The video for ‘Glad you came’ by boy band The Wanted was directed by Director X, a Canadian music video director noted for his high-budget, visually distinctive music videos for popular music singles. He has directed videos for Jay Z, Nelly Furtado, Usher and many more. The video for ‘Glad You Came’ was released in June 2011. The song is a dance-pop track, and the video follows the typical characteristics of a pop video as there is a party scene and the band members are shown as having a glamorous lifestyle as they are shown relaxing on the beach, going on boat rides and throwing parties. The idea of the artists having a glamorous lifestyle is commonly found in pop videos such as JLS’s ‘She Makes Me Wanna’ and Jason Derulo’s ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home’, as pop videos attempt to sell the star as being desirable and having a desirable lifestyle. However the video goes against the typical feature of a boy band’s music video using choreography as the band do not perform a dance routine in their video.
‘Glad You Came’ is about partying and meeting someone who changes your life. This is illustrated by the visuals in the video as it is sees the band at a house party and going to clubs in Ibiza . Using Ibiza as the videos location uses Goodwin’s idea of intertextuality to emphasise the party feel the song has, as Ibiza is associated with partying and is often shown on TV and in other music videos as representing having wild parties. This in turn emphasises the dance feel the song has and the atmosphere the video is trying to create for it.
The cuts in the video synchronise to the beat of the track, in particular matching the accordion. In this way the editing illustrates the accordion. It also emphasises the party feel of the video and the track, as it uses quick sharp shots emphasises the fast tempo, and create a sense of excitement and fun. During the rift of the song where the accordion is main sound the editing pace of the video speeds up, where as during the verses and the chorus when the voice is the main sound the editing slows a little mirroring the accordion. This fast paced edit makes the audience want to view the video again and again, as the pace of editing is so quick it is impossible to see every shot only watching it once and therefore will need to be viewed several times to fully appreciate it and understand it. This plays to Goodwin’s idea that music videos need to have repeatability.
The record company sells this track as a summer party song, which is illustrated through the song itself, which has a dance/party style and also in the lyrics which reference drinking, also through the visuals in the music video, which show the band partying and in a sunny location. The record company is obviously trying to appeal to a young adult audience with this angle and through the bands fun image. The star image of The Wanted has changed for their second album; this is partly because the youngest member of the band Nathan Sykes turned 18 shortly before the release of ‘Glad You Came’. This has lead to a more sexualised image for the band, compared to quite an innocent image portrayed through out their previous music videos such as ‘Heart Vacancy’. This is evident as in ‘Glad You Came’ the band members are shown topless, going to night clubs in Ibiza and dancing with models. Their image has changed from being quite innocent to more mature, however this image change is not so dramatic that it will loose them fans. Goodwin argues the construction of a star’s image is important to guarantee sales and long careers. Clearly The Wanted and their record label are trying to broaden their audience from the typical teenage girl target audience most boy bands have out to young adults.
The video for ‘Glad You Came’ also develops a motif used in The Wanted’s videos where the bands name in their logo font is shown at the beginning and end of the video. This is followed in their other recent video for the single ‘Lightning’. This has put across their band name as an identifying feature in their videos. The video also uses shot of the band signing together in a straight line. Shots very similar to this have been used in all the bands videos and also on all their single covers and how they would stand on stage when performing live. This motif shows a defining shot of the band’s image as performers.
The band is sexualised in their videos to appeal to their large female audience. They are sexualised through the use of close-ups of the band member’s faces and chests and slow motion of the band members flirting with the models in the video. This portrays the band members as attractive and desirable to the female audience who gain pleasure from watching the band member’s show off their looks. This plays to their image of glossy stars and would encourage their female fans to watch the video and also sells the band as attractive stars. The video incorporates Goodwin’s ideas of voyeurism though the use of the female models as adornments to flatter the band member’s ego. This again reinforces their image of glamorous, desirable stars. The models and dancers in the video are also sexualised in the video. This is clear as the models are seen wearing very little clothing and are shown in close up fragmented body shots through out the video. The models are sexualised in order to encourage the male viewer to watch. In this way the music video can attract both male and female viewers to watch as both males and females would gain pleasure from watching the video.
Goodwin’s idea of ‘looking’ is also seen with the use of mirrors in the party scene, when one of the band members and a model are embracing. This could be used to emphasis the idea that audience is looking in on an intimate moment.
During the slow intro to the song the colours of the mise-en-scene and of the clothes worn by the band are darker. Whereas when the dance beat starts the colours are brighter and the bands clothing is lighter and more colourful. This is used to emphasis a contrast between the more meaningful introduction to song, to the dance feel created by the increased tempo and beat, and emphasis the key moments in the song. The use of laser lighting in the party location brings bright colour to the shot and emphasises the dance feel of the song. The glamorous look of the house party location (pool and huge rooms) adds authenticity to the idea that the band are stars and are living an exciting lifestyle.
The band lip-synching is the main focus in ‘Glad You Came’. It mostly consists of the band lip-synching and performance as the band are shown in shots that just show the band lip-syncing their track, and then several other shots where the band lip-sync the track at the house party. In some they are together, shown often in long shots or medium close ups, jumping and singing. There are also close ups during the solos, and when the band members are lip-synching to the models. Close ups are most likely used to make a close connection with the audience and because the voice is seen as the most important part of a pop video. The rest of the video is a montage of the band on the beach and going to clubs in Ibiza and of people at the party.
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