Music Video: Jonas Brother, Burning Up

The video ‘Burning Up’ video was shot in June 2008 in San Pedro, California.

Various camera angles are used to showcase the band, for example close ups are used to create a sense of intimacy with the band. Mid shots are used to show the band performing and long shots show the whole scene with the band performing and all the people around them watching and dancing. Circling the band as they perform gives a more dynamic feel to their performance.

Close ups during the movie sequences show emotion of the characters, for example Nick looking determined to beat his opponent while he plays him at Mahjong. Close ups also add to the narrative as they display the important details, like the identity of Nick’s bond girl and the bomb in Joe’s scenes.

Most of the transitions are straight cuts, but there is a fade from a black screen on the first scene. There are also fades between shots of the band and their video script and then from the script to their movie sequences.

Titles are put onto the move sequences to make them appear more like movies, and Nick’s James Bond sequence has the silver cut out screen which appears in the real movies, this makes the theme seem more realistic. During the Miami Vice sequence the video is paused briefly which slows down the action and allows the audience to see the comical look of Joe. This also happens during Kevin’s movie sequence.

A spot light effect is used on the script which makes them seem like they are being showcased as the central theme of the video.

‘Burning Up’ is the first single from the Jonas Brother’s third album ‘A Little Bit Longer’, musically it is very similar to their previous releases but the video is quite different from their last one. ‘When You Look Me In The Eyes’ was released during the band’s North American tour of the same name and the video showcased and acted as an advert for the tour as it only showed footage from the tour, including on stage and behind the scenes. This conveys the idea of them as performers which is a common theme in all of their music videos and is present in ‘Burning Up’ with scenes of them performing.

The band are targeted at a young teenage audience but are becoming more popular with older teenagers as their music has started to grow up a little, and tabloid stories following their personal lives has started to put them out to a wider audience.

Joe’s paranoia at being watched by the girls possibly imitates the band’s feelings towards the paparazzi following they have since finding fame. Shots of the girls show that they aren’t looking at him, until he stops watching them, then they turn to look at him. Encourages voyeurism as people are looking at them, particularly encourages female fans to look at them and shows them as objects of attraction.

The band take on various roles from film and television, Nick as James Bond, Kevin learning kung fu from the star (David Carradine) of 90’s television series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Joe as a 70’s police officer from Miami Vice alongside the band’s bodyguard who also raps in the performance section of the video with them.

Selena Gomez guest stars as Nick’s Bond Girl, this is particularly important as Gomez has been cited in the media as being the new Miley Cyrus after Cyrus’s notorious topless photo shoot with Vanity Fair magazine. Also Nick dated Cyrus and the band starred in an episode of her Disney series Hannah Montana and opened for her on dates of her North American Tour, but Gomez, who also stars in a Disney series (Wizards of Waverly Place) was chosen instead of Cyrus.

The narrative of this video is the band imagining their next video as they read the script for it, seeing the performance elements as well as each starring in their own mini movies. The idea of movies shows the band as actors as well as performers which coincides with the release of their first movie, the Jonas Brothers star in Disney’s latest made for TV movie called ‘Camp Rock’.