Real Media Texts - Music Video

The video I will be looking at during this real media texts analysis is Who's Laughing Now by the female artist Jessie J.

Narrative
The storyline of this video is about a young kid that was bullied as a child and grew up to be a famous music artist (based on the artists past) The theme is bullying. There is a recognizable structure:

• Equilibrium: unusual looking child is not part of the "cool" group at school

• Disruption of equilibrium: "Cool" group start bullying the unusual child.

• Recognition there has been a disruption: Unusual child walks out of the classroom to get away from the bullying.

 

• Attempt to repair the disruption: "cool" group realises how talented the unusual child is and attempts to befriend her with compliments.

         

• Equilibrium is reinstated: unusual girl ignores the girls attempts to befriend her attacks them with a fire extinguisher

 

Setting
The music video is set in a school environment. This environment emphasises the bullying shown in the video because of the stereotypical view that a lot of bullying occurs in schools. The lighting is darker at the start than at the end connoting the change in the unusual child and the hope theme shown throughout the video "the light at the end of the tunnel." The school setting also has intertexual references to the film Mean Girls because of the bullying and different groups shown in the film and music video. The pink outfits wore by the bully's also has intertextual references to Greece with "The pink ladies"

Number of shots
180

Transitions used
Fade to black
Jump cuts

Representation seen
This music video represents females in a stereotypically bitchy way. This is constructed by showing through the camera a group of girls, dressed in the same type of clothing, acting stereotypically mean towards a female constructed in a different way. (the main female) The pink clothing that the girls are dressed in constructs them as typically feminine.

Specific Mind Map of Music Videos

Mind Map of Music Videos

Textual Analysis of Nothing Compares 2 You by Sinead O Connor

Genre
The genre would be classified as a pop ballad. several genre characteristics were used, such as many close ups of the artist and the use of a small narrative focused on the artist. However many stereotypical genre conventions are not used, like a voyeuristic approach to the female artist. The narrative is typical because the theme (romance) is not very thought provoking and also is mainstream. The close ups of the artist is expected in the video.

Narrative

The narrative was very small and consisted mainly of a lone figure walking around rather random places to convey the idea behind the lyrics about the singer having freedom to do whatever she wants but not wanting to because "nothing compares to you." There is no equilibrium structure within the music video. The only recognisable character is the artist. The video reflects the lyrics because of the winter type mise en scene (shown below) that reflects the mood of the singer. The black background connotes the idea that hope is lost within the close up of the artist.

 

 

Representation

Females were portrayed in this video, through the lyrics, to be stereotypically emotional in comparison to men. This was shown through the visuals of the music video, especially the part where the female artist is shown to be stereotypically crying over the broken relationship.

 

 

Visual codes

The video is set in black surroundings connoting no hope and death/darkness. other parts of the video are set in frosty fields connoting winter and sadness. The dominant color used in this video is black again connoting no hope and darkness. A lot of statues are shown in the video connoting the idea that the artist cannot move on, because statues can't move.

 

 

Technical codes

 because the majority of the music video is a close up shot of the female artist not many interesting camera angles are used. The use of the close ups however creates a high level of intensity with the audience. The camera movement doesn't really tell a story because there is hardly any of it within the music video. Fade to black is the cut used throughout the video.



 



Candidate Name and Number

Joe Waters
7536