutes and 3 seconds, an excellent example of colourisation had been shown. It was very vibrant and had an 80's 90's look to it. It really stood out as a wow factor.
The special effects in this music video were quite amazing and outstanding, as they are rarely seen in other music videos. The first kind of special effects I was able to point out was when the music video had started, instantly showing some sort of green and orange pattern building it's way up on the train track. I thought that this was a really vivid and eye-catching feature to include, as it provides the audience with a glimpse of what to expect in terms of visuals.
In my opinion, I believe that this particular pattern was used just to add some extra excitement to the music video. The shot straight after the initial shot had showed the city of Columbia... Medellin, but with a twist. It showed the landscape of the city, flipped up and flipped down. This could represent the past and the future of the city on how everything has turned around for the better.
Another special effect that I had spotted was the illuminated pink football goal posts. The entire frame of the goal was illuminated whilst the background was set at night. The illuminated frame of the goal could connote how there is an end "goal" that has to be met... bringing everyone together. Last but not least, my most favourite special effect out of the lot was the use of the freeze frame at the very end of a shot. All the people in the shot had become still figures (were in the middle of dancing at a club / party) and have had a major colourisation adjustment, providing an artistic, abstract and an almost comical look. Dark blue's, green's and red's were used, alongside a blurry effect, showing the contrast and deep lines... e.g. clothes and hair. These special effects definitely added more depth to the music video.
The pace and rhythm of the music video was really fast overall, but had varied between medium and fast. This is because when the main beat of the cymbal and the drums drop, the pace and rhythm both increase. From the first 35 seconds of the music video, the tune is introduced (medium speed rate) then at 36 seconds, the main beat drops, (fast speed rate) showing a beautiful lady twerking really, in sync with the beat. The use of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds were both affiliated with one another. An example of the pace and rhythm, alongside the on-screen actions would be at 1 minute 3 seconds of the music video. Here, the lyrics are "LA LA LA LA LA". There are 3 girls on each side of the black DJ, all shaking their upper part of their body (chest / breasts) left to right, to match each time the "LA" is said. This is done in quick succession. The pace was rapid as well as the rhythm, thanks to the great usage of the beat. The beat sounds really hard and is nicely blended in. Also, at 1 minute 7 seconds, the singer says 'FREEZE", where the girls immediately freeze their actions, but to an extent are moving sidewards in slow motion. Both of the aspects compliment each other.
The transitioning of the shots were absolutely fantastic. It gave the music video a huge boost in terms of visuals. Throughout the entire music video, we see many different and exquisite glitch effects each time the main beat drops. Whilst the beat is still on-going, we still get to see the glitches in between. At 36 seconds of the music video, we witness a major glitch transition effect where the screen is pixellated, almost as if a computer screen has been crashed. At 40 seconds of the music video we see a shot of a beautiful lady making a face, pulling her hair and pointing her finger to the camera... but in extremely quick and rapid motions, as there are a lot of flickering being shown on-screen. (going back and forth between shots) The flickering was a new and a neat transition to include between the shots.
The digital effects are the key highlights. The bright neon lights, the on-screen pixel crash, and the constant flickering of the shots during the beat are visually pleasing to the audience, and also compliment the overall intensity of the music video.
The shot duration and screen time were extremely fast, as 1 shot in this music video would last up to around 3 or 4 seconds long. This is because of the intensity of the music. It is quite fast, hence why there is a constant shot change almost every 2 to 3 seconds. Of course, J Balvin and Willy Willams get the most screen time as they are the main singers of the music video, but it could also be argued that the various "people" being showed on screen could have a larger presence. This is because J Balvin is trying to get across to many people, showing different cultures, races, and different ways of life. However, this ultimately comes down to the enjoyment factor where everyone is seen dancing and having a fun time. The shot durations and screen time are both very rapid, as each and every person is doing something that needs to be showcased on-screen.
There is a lot of performance shown in this music video. Both males and females are very energetic, always dancing and showing off different moves which go with the beat. African, hip, Spanish, Columbian, and sexy dance moves are all shown. All the dance moves are well choreographed and look very crisp and sharp, again, accommodating the beat. I really enjoyed by the dancing. Children and adults are both shown showcasing their dance moves. This signifies how dancing is in everyone's blood. Overall, the dancing was absolutely spectacular.
For the camera shots, almost every single camera shots were used. These shots consist of:
- Bird's eye view
- Extreme close ups
- Wide angle shots
- High angle shots
- Low angle shots
- Close ups
- Zoom effect
- Medium shots
- Long shots
- Deep focus shots
These shots worked very well, as they were taken in quick succession. The mid shots in particular were used mainly for J Balvin as he is the main singer of this song. The music is very upbeat, hence why the shots need to be quick but also flow accordingly. We see a long shot of people dressed in orange prisoner suits, each in their own balcony, looking out to the camera. This could signify that they want to escape, and also that captivation is wrong. A medium shot is showned with half a body of a black and white female, showing that we should mix and not look at each other in a disrespectful manner. The final shot is a freeze frame where the people on the dance floor are on a brick wall, implying that being together is concrete and firm.
Also, we see the wide and low angle shots more during the middle and the end of the music video and as the intensity and atmosphere increases each time, eventually leading to a halt at the very end.
The props used in this music video consists of:
- Glasses
- Jewellery
- Goal frame
- Smoke flare sticks
- Vintage car
- Festive and cultural decorations
- School bus
- Inside of a train
- Bike with wheels on fire
- DJ set
- Pineapple fruit barrels
These props were vital, as they add to the excitement and theme of the music video.
We witness natural lighting when the shots are taken outside, but we also see a light blue tint over these shots as well. Generally we see very highly lit lighting and also a little low key lighting towards the end.
The costumes for the 2 main singers change constantly over the corse of the music video. They wear a mix of casual clothes but mainly party like fancy clothes. The females wear a sexy and attractive outfit, which is either carnival like or from their home background. The kids wore fairly moderate clothing. Overall, the main concept
J Balvin had made this music video in response to president Donald Trump's decision to build a tall wall between Mexico and the USA to divide nations. Balvin disagrees with segregation and racism, and believes that people should be able to unite and not divide.
The music video was absolutely spectacular and amazing in all aspects. I really enjoyed it and also the meaning behind it. My favourite part of this music video are the amazing dance scenes. "Mi Gente" is fabulous.
Here are some images from the music video itself...
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