Wednesday 20 November 2013

Music Video Research Task

The first video that I am looking at is very recent, and that is Lily Allen ' Hard Out Here'. The video is stereotypical, sexual and yet again makes the women an object of desire. Also the lyrics are saying it is hard for a girl in the world because the world can be said as a Man's world therefore she is saying that girls are just sex objects and she promotes that in her video, therefore does this connote that this how she acts when not doing videos to get attention and what she wants due to her body?

The mise-en-scene is very sexual. For example the clothing is a latex pair of hot pants and crop top, this means their body is outlined to show the bums and breasts off. There is a clear sign of videos becoming worse and worse. Also latex clothing connotes very sexual or even seen as pornographic, therefore is this what Lily Allen is representing women as to young girls. Is she representing women very negatively towards younger people and just as objects of desire?

The girls have a lot of make up on, this connotes that all girls may only attract men if they are artificial and have to be good looking like the girls in the video whilst throwing their body around. The detonations are that there is a lot of make up, the girls wear small clothing and that it is set in a gold box, this means that girls are there to get the attention and also objects of desire because they invite voyeuristic views. In the real world many men do look for very pretty girls however they would not be impressed with their girlfriend flashing their body about, however this is what this music video is promoting.

There is a lot to criticize about the cinematography due to the extreme close ups on girls shaking the bum, girls slapping girls body's, the way they eat bananas and how they spray champagne over each over. Firstly, the extreme close ups on girls bums is another clear thing that is shown, also this will be very voyeuristic to many older viewers or younger views. Shaking their bums connotes that they are there to be sex toys and attract the men to have sex with them, not what a 12 year old should be looking up to. The girls also slap each others bums which connotes that all girls like to do this and could be seen as an act of a lesbian and also pornographic which is a negative representation for young teens both male and female. Lastly, they spray champagne over each other which could show that they like to have fun but yet very sexually. Due to the clothes they are wearing it makes their body very wet and more attractive to men, this is another sign that girls are just a sex toy and object of desire.

Therefore she is trying to say is that is this the only way girls become successful in life because they are now so heavily criticised if they do not have a good body or looks due to how the media treats girls. Therefore due to the video she shows how music videos are changing and she thinks it has gone to far meaning she starts to make a joke about it, example instead of Robin Thicke's 'Robin has a big 'D' she puts 'Lily Allen has a baggy Pussy' which is making a joke about Robin Thicke's video.

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THE POINT OF WHAT SHE IS TRYING TO DO>>>

The second negative video is Still D.R.E by Dr D.R.E

The video is set in L.A in streets that are very poor and involves a lot of crime and problems. This connotes that this what black people are like because both of the artists Snoop Dogg and Dr D.R.E, they show how their powerful round the streets and their money, a negative representation of black people. The girls wear very small clothing such as tight hot pants, yet again girls are wearing hot pants to show their bum, therefore is this how they treat girls, as objects of desire to earn money and views?

The cinematography includes close ups on girls breasts and bum, whilst the girl shakes their bum it is a close and in slow motion. The connotations are that these men are more powerful than them therefore they show their body off to get with them, the artist can pick and choose due to his power. Also a girl shaking their bum is very sexual and means that they want sex and it is another representation of black female because all the females are black in the video therefore the video represents the black culture very negatively.


Grading

1/12

C1

You have a number of good points here and have chosen your examples well, but you could do with some more specific examples to help your points made.


T: Use key terminology (VCOP blog) and the technical codes to develop your points further.


















Monday 18 November 2013

Laura Mulvey Essay

How does Laura Mulvey's theory apply to "Dirty" and "Do It Like a Dude"?

Discuss: The camera, The audience, The actors, The target audience of these artists and why you think they choose to present themselves in this way.


Laura Mulvey's theory applies to music videos "Dirty" and "Do It Like a Dude" because both videos invite the audience to view the artists as objects of desire. This is done through the camera shots and angles used, the fact the video is presented in a voyeuristic way to the audience, and the way the artist interacts with others in the video.


