I love how this video begins with the head banging dance style. Empress treats us to a violent shaking of her head in tune with the music, whipping her long dreads back and forth. In that moment, the video captures the attention of the viewer, and begins to sell them on this song, Selfie.
I had underestimated the magic of this video and how far it could go to prove its creativity. However, I am soon left worshiping at the spontaneity doors of this video despite the fact that it utilises one location. At the very beginning, you get this strong feeling that it’s going to kill you with monotony. Not until, Empress begins to show off some cool selfie poses such as the Museveni and the Desire Luzinda pose.
The video gives Empress this cool appeal and in a way, endorses her tomboy personality. This is achieved by making her the highlight of her video. Overall, Selfie is testament to how one video director can work under constraints of a low budget to bring up a video with minimalism and visual ingenuity.
Sub-consciously, this video humbly showcases the attention-seeking and narcissistic features of a selfie obsessed generation. I love that it chooses the special effects and the walden filters that characterise Instagram and employs the same colours in the video background. It’s something you only notice with closer inspection of this video.
My only concern is the video’s failure to go the extra mile. It’s one thing to give us a sprinkling of creativity; it’s another to give us the full dose. As I watch the poses, I begin to ask about the duckface and side-face poses. How come we have none of these poses in this selfie video? This video is my New Year gift to Desire Luzinda.