10 Music videos analysis

Who is being represented?
How are they being represented?
Impact/message
Binary oppositions?
Conventional/unconventional?

Lil Dicky - Freaky Friday feat. Chris Brown (Rap)
Women are represented heavily in this music video and I would say that they are represented in a negative way because they aren't shown to have much of a personality and therefore, are objectified in the video. Additionally, I would say that women are sexualised in the video because most of the women that you see throughout the video are not wearing much clothes and showing a lot of skin. They also don't speak much in the video which demonstrates the fact that they are used for their body parts. This means that Scopophilia is used in this video because the audience is supposed to gain pleasure from watching the women.
The impact and message of this video is that women are mostly used in hiphop music videos for the pleasure of the viewer to make sure that people keep coming back to watch the video.
The binary oppositions in this video are between men and women because the music video is about people waking up in different peoples bodies. When they wake up in a mans body the emphasis is on them exploring the mans lifestyle whereas, alternatively, when the man wakes up in a woman body the emphasis is about exploring her sexually rather than her lifestyle as shown in the finally few seconds of the video.
This means that overall, the video is quite conventional for a hiphop music video because women are commonly used as inanimate objects primarily used for their sex appeal in the video. This also means that the music video conforms to the conventions of a stereotypical music video because of the way that it represents women.

Dua Lipa - New Rules (Pop)
Again, the representation is of women and they are being represented in an unconventional way because they are not being exploited for male pleasure meaning that the video doesn't utilise the male gaze much because they are not wearing clothes that are too revealing or partaking in sexual acts. However, due to the fact that the video is mainly of women in their apartment talking their is an aspect of voyeurism because it is like we are looking into her life without her permission. This is because the camera angles suggest that we are looking into her apartment whilst she is conversing with other women. I also think that the music video could be unconventional because of the fact that the video is more empowering towards women. This is because the main character of the video is clearly debating weather to get back in contact with and ex or some kind of male sexual partner which is likely to be relatable to a lot of the female audience. I think that this is empowering because her friends are encouraging her to ignore him as he is probably just using her for sex. This is unconventional because it is depicting the woman taking charge of the situation and not allowing the man to be dominant. This means that the message that is given throughout the video is that women should stand up to men and not let them manipulate them. This means that there is again binary oppositions between men and women because they are coming into conflict because the man wants to get back with her but she doesn't.

Little Mix - Power ft. Stormzy (Pop)
I would say that the music video is representing different types of people including men, women and people of different ethnic backgrounds. I think this because the cast of the video is quite diverse. Additionally, I would say that they are represented in a positive way and in an inclusive way. This is because people are always standing in groups in the video and they are never alone in the shot. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene of the video includes paparazzi and fans taking pictures of the artists throughout which could suggest that the message of the video could be that it doesn't matter what background you come from, it only matters what you grow to become (in this case musicians). Moreover, I think that there is still sexual representation of women in the video because there are multiple close up shots of areas of a woman that are heavily sexualised. However, I do not think that this is a negative representation and it is again, more empowering to the women because the women that are being sexualised actually have a large part in the song and music video and they are not just girls that they have included for sexual decoration of the video. I don't think that the video includes many binary oppositions because that could contradict the message and the fact that the video is inclusive but you could argue that there is some opposition between how men and women are represented because Little Mix are sexualised because of their clothing and how they are presented in the shots whereas Stormzy is, obviously, not sexualised at all. Finally, I would say that the music video is conventional in some ways because they represent men and women stereotypically by sexualising the women and not the men but their message is quite unconventional and the sexualisation of women is not often used as empowering.

