Representation in Music Videos

Gender

• Woman normally get objectified and are displayed as sex objects. This can be seen in many male artists' videos (such as 50 Cent's video Candy Shop where the artist is shown as being in a brothel and he is fully clothed but the women in the video are in sexual clothing e.g. lingerie) but recently female artists have begun to use it to sell their videos as they have realised they can use the male gaze to their advantage. An example of this is Nicki Minaj's Anaconda video where the artist and the supporting dancers are commonly in little clothing and are making constant sexual references such as when Nicki gives Drake a lap dance.
• However, sometimes men are displayed in a sexual way to serve the purpose of the female gaze. For example, in Panic! At the Disco's Girls/Girls/Boys video, the video purely consists of the lead singer standing and singing whilst naked.
• Sometimes both these stereotypes are challenged. So, girls can be shown dressed stereotypically like boys or vice versa. An example of this is Ingrid Michaelson's Girls Chase Boys video.

Age and class

• Teenagers are often portrayed as fun loving and carefree. They are normally shown as being very attractive and having enviable lives. This can be seen in One Direction's Live While We're Young video.
• Other times we are shown the more gritty side of youth. For example we are shown the daily grind of their lives. This is shown in The Streets' Has it Come to This? video.

Ethnicity

• African American rappers are normally shown as pimps or drug dealers e.g in 50 Cent's P.I.M.P video.
• With the rise of urban and R&B music institutional racism is rejected and some artists emphasise success or call out this racism. For example Jay Z's 99 Problems video shows this as the lyrics say the boy got pulled over by the police officer because he is black.
• More black and white artists are collaborating especially from different genres to widen their audience. For example, Dr. Dre's I Need a Doctor video has two rappers of different ethnicities then a white female mainly pop singer.

Region/Place

• LA is shown as the place where the American Dream is realised. This is shown in Lady Gaga's Paparazzi video.
• London is normally shown as being quite grimy and maybe a little run down. For example, Britney Spears' Criminal video shows the nice and the dodgier parts of London. Also, Skepta's So Alive video shows the grimy parts. Plus, Lethal Bizzle's POW 2011 video shows London looking more like the US.
• New York is shown as an exciting place to explore that is full of opportunities and diversity. Jay Z's Empire State of Mind video shows this.
• Ibiza is shown as a den of iniquity and as a place for people (particularly young adults) to party and have fun without responsibilities. Mike Posner's I Took a Pill in Ibiza video shows this well.

Music Video Analysis - Thriller

Michael Jackson -Thriller (1984)

The music video's beginning has text in a creepy, red font introducing the video which really set the atmosphere of the video and stands out against the black background. 

One of the reasons I think people like this video is because it has a story to it. Before the music starts there is dialogue with a woman and the artist. They are wearing quite colourful clothing which contrasts with the black surroundings as shown in the two shots. This makes the audience feel like those characters don't really fit in the setting. It is then revealed that this is a film two characters (the same two) are watching in a cinema. This is when the music begins.

The music video heavily features the colour red (the writing, Michael's outfit, etc). This could allude to blood or danger. The video also features a lot of lip syncing. The video uses smoke in a clever way in the graveyard to make the atmosphere more mysterious and creepy before the zombies appear. The video also includes the iconic dance routine.

I think this music video is good because it has many things to draw an audience in such as a thriller narrative or the dance routine. This makes the video very interesting as it has different aspects to it. I also like how it has references to other media products and pop culture etc. For example, the disclaimer at the end is the same as the one in the film An American Werewolf in London. It can be viewed as iconic as it was the most expensive music video made at the time (it cost roughly a million dollars). Reviews on IMDb show that the majority of people really like the video. They comment on how good the special effects are considering when the music video was made and they also like how the song and music fits with the visuals.

Music Industry

Which record label would I go with and why?

Start of Year 13 - Andrew Goodwin's Theory

This post marks the beginning of Year 13! 

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

• Music videos demonstrate certain genre characteristics e.g. on stage performances for metal videos, women in overly sexual clothing in rap videos and dance routines in pop videos particularly when it comes to boy bands or girl groups. The Spice Girls video below shows this well with the group dance routines they do.

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals e.g. the lyrics fit with the visuals and they illustrate each other or they contradict each other. The Iggy Azalea video below shows this well as she describes the boy being trouble and he gets arrested in the video.

• There is a relationship between music and visuals e.g. the visuals could illustrate, amplify or contradict the music or the shots could cut in time to the music. The Macklemore video below shows this well as the pace of editing follows the music normally and the shots sometimes cut on the beat.

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist e.g. in bands the record company might want equal shots of the band members or may want to focus on the main singer. The Paramore video below shows this well with the close ups of Hayley Williams being more frequent than close ups of the other band members.

• The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style) e.g. some artists have certain fonts for the credits across their work or have certain costuming. The Lady Gaga video below shows this well as she has a distinct style with her unusual clothing.

• There is frequent reference to notion of 'looking' (screens within screens, filming, camera) and particularly voyeuristic (pleasure through looking) treatment of the female body e.g. eye contact with the camera or the artist being portrayed seductively. The Selena Gomez video below shows this well with her being portrayed sexually and having eye contact with the camera.

• There are often intertextual references - mostly to film, television and popular culture e.g. references can be made to other music videos, films, TV programmes or pop culture. The Iggy Azalea video below shows this well as it is directly based on the film 'Clueless'.