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.