Billie Jean was a single from Michael Jackson's 1982 Thriller, the greatest selling album of all time. Typical of 80's pop and especially Michael Jackson (whose videos were revolutionary at the time) it is a narrative based video with Jackson playing the lead.
It opens with a shot like an old movie, it is black and white and has a border round it as well as a grainy image. However Jackson emerges in colour and leaves light on whatever he touches/wherever he steps, and even transforms, the tramp who gets a suit and the tiger (which is seen on the cover of the Thriller album). This references the line "she says that I am the one" as he lights things up or transforms things for 'Billie Jean'.
Throughout the video there is a large reference to voyeurism or looking as a man is skulking around with a camera trying to photograph Michael. During the narrative Michael is singing and dancing, which is a huge part of his performances especially in his videos which often feature hugely choreographed dances. The verse also features split screens and freeze frames, as well as brief moments of slow motion another theme occurant in old movies.
At the end of the video Michael disapears and his steps are retraced by the lights going backwards. The villain who had been trying to photograph him is caught by the police, after a neighbour of the house Jackson enters (suggested to be the house of 'Billie Jean') reports him. She is looking out of her window and sees Jackson, another reference to the notion of looking.
It opens with a shot like an old movie, it is black and white and has a border round it as well as a grainy image. However Jackson emerges in colour and leaves light on whatever he touches/wherever he steps, and even transforms, the tramp who gets a suit and the tiger (which is seen on the cover of the Thriller album). This references the line "she says that I am the one" as he lights things up or transforms things for 'Billie Jean'.
Throughout the video there is a large reference to voyeurism or looking as a man is skulking around with a camera trying to photograph Michael. During the narrative Michael is singing and dancing, which is a huge part of his performances especially in his videos which often feature hugely choreographed dances. The verse also features split screens and freeze frames, as well as brief moments of slow motion another theme occurant in old movies.
At the end of the video Michael disapears and his steps are retraced by the lights going backwards. The villain who had been trying to photograph him is caught by the police, after a neighbour of the house Jackson enters (suggested to be the house of 'Billie Jean') reports him. She is looking out of her window and sees Jackson, another reference to the notion of looking.
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