Marshmello ft. Bastille - Happier (Dance/ Electronic)
I think that the music video for the song Happier by Marshmello and Bastille could be representing the group of people that are effected by bullying, particularly females. They have represented this group by depicting a girl being bullied and not showing her with many friends. She is always standing slightly away from the rest of group when in social situations at school. It represents her as having nobody to talk to or comfort her accept her dog as she only looks comfortable in shots with the dog in. Additionally, at the end of the video when a different girl is presented with a puppy the colour grading of the video switches to a much more yellow and happy glow as soon as the puppy is in view meaning that the dog if providing light into her life. This means that the message that the music video is trying to convey is that many people feel as if they have nobody to talk to after being a victim of bullying and their only comfort is their pets. The impact of this that the producers of the video want is that people will reassess their actions and think more about the consequences of what they think might be harmless actions. The binary oppositions in this music video are oppositions between the people at the top of the social ladder and the bottom. This is because the people at the top are shown to be happy because of the close ups of them smiling and laughing but because of the long shots revealing the girl standing away from the people who are laughing reveals the divide between people in the social ladder. Additionally, as a binary opposition to the close ups of the popular people smiling and laughing there are extreme close ups of the girl depicting a tear leaking out of her eye to emphasise the difference in emotions that the different groups of people feel. Overall, I would say that this is unconventional of a music video as they do not tend to focus on such serious subjects and the video lacks the sexualisation of its characters.

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc (Alternative)
The Gorillaz Feel Good Inc music video is a representation of society because of the fact that throughout the video 2D is longing to reach the flying island whereas everyone around him seems not to notice the island representing the fact that society confines you (2D is trapped in an industrial looking building, away from the grass and open plan island) and not many people realise that they could have it better because they don't notice the island and they, therefore, just accept what society has given them. This means that the message of the video is that society confines us to a system that nobody likes but people just succumb to it anyway because they do not realise that they could have it better. The island represents freedom because of the fact that it is not attached to anything and floating by itself, additionally, the fact that the island appears to be powered into flying by a windmill could be representing the fact that societies rules don't apply on the island because physics isn't applying there.  This means that there are clear binary oppositions between society (the tower full of lifeless bodies) and the island because the shots of the tower are all dark and tinged with red which has connotations that something is wrong and alarms (that people don't seem to hear) and the floating island because it is very open by contrast and is populated with grass. The impact of this is to make people asses their lifestyle and try and make people rebel against the system because they will hopefully realise that they are being suppressed. The music video is unconventional because they have decided to address an issue that affects everyone who watches it rather than just a niche and to is a much more serious topic than what is usually discussed in a music video. This means that the video is very subversive as it does not follow the general conventions for music videos and represents a much bigger issue than usual.


Childish Gambino - This Is America (R&B)
Black people and specifically black people in America and America as a whole are represented throughout the music video This is America by Childish Gambino. They are represented as being violent because there are people partaking in violent acts throughout most of the video. This is probably because of the well know stereotype that black people are violent and criminals. Additionally, most of the violence that is occurring in the background of the video is blurred because the camera is focusing on Childish Gambino in the centre of the frame. This could be suggesting that the the violence isn't focused on that much and people such as the police don't do much about it. The fact that during the video Gambino guns down a choir and then goes right back to dancing shows how the violence doesn't usually disrupt the American publics lifes because they hear about something violent on the news and then go right back to what they are doing and not giving it much more thought. This means that the message of the video could be that people, specifically, the American public don't do anything in times of crisis and violent crimes occur all of the time and not enough is done about it. The binary oppositions in the video is the dancing that Childish Gambino continues to do throughout the video in contrast to the violence going on around him. This could have been done to take away the viewers attention from the violence and focus it one the good/funny part which is the dancing. This could then be a metaphor for the meaning of the video: Americans focus on the good parts that don't affect them. This all means that the video is unconventional because the video is dissing its main demographic which seems counterintuitive to the main goals of a regular music video. However, the music video does conform to the stereotype of black people being violent/criminals which means that in some ways the video is conventional because lots of music videos represent black people as being "thugs".