1.) In Christina Aguilera's video of "Dirty" the use of camera invites sexual gaze by...
The use of camera invites sexual gaze by aiming the camera at Aguilera's bum and breasts. Therefore many older and young men will look at her video in a voyeuristic way, for example the first scene of the music video is aimed at Christina Aguilera's bum where her jeans are cut out where her bum is, therefore Laura Mulvey's theory seems to be true because she will be seen as an object of desire because the camera is focused on Christina Aguilera and her bum and breasts.

2.) The audience views this video in a voyeuristic way because...
The audience will view this in a voyeuristic way because the artist is very seductive in the way she dances and the clothes that she wears are very revealing. This is seen in the shower scene because she is dancing in water meaning she gets very wet which is very sexual. Also she is in very small clothes and therefore many people will get sexual pleasure by just watching the video Dirty because it is very sexual and also can be seen as pornographic.

3.) The actors interact in way that results in the female being looked at as an object of desire. This occurs when...
The actors who are all men are watching the girls whilst they dance very sexily in the boxing ring due to their looks and how they reveal their selves. For example within the first minute all the men are viewing Christina and the dancers as objects as desires because they are being viewed by many men and towards the end they are grinding with her this shows that the men can not resist her and use the voyeuristic views into sexual actions. This also shows that Laura Mulvey's theory that all the girls in music videos are seen in an voyeuristic way and it is also seen in movies and other types of media.

4.) In Jesse J's video of "Do it Like a Dude" the use of the camera invites sexual gaze by...
The use of the camera invites sexual gaze in Jesse J's music video "Do It Like a Dude" because as Laura Mulvey says the women are tied to desire. For example sometimes the camera is zooming at Jesse J's breasts when she is bending over, also she is wearing clothes that would attract men, for example hot pants and crop tops. However, some people may not get sexual gaze by this video because Jesse J is trying to break the stereotype because many of the girls are doing very masculine things for example a girl is smoking a cigar. Also Jesse J's li[ps are very gothic and have spikes on them, she is trying to say that she is not going to be an object of desire but she is trying to get men to reject her and not look at her in a voyeuristic way.

5.) The audience views this in a voyeuristic way because...
The audience may view this in a voyeuristic way because the audience may not just be men. The audience could be female who love women rather than men. This could be to do with Jesse J's sexuality therefore the female audience may like how she is dancing and how Jesse J represents herself. Furthermore, a male may see this in a voyeuristic because the video is very gothic and therefore a goth male may see the video in a voyeuristic way.

6.) The actors interact in a way that results in the female being looked at as an object of desire. This occurs when...
This does not occur because many of the actors a challenging the stereotype, therefore many of the women do not look good and wear good clothes to attract men, therefore they do not surround Jesse J as an object of desire. Moreover, this means that Jesse J is correctly challenging the stereotype and contradicts Laura Mulvey's theory that women are tied to objects of desire in some scenarios in the video. However the actors in the video are not objects of desire nor do they look interact with Jesse J as she is an object of desire.

7.) The target audience for these two artists in young females. However, the way they represent themselves as sexual objects does not appeal to young girls, it appeals to men. I believe Christine Aguilera and Jesse J choose to represent themselves like this because...
In my oppinion Christine Aguilera's video 'Dirty' appeals more to men compared to Jesse J's 'Do It Like a Dude' because Christine Aguilera's video is more sexual and represents the female actors more clearly as objects of desire compared to 'Do It Like a Dude'. Christine Aguilera may do this because she wants the attention or more sales because in the modern era sex sells. However Jesse J's video may be different because she wants to challenge the stereotype which is rarely done therefore she is trying to be original or she is doing it like this due to her sexuality. This means it may attract more girls compared to men.

8.) In summary, Laura Mulvey's theory applies to these music videos because...
It applies to BOTH music videos because however hard Jesse J tries to break the stereotype the cinematography and miss-en-scene still agree with Mulvey's theory that however hard women try that women are tied to objects of desire where in some scenes Jesse J is revealing her body and wearing very small clothes that may not be seen in public. Also Christine Aguilera is clearly being sexual and wants to be an object of desire.