In 1999, Ann Gould identified six key stereotypes in the representation of youth. These were:
Rebellious
Sexual
Nihilistic
Self-Destructive
Artificial Tribe
Violent
These theory goes particularly well with our music video, as some of those elements are shown heavily. Despite, having an underlying positive reflection on youth as opposed to conforming to the typical stereotype shown by Ann Gould - we attempted to represent youth as free and unconcerned of what they should be.
a state of EQUILIBRIUM, displaying normality We plan to have this flashing shots of this at the beginning of our music video, particularly when our main character is reminiscing at the times when her and her ex lover were together a DISRUPTION of the equilibrium by some action This (positive) disruption takes place when our character sets free and the running track shot takes place for the initial parts of the video a RECOGNITION that the disruption has taken place This recognition of disruption could be portrays, perhaps by showing our girl to have fun with her friends and entering her new found freedom an attempt to REPAIR the disruption We wanted to show this attempt to repair by the ex lover trying to win back the girl, by maybe sending her messages to meet up. My group and myself definitely want to create a sense of ambiguity to leave the audience questioning what will happen next a return to a NEWequilibrium As we are having a twist element in the end of our music video, our character will not actually return to her old lover, however, it will be apparent that her a resolution will be found with her new lover. Our narrative will be have an OPEN structure, as the audience are left to wonder what happens next and make sense of it themselves.
It is vital to know our audience - We then know our*target audience* - We can fulfill the audience's expectations of codes and conventions depending on our genre - See who will BUY our music and videos - We know what will appeal to our audience, therefore allowing us to promote according via our music video/digipack -We may be able to relate to them, using specific iconography STUART HALL Developed the concept of audience positioning as a result of examining news reports on industrial strikes. Claiming that media representations established a framework for possible responses – this is like setting an agenda for issues to be raised with audiences. The responses to an audience watching a media text would be likely to fall into three main categories:
Dominant readings - Audiences respond to the way narrative is constructed and adopt the points of view implied
Oppositional readings - Audiences reject the way the narrative is constructed, question and challenge the points of view implied Negotiated readings -Audiences partially acceptthe way the narrative is constructed but can see both points of view
the dominant and oppositional readings
Aberrant readings is an additional interpretation, where the text is read in a deviant and largely unanticipated manner, the preferred reading not being recognised at all
Andrew Goodwin has identified a number of key features in music videos. They are:
- A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
- A relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
- Genre-related style and iconography present.
- Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
- Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
- Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.
He says that music videos are often constructed by the link between the visuals and the song plus the artist. Relationships are built between these in the video, and the close-ups of the artists gives them the representation and publicity they require. Voyeurism is used to increase the video’s attractiveness, particularly to males, whilst intertextuality is often employed in humorous videos.
Many of these features are present in all music videos, depending on the genre of the song and the aim of the record company/artist.
The spectator's gaze: that of the spectator viewing the text, i.e. the audience
The Intra-diegetic gaze: in a text, a character gazes upon an object or another character in the text.
The Extra-diegetic gaze: a textual character consciously addresses (looks at) the viewer, e.g. in dramaturgy, an aside to the audience; in cinema, acknowledgement of the fourth wall, the viewer.
The camera's gaze: is the film director's gaze.
Duran Duran - Rio
This Duran Duran video is a clear example of the Male Gaze, immediately it starts with pinholes of an attractive woman. The idea that 'sex sells' is shown, as a huge majority of the video focuses with being surrounding by women in bikinis on a beach.
Madonna is a famous figure who has always been known to appear prerogative and sexual in her videos. This can either be seen as objectifying the male gaze, in that she acts how she wants to simply because she can or perhaps, in doing this she is obeying this rule that women must always act as sex symbols.
Here we have 50 Cent's P.I.M.P video, which basically suggests his powerful, authoritative position he has over the women he is surrounded by. They are all wearing minimal clothing and appear very airbrushed, which can again imply the physical distortions within the media.
We would really like to in cooperate a twist of the male gaze in our music video, similar to Paolo Nutini's Pencil Full of Lead, despite our characters will be dressed attractively yet not particularly porogative, we would like our leading girl to be of dominance - rather than the traditional male dominating role. In Paolo's video, although the girls are in minimal clothing, which could be considered to be conforming to the male gaze, they are also the ones who end up playing with the 'play-do' Paolo, adding a humourous yet meaningful effect.
Phallocentrism -- a world view which sees the penis (symbolic and otherwise) as the defining center of meaning. In other words, there is a central, stable meaning to things; that meaning is defined largely by men who associate their power to name and define and control reality with their masculinity.
Symbolic Order -- the realm of meaning controlled by the Law of the Father (in Lacan's theorizing): the language of partriachy. As opposped (by Kristeva) to the Imaginary -- the primal language of connectiona sscoiated with pre-Oedipal bonding with the mother.
b) Destruction of Pleasure as a Radical Weapon
Hollywood film reflects the dominant ideology of their culture. We get our pleasure from films from this presentation of the erotic. If we learn to make films which do not encode these ideologies, a lot of people will lose their pleasure in looking at film.
Mise-en-scene means staging an action. It is historically to do with directing plays, and became later to do with film to express how the material in the frame is directed.
PLEASURE IN LOOKING/ FASCINATION WITH THE HUMAN FORM
a) Film satisfies this primal pleasure we all get from looking at other people. scopophilia - - the pleasure we get from looking, in seeing other people as objects. We get a sense of power from being able to do this. With John Berger she believes the one who looks has the power.
Voyeristic scopophilia --
b) Narcissistic scopophilia is looking at other people as seeing them as surrogates for yourself. We also identify with people in movies. So there is a tension here between the sense of power we get from observing others as separate from ourselves and the pleasure we get in imagining that we are the people we are looking at.
the mirror stage:
c) tension between these impulses-- to see others as separate and to identify with them
WOMAN AS IMAGE, MAN AS BEARER OF THE LOOK
a) Split between male, active gaze which looks and female passivity which is looked upon. Women are always on display in film. Seen as objects of sexual desire; this is trasnsformed into exhibitionism. Visual presence of female tends to stop the stroy line to dwell on the image. diegesis -- "In a narrative film, the world of the film's story. The diegesis includes events that are presumed to have occurred and actions and spaces not shown onscreen. "
Buddy pictures
Why are so many women in film showgirls, strippers, etc.
b) Gender split carries over into narrative of film--men carry the story, make things happen, while woman remains icon.
c1) Problems with woman as icon:
444 c1a) voyeurism -- sadistic desire to punish woman for her lack
c1b) fetishistic scopophilia -- builds up beauty of woman in order to compensate for anxiety
