The music video for Adam Lambert’s song “For Your Entertainment,” directed by Ray Kay, is an excellent example of how editing style can impact the feel of a video piece. Like many contemporary music videos, it is essentially a montage comprised of shots from numerous scenes that are intercut and juxtaposed in a complex way that evokes the thematic content and rhythms of the song, rather than telling a straightforward narrative. The scenes ostensibly take place in a shady yet high-fashion underground club with ornate décor and dim reddish lighting.
In the introduction of this suggestive song, we see shots of Lambert entering this club with his entourage through a brick hallway and past a curtain, after which he begins singing amongst a group of extras who are all mingling rather erotically about the club. The rhythm of the cuts begin to take on the rhythm of the electronic pulses of the song itself, as we see rapid closer-up shots of extras dancing, embracing, or writhing erotically, intercut with shots of Lambert (in a few different settings) singing aggressively to the camera. This rapid cutting enhances the sense of eroticism and visual stimulation to complement the pulsing beat and suggestive lyrics of the song. As soon as the song hits the chorus, the video cuts to a rousing choreographed danced scene, with Lambert in the center surrounded by background dancers. This scene was shot from various angles, and the video continues the rapid cutting style by switching from one angle to another.
When the song gets to the second verse, we then see various close-ups of Lambert walking through jungle-like bushes while his “sexual minions” reach out with their hands and plead for attention from within the foliage, as he continues to sing, sometimes to the camera and sometimes to the people surrounding him. There are also some quick shots throughout of Lambert holding a green snake, an appropriate symbol of temptation and seduction. Once the song again reaches the chorus, it cuts back to more of the choreographed dancing sequence. Soon the editing becomes more complex as it weaves the numerous threads amongst each other, with the video eventually culminating in a chaotically shot sequence with Lambert and his band rocking out before an audience. The continually quick cuts and blurry imagery in “For Your Entertainment” are somewhat disorienting, but you get the sense that’s how director Ray Kay wanted it to feel.
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