Jon Bellion - All Time Low (Electropop)
I would say that the music video for the song All Time Low by Jon Bellion is representing the feeling of isolation after a relationship has ended. I believe that this representation is presented in the music video because of the binary opposition between the lyrics and the music video itself. This is because the lyrics are describing the pain and loneliness that he feels after a breakup whereas the music video seems to be upbeat as he is performing at shows and there are lots of medium close ups of his fans. The reason for this could be to shows that although he is surrounded by lots of people (his fans) he still feels alone because of the end of his relationship. Furthermore, in the video we only see him alone and on stage which could reinforce this ideology because even though all his fans are around him he is separate from them as he is n stage by himself. I think that the message of the video is trying to be relatable meaning that people would see the video and understand what he was feeling when he wrote the song. This means that I would say that the video is quite conventional because he is depicting his relationship issues in the video which is quite stereotypical of music video but he is doing it in a subversive way because the lyrics are saying one thing whilst the video is saying another.


City Girls - Twerk ft. Cardi B (Hiphop/Rap)
I think that women of all ethnicities are represented in this music video because of the fact that the video has a very diverse cast. I think that they are represented fairly positively and I think that the video is supposed to empower women. This is because although the video is heavily sexualised and there is a definite element of scopophilia throughout the video does it in a way where the women are proud to do it and it is very inclusive because they are representing all kinds of women. This means that the representation of women in this video is quite stereotypical and therefore, conforms to the genre conventions of hiphop music videos because of the focus on the sexualised parts of the women's body. However, it is somewhat subversive from hiphop music videos because of the fact that the sexualisation is treated like a skill meaning that women have to work to be able to do what they can in the video. This means that it is trying to add value to the women in the video because they are doing something that is not easy. This is because the text at the beginning of the video shows that they are trying to dine the worlds best twerker which shows it is a challenge and therefore, an achievement to be in the video. This means that the message that the video is trying to convey is that women shouldn't be worried about their background and they should focus on following their passion regardless of what other people say and regardless of their ethnicity. However, the impact of this could just be reinforcing patriarchal hegemony because of the fact that it could be reinforcing the idea that women exist for mens pleasure.

Koffee - Toast (Reggae)
I think that the music video for the song Toast by Koffee is representing coloured people from third world countries. This is because throughout the video you see coloured people playing together and having a good time in place that looks quite run down and broken. I think that the representation of these people has been intentionally subversive because they want to try and contest the stereotype of black people being violent and criminals. This is because there is no representation of violence at all in the video and they are just having fun. Additionally, even though the lead singer is female there is no representation of sexualisation at all meaning that the video is unconventional because it defies stereotypes. There could be binary oppositions between the upbeat mood of the music video and the run down background because most people would think that when you are living in conditions like that you would always feel sad and sorry for yourself but the video is embracing that and it depicts them making the best with what they have. It seems that the video has been colour graded in such a way that makes the background seems more vibrant even though it is run down to help show the fact that they are making the best of a bad thing. Finally, I think that the message of the video is that black people are not violent or criminals like the stereotype suggests and they are in fact the opposite.

Dr. Dre - Still D.R.E. ft. Snoop Dogg (Hiphop)
I think that women and black people are represented in Still D.R.E by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre and I think that women are represented as sexual objects which is common and stereotypical for hiphop music videos meaning that the video conforms to the genre conventions of hiphop music videos. Women are represented this way in this music video because of the fact that they have no real relevance in the video apart from the close ups of their body parts. They are also wearing revealing clothes and dancing in provocative ways. Additionally, I would say that black people are represented as being stereotypical gangsters in the video because they are wearing large gold chains and are riding lowrider cars with hydraulic lifts in them to make them bounce. However, it is not an entirely stereotypical representation of black people because there isn't really much violence represented in the video which means that the video can be subversive as it is not focusing too much on the negative parts of the stereotype which could mean that they are trying to prove the stereotype wrong. I don't think that there is an official message in the video other than establishing their prominence in hiphop with their cars and women which means that the impact could be reinforcing the idea that popularity is measured in what car you have and how many women like you. I think that overall the video is quite conventional for hiphop music video as it seems to conform to what is expected of a music video because of its heavy use of women and cars.