Weekly Blog Post 5

The imagery of India.Arie’s “Video” is consistent with the message being portrayed in the opening scenes. As she walks out of the house, you are shown blocked images of a bike, a guitar with hand-painted flowers, paper and a pen, and a shot of flower-embroidered jeans that meet worn in boots interspersed with close ups of the guitar. This series of organic and hippie-like images is reflective of the opening lines of the song– “sometimes I shave my legs and sometimes I don't/sometimes I comb my hair and sometimes I won't/depend on how the wind blows I might even paint my toes”. The audience can understand from the visual portion of the video that India.Arie is carefree and accepting of herself, but they can also grasp this idea from the lyrics as well. The use of guitar in the background music matches the close-ups of the strings and wooden body. The viewer is immediately shown that this song will follow a logical structure (i.e. logos) of images matching lyrics and it will be easy to understand the message. This up front engagement of the viewer will hook them to continue watching and hear out the rest of India.Arie’s argument.

Other aspect of the opening scenes of the “Video” that appeals to an audience is the use of color and lighting and lyric choice. Generally, sunlight and the warm colors of yellow and red convey a happy and tranquil feeling. They feel harmonious within the scenes and pull you in as well. These strong hues allow the viewers to feel the upbeat emotion (i.e. ethos) of the song just by looking at the images. These colors match the happy, enlightened message of the chorus. The lines– “but, I learned to love myself unconditionally/ because I am a queen”– also capture the listener’s emotions. These words allow the listener to connect with India.Arie through what she has learned about herself.