Initial Ideas

Pictures With Lyrics (storyboard)

Video Analysis

Kanye West ft Jamie Foxx -‘ Gold Digger’

The genre for this music video is RnB, which is associated with girls and wealth, yet the women in the video are gold diggers and that’s what they are singing about.

Within the first 10 seconds of this music video the cinematography is used to show close up of the woman’s face then of her then a close up of her chest. This straight away links into Laura Mulvey’s theory on the ‘Male Gaze’, by showing of part of her body within the first 10 seconds. Since this music video is aimed at both men and women, they’ll each have a different observation of the video. For example men will find this ‘hot’ and ‘sexy’, whereas women will look at it and compare themselves to the woman in the video and might become quite self-conscious. The next extreme close up on the woman is of her lips with her mouth partly open, which again men will see something as ‘seductive’. Another theorist this video links to is John Berger ‘ways of seeing’, as the women in this video are conscious of what they are doing and they are portrayed in a way for men to enjoy. However the men in this video are not acting in a ‘sexy’ way, yet you always get close ups of the women with not many clothes on, which links to what John said they are ‘depicted in a different way to men because the ‘ideal’ spectator is assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him’. The way the women are acting is to attract male attention and they do know that. Many tilts are used to in this music video to, to go up or down the women.

For the editing in this music video there are a lot of jump cuts between the man and the women. The women are portraying themselves in a more dominant way, as you see one woman’s face in a close up shot looking quite tough. There is also the use of parallel editing to create a strobe effect between the man and woman about 20 seconds in and it is changing very quick and is giving the audience quick flashing shots of her curves. It’s like the women are tougher and more clever than what these men think and use their body and act in a certain ‘seductive’ way to get what they want, which links to the lyrics of them being ‘Gold Diggers’ because they know what they are doing, they know what they want and they know how to get it.

In the video the mise en scene shows these women in front of pretend magazine covers, wearing corsets and not many clothes. The magazine covers say things like ‘Fantasy Magazine’ for 50₵ and ‘Hot Fun’ for 50₵. This could relate to men seeing them as objects like what Laura Mulvey thinks and that they are cheap and easy as 50₵ is cheap.

Jamie Foxx in the music video doesn't have a huge part in Kanye’s song because he was only been sampled in the song. Jamie was in a film called ‘Ray’, where he was the character Ray Childs and Kanye wanted him to use his voice like he did, but in ‘Gold Digger’. It’s Jamie Foxx’s way of showing the audience he is the new Ray Childs.

There is no narrative in this music video as it is based more on performance than narrative. The words ‘Gold Digger’ gets repeated a lot throughout the video and so does the chorus which again doesn’t give a narrative. It is more about the women dancing around and the men singing about them.

The text appeals to the audience more through the mise en scene and the ideology of the performer. For example in this music video Kanye West and Jamie Foxx are in suits which shows wealth and then the women are not wearing much, but they are all done up trying to be more glamorous. The women really seem more cheap and easy, since they are posing against cheaper looking magazine front covers, which relates to them being ‘Gold Diggrers’ as they want the money and will do anything to get it. Therefore the audience watching this music video see the men in their suits and all these ‘glamorous’ women and so the male audience might look up to these wealthy men and want to be like them. However the female viewers may have different opinions on the women in the video. They might want to act ‘sexy’ and be more ‘glamorous’, like how the women in the music video are trying to be, or they might have a negative opinion and won’t want to be seen as ‘cheap’ or ‘easy’, which the ideology from the mise en scene makes the women seem in this video.

The text of this song  links in with the video as Kanye and Jamie are singing about ‘Gold Diggers’ and you see these women dancing and posing, with a certain look on their faces sometimes which gives an impression of they know (as gold diggers) what they are doing. 

Calvin Harris and Ellie Goulding- ‘I need your love’

The genre for this music video is pop but is singing about love in not such a ‘soppy’ way as some music videos. It has the mise en scene of the double bed and white sheets usually associated with ‘passion’ and ‘love’ and since it’s a double bed there are connotations suggesting someone else should be in there too. There is also a lot of laughing and some kissing between the man and woman that connotes they are in love with each other. It includes voyeurism as Ellie Golding is a pretty woman, she is inside the bed sheets at first and since she is wearing an over-sized shirt at the beginning of it, it looks like a male’s shirts. Laura Mulveys theory on the ‘male gaze’ is right as this music video is used to attract males and is shown in a way which males will like it. You can see it is more from a male’s point of view, especially more towards the end when there are more women included in the video.

