Theories in Media - Part 2

Andrew Goodwin: Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in a heavy metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band). The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop themes which recur across their work. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is often intertextual reference to other media such as films TV programmes as well as other music videos.

Steve Archer: There needs to be a strong and logical relationship between the narrative and performance in music promos. Music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. A carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor of the music video.

John Stewart: A music video has the visuals of a TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the star’s face. Visual references come from a range of sources, such as cinema, fashion and art photography. ‘Incorporating, raiding and reconstructing’ is essentially the core of Intertextuality, using something with which the audience may be familiar, to generate both regretful associations and new meanings. The video allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can due to the close-up shots that are used. Mise-en-scene can be used to emphasise a desired lifestyle.

Sigmund Freud: Voyeurism referring to the notion that erotic pleasure may be gained by looking at a sexual object, preferably when the object is unaware of being watched. (This can be seen in the music video Rio by Duran Duran)

Laura Mulvevy: Because filmmakers are predominantly male, the presence of women in films is often solely for the purposes of display rather than for narrative purposes. The purpose of this display is to assist a voyeuristic response in spectators, which presumes a ‘male gaze’ one that is a powerful controlling gaze at the female on display, who is effectively objectified and passive.

Theories in Media - Part 1

There are a range of theories in media; some are just general theories that explore the theories of Lyrics, Genre, Camerawork, Editing, Intertextuality and Exhibitionism. As well as peoples own theories surrounding there own views on the topic.

Lyrics: Establish a general feeling/mood/sense of subject rather than a meaning.

Music: Tempo often drives the editing.

Genre: Reflected in types of Mise-en-scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles

Camerawork: Has an impact of the meaning. Movement, angle and shot distance all play a part in the representation of the artist/band (close-ups dominate)

Editing: the most common form of fast-cut montage images impossible to grasp on first viewing, ensures multiple viewing. Editing using digital effects, which play with the original images to other different kinds of pleasure for the audience.

Intertextuality expresses that not all of the audience will be able to spot the reference however this wouldn’t detract from their pleasure in the text itself although the audience that recognise the reference would get more pleasure out of the text due to recognise this link to another text. It would also increase the audience’s engagement with the product, and many music videos raw upon cinema and other areas in popular culture.

Exhibitionism explains that the apparently more powerful independent female artists of recent years have added to the complexity of the politics of looking and gender/cultural debates, by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control of and invited a sexualised gaze upon themselves.