Link to Music Video: Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
Never Gonna Give You Up employs various shot types; the most used is the medium shot, which shows the dance moves of Rick and the girls - though they rarely appear in the same shot together. Multiple locations are also used, to show a variation in the music video’s narrative, and to give the video a sense of flow. Shot length is usually quite short, with each shot lasting little over a single line of vocals - and this keeps the pace of the video high with the tempo of the music. Occasionally, there is a close-up shot of a part of a character (for example, Rick’s face while he sings, or his foot in the video’s establishing shot) - and this is usually concurrent with the progression of the music (for example, dancing and singing are accentuated by accompanying camera shots).
There are also a few shots of some acrobatics; in a long shot, a man runs up a wall and backflips off it, and in a medium shot, the bartender performs a straddle jump, somersaulting over the actual bar later on in the video. These characters are seen dancing to the music, which suggests that Rick himself is a talented, genuine musician - and this is supported by the variety of shots and different angles depicting Rick singing into a microphone on stage in the restaurant.
Rick himself is presented with a distinctly “cool” demeanour; his clothing was trendy for the era, and the fact that he’s surrounded by girls and is the focus of most of the shots in the video means that the audience is supposed to perceive him as being desirable. He’s the typical “boy next door” character - although it’s worth noting that none of the girls are actually dancing with him, denoting that he is still single and available. Despite being surrounded by dancers, Rick is performing to an empty restaurant, which lends the video a sense of loneliness; it’s almost suggested that the song is actually a kind of an invitation to the listener, as if he’s singing directly to them - and that the song is about a prospective future romantic partner as opposed to a current one. This links back to the singer being presented as being desirable; he’s open, available, talented and cool, and this is designed to make audience members want to have a romantic relationship with him (giving a sense of voyeurism).
Never Gonna Give You Up employs various shot types; the most used is the medium shot, which shows the dance moves of Rick and the girls - though they rarely appear in the same shot together. Multiple locations are also used, to show a variation in the music video’s narrative, and to give the video a sense of flow. Shot length is usually quite short, with each shot lasting little over a single line of vocals - and this keeps the pace of the video high with the tempo of the music. Occasionally, there is a close-up shot of a part of a character (for example, Rick’s face while he sings, or his foot in the video’s establishing shot) - and this is usually concurrent with the progression of the music (for example, dancing and singing are accentuated by accompanying camera shots).
There are also a few shots of some acrobatics; in a long shot, a man runs up a wall and backflips off it, and in a medium shot, the bartender performs a straddle jump, somersaulting over the actual bar later on in the video. These characters are seen dancing to the music, which suggests that Rick himself is a talented, genuine musician - and this is supported by the variety of shots and different angles depicting Rick singing into a microphone on stage in the restaurant.
Rick himself is presented with a distinctly “cool” demeanour; his clothing was trendy for the era, and the fact that he’s surrounded by girls and is the focus of most of the shots in the video means that the audience is supposed to perceive him as being desirable. He’s the typical “boy next door” character - although it’s worth noting that none of the girls are actually dancing with him, denoting that he is still single and available. Despite being surrounded by dancers, Rick is performing to an empty restaurant, which lends the video a sense of loneliness; it’s almost suggested that the song is actually a kind of an invitation to the listener, as if he’s singing directly to them - and that the song is about a prospective future romantic partner as opposed to a current one. This links back to the singer being presented as being desirable; he’s open, available, talented and cool, and this is designed to make audience members want to have a romantic relationship with him (giving a sense of voyeurism).
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