Quite a lot of the camera angles and shots in this video look like the people in the video are holding the camera themselves, which makes it seem not like a music video as such.  This creates more of a story and background of what goes on in their lives and it seems more real. Towards the end the cinematography is used to give a lot of close up and medium close up shots of these women on the boat and then in the club close ups of their faces and body. In association to pop it has girls in this music video acting ‘sexy’ once again it’s what males want to see, so it’s like it’s from their point of view.

The editing in this music video use a lot of straight cuts, to either change to a different camera angle or move on to a different scene. Close to the end of the video, it cuts to the club and the music links to the club as it makes it seem as if the song from the video is the one people are dancing to. Since the genre is pop and pop music is more for dancing the club scene is a good choice of place to record as it links in with the music.

This music video has a fragmented narrative that shows a couple having a good time on holiday. They have created their own ‘home movie’ style music video by taking their camera with them and filming their holiday.

The text of the song doesn’t really link in with the music video as there is not much of Ellie Goulding lip singing with the song and it shows them more doing normal things like going to clubs. She sings about needing Calvin’s love and there is a lot of clips of them together, like on the beach and in the tattoo studio, which is things that couples would do together if they love each other.

The audience can relate to the text in a way that they want to find love and go out and do things together. Since the mise en scene includes the things like the club and being in an open top car some where abroad shows they do have money and can afford these things, which makes the audience want to be able to do that to and have that sense of freedom like they do. Calvin and Ellie want to have a more laid back and fun ideology/representation, so they can connect with the audience more as they seem more genuine. The mise en scene of Ellie and Calvin’s clothes don’t look particularly expensive, they look casual, therefore this gives the audience something else to relate to because they realise they don’t always need expensive clothes to feel nice.

'Rihanna- Unfaithful'

The genre of this music video is pop, which links in more with my old song choice as  the song I have chosen as it is a lot  slower like my video. The mise en scene in this video has Rihanna in a tight black dress then in more casual clothes when she is with the man she is being ‘unfaithful’. “The tight dress is included when she is singing about being unfaithful which suggests that she is making more of an effort when with this other man rather than the man she is suppose to be with. However Rihanna still looks glamorous, with causal elements in there, which links in with the genre of pop.

Cinematography in this video includes close ups and medium close ups and sometimes she is wearing a revealing dress which males will like. Also straight away Rihanna is sorting her dress out and there is a tilt of her hands running down her body showing off her curves. However in a lot of Rihanna’s videos she often acts quite ‘seductive’ and ‘sexy’ or wears something that shows of her curves, therefore like John Berger said she is conscious of what she is doing and it’s not just now women act like this it happened a while a go to just in different ways.

Just before she starts singing there are a lot of quite fast jump cuts of when she seems happy with this man yet just before that she receives a note off someone else and it’s like she is pretending to be happy. Since this is a slower song fades are used which makes a smoother transition between the next scene. Having these fades make it link with the song more.

This music videos narrative is in a linear order and matches the lyrics. Rihanna sings about herself being unfaithful and in the video the audience see her thinking about and being unfaithful. It also consists of the lyrics being in sync with her singing but sometimes the song carries on over the top of the video whilst the video shows what’s going on.

The text of song connects well with the music video itself because you see Rihanna being unfaithful and singing about it to. There are also quite a lot of clips when Rihanna is in lip sync with the song. When she is not in sync, the images and the different scenes with in the video create more of a story because you see her unfaithfulness progressing and her feeling guilty when she is with her boyfriend.

In relation to the audience the text can relate to them as some people may have been unfaithful themselves and Rihanna is singing about how she feels and how it’s hard to tell someone about it, which other people might of felt to. It’s not exactly a good thing that she has betrayed her boyfriend and as an audience they will feel sorry for the man she is with, as he doesn't have a clue what is going on. However they might feel a bit sorry for Rihanna because she is saying she doesn't want to do this anymore but she can’t seem to stop and doesn't want to hurt him, so she isn't in the best of situations. Yet she is still acting ‘sexy’ and thinking about this other man so she isn't really helping herself. 

