Visual Review 4: Vogue

This week I chose to review Madonna’s Vogue music video. As I’m sure you can tell by now, I’m very much interested in fashion and media. The first time I had heard the song Vogue, I was about six-years-old in the car with my mom. Of course, she knew all the words as I sat there bobbing my head up and down. Since then this song has been one of my favorites. Madonna never expected the song to become as popular as it did. In an interview with Billboard, the song’s producer, Shep Pettibone, said that they recorded the song last-minute in a basement studio for $5,000. Not only did her fans love the song, but so did runways around the world.

One of the most obvious things you’ll notice when watching this music video, is the filter being used. The black and white, soft filter being used in the music video was inspired by the pages of fashion magazines. Since the name of the song is Vogue, many of the details in the video are similar to the actual magazine. Both Madonna and her dancers, pose throughout the video, making it feel like it’s an actual photoshoot. The majority of the video is filmed from either an eye level angle or a low angle. Personally, I feel like the low angle shots make it feel like the performer is dominant. In the video Madonna, as well as her dancers, come off as confident and powerful. The video reminds me a lot of what old fashion glamour looked like. For the most part the shot size is medium, but there are a couple close up shots of Madonna.

This video sparked some controversy at the time due to sexuality. Although it was released in the early 90s, homophobia as well as other things were still prominent. Not a lot of people at the time were as accepting as they are today in terms of gender identity. Madonna is dressed very feminine and glamourous, but so are the men. Not only is the attire more “feminine” but the poses are as well. One of the lyrics in the song states, “It makes no difference if your black or white, if you’re a boy or a girl”, meaning no matter who you are, everyone is equal. In the music video, different races are also included.

The shots of the video all flow into one another. The majority of the shots appear to show different poses and hand expressions. This resulted in shorter shots to make the video more glamourous. I think this is still one of the best music videos I’ve ever seen. I am slightly biased simply because I love Vogue Magazine as well as Madonna, but besides that I’m impressed Madonna included so many different types of people in the video. Although the 90s was the beginning of a more accepting era, I know the video still faced controversy.

Click here, if you’d like to watch Vogue, by Madonna.