Vogue - Madonna Video Analysis

The iconic video was directed by David Fincher in 1990. After its release, the video encountered a total of nine MTV award nominations, winning 3: Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography, also being listed as the 28th best music video of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 1993.

Still to this day, it is one of the most famous and iconic videos ever to have been made and the dance moves featured in the video, regularly referred to. 


'Vogue' fits into the dance-pop/house genre, one which Madonna becomes increasingly familiar with as her career continues. The video reflects the genre through it's upbeat dancing and generic pop features. Noticeably, the video presents to us some of the poses created by famous stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Veronica Lake and Jean Harlow. As well as this, the video is filmed completely in black and white which adds to the vintage feel of the video. 


The video successfully takes the audience on a journey through The Golden Age of Hollywood (American cinema from 1920s to 1960s). Re-enactments of notable photographs taken during this era are shown throughout the video which shows to the present day audience the importance of these. 

The video begins with a series of poses by men, before switching to the back of Madonna's very feminine costume and hair. This here shows the audience that glamour, style and fashion is not just related to women but to men too. However, the way that the male characters move in this section of the video comes across as being quite feminine which dismisses the potential masculinity of glamour, style and fashion. 



We first see Madonna elegantly spin to face the camera and say "strike a pose" immediately linking the lyrics to the visuals and identifying the focus of the video. She appears as an alluring, inspiring female character, who looks of wealth, shown by her hair, costume and jewellery. The edits back and forth from Madonna herself and the male characters aid the goddess portrayal of her similarly appearing as Marilyn Monroe in this particular part of the video. 


The lyric "it makes no difference if you're black or white, if you're a boy or a girl" demonstrates to the audience that no matter who you are, everyone is equal when it comes to striking a pose. As we know, the video clearly supports this as throughout we see different races and genders striking similar poses.

The mise en scene, particularly the costume used throughout the video is of a high-end quality, the suits are properly tailored and the dresses that Madonna wears show sophistication and affluence. Madonna's sex symbol status is heavily identitfied through this part of the mise en scene. As well as this, the props used such as chairs, statues, paintings and the staircase add to the feeling of wealth featured heavily in the video. 
The video presents excellent continuity as the shots continuously flow, similar to the poses and hand expressions which are featured in these shots. Therefore, the edits and shots closely match the direction of the video, once again aiding the purpose of the video which is to show sophistication. 

Throughout the duration of the video, the colouring is in black and white, however, by the effective lighting, certain aspects of the video are highlighted and stand out as being more important because of this. For example, Madonna's face is always lit up where as other people who are in the same shot as her are not, shown in this picture.


In conclusion, this music video expresses an excellent materialistic concept, presenting to the audience a classy narrative told through iconic images and poses.