Lyrics Analysis

LYRIC ANALYSIS

Lyric Analysis 

I did a lyric analysis to work out what I thought the lyrics mean, which will help me think of ideas for my music video and know what the lyrics are about. Since I hadn't watched the music video for this song it allowed me to picture what I wanted to include in my own video without having the influence from the one this one.  

Lyric Timings

Lyric Timings

I worked out the Lyric timings of my chosen song 'Stay'- by Rihanna, to help me when I come to make a story board and when I am making my music video to make sure the timings are right and match my video. It will also help when/if the people are lip singing in my video, to match the lyrics to their mouths with the right times.

Theorists

Levi Strauss

'Binary Opposites' 
We understand contrasts, against other things that they are compared to.

Good-Bad- is a binary opposite

Having binary opposites help us to understand narrative in music videos. For example having a falling out with the boyfriend and they are usually portrayed to be seen as bad or in the wrong and the girlfriend (main singer) is seen as good. However this has recently being challenged as the person singing is usually the good person singing about the bad person, when the good person can be just as bad. Another example is in Rihanna 'Unfaithful' she is the singer, yet she knows that she is the bad person and is singing about her being unfaithful to her boyfriend, which is slightly different and another way that the binary opposite is challenged. 

We instantly perceive our own ideas of ideology e.g. Mother- Caring, Kind, Loving, Supportive. These ideas just spring to mind when asked to think about something/someone as we have our own ideology thoughts.

Without these binary opposites we wouldn't be able to understand videos and texts etc today.

They also keep us excited an intrigued in different ways. For example with narrative as it is more of a story you wonder what is going to happen. 


Laura Mulvey 1975

The 'Male Gaze'
Mulvey's theory is on the 'male gaze' and how they look at Women. For example:

How men view women in music videos:
Sexy, Hot, Seductive, An Item, Easy, Objects

How women look at themselves (music videos):
Compare themselves to the women in that video, might want to look like the women in the music video

How women look at other women in music videos:
Compare themselves or might not want to look like how some women do in music videos e.g. Miley Cyrus- 'Wrecking Ball'

However some music videos do not help the 'male gaze', but actually influence it even more by the way the camera focuses on the women's body and curves. This ends up making females watch the content through a males eyes thinking that they should be like that themselves. Furthermore in music videos the men in the videos usually end up being perceived as the more dominant person.


John Berger 1972

'Ways of seeing'
John Berger says we entice different gazes and says 'Men act women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves been looked at'

This again makes men sound more dominant. It's as if women are view for people to view and enjoy, however these women are conscious of what they are doing and what they are doing in these music videos. John also makes you realise that women have always been viewed in this way, but people might just have different opinions now then what they did back then.

Mulvey and Berger both include voyeurism, that the women know what they are doing.


Tessa Perkins 1979

'Stereotyping'
Stereotypes are not always negative or wrong and are not always about the minority groups or the less powerful, they can be about people of higher class or more powerful people too. They are also not rigid or unchanging as they do change and they are not always false. Furthermore as our society changes it's hard for stereotypes to change as they stick in society.


Richard Dyer 1983

'Representations'
Dyer says 'How we are seen determines how we are treated'. The media can play a big part in this too as they can make people be seen in many different ways when it is not always the truth.

For example: Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball'- She knows what she is doing which links back to Mulvey and Berger and is doing it on purpose because she no longer wants to be seen as this nice, sensible girl anymore, but as more of a rebel showing she is not afraid to do what she wants. Yet people have their own thoughts and opinions on her and will take what she has done in this video in a bad way or won't be to bothered by it. Therefore people will see and treat her in a different way, but she has done this herself, so she wanted to be seen in this way.


Karl Marx 1818-1883

'Class' 
Higher class power, known as the Elite or Bourgeoisie
Lower class which is the majority of the population, is known as the Mass or Proletariat
- The Mass are dependent on the Elite people.
- The Elite are also rely on the Mass to make money for them and the people who are rich hold ideological power.
- In society people are never satisfied and always want more

Dominant classes create a dominant ideology. For example the media are dominant and they give us news and there own thoughts and opinions on things, which we then believe so we don't really have any choice.

M.I.A Paper Planes (screen shots)