1. Geri Halliwell ‘Its raining men’ music video
Geri Halliwell was born in 1972 and gained her fame through the 90’s all girl British group the ‘Spice
Girls’ which formed in 1994. Some of their most famous songs known all over the world were
‘Wannabe’, ‘2 become 1’ and ‘Spice up your life’. Her time with the group brought Geri a he amount
of success however in 1998 she chose to leave the band after suffering with depression. Geri later on
went on to do a solo career with songs such as ‘It’s raining men’ and ‘Look at me’. She is now a
successful X factor judge on the T.V show X factor Australia.
The song ‘Its raining men was released on the 30 April 2001 as the first single from Geri Halliwell's
second solo album, ‘Scream if You Wanna Go Faster’. It’s been said that the beginning of the music
video was inspired by the film Flashdance and the rest of the video on the film Fame. To Geri’s joy
‘it’s Raining Men’ went to number 1 in the UK charts and stayed there for two weeks straight and
became her most successful single worldwide.
The producer was Stephen J. Lipson who was born 16 March in 1954. He’s and English record
producer, engineer, guitarist and songwriter.
A majority of the camera work in this music video is heavily concentrated on on Geris body with
close ups of her thighs, rear, chest and of the curves of her body. This can be seen at 0:44 of the
music video where the audiences focus would be completely on her rear in the tight black
underwear that reveal all. This relates to Laura Mulveys male gaze theory where the male audience
would be completely focused on the emphasised parts of her body such as her chest and I believe
this would have been the director’s attention to make Geri look attractive and pull in one of her
target audiences with the music video. This would also make some women and girls wish they could
look like her with her flat stomach and well-toned body. This is shown through a pan upwards of her
body focusing on her feet as she walks in up to her bare legs and then onto her black underwear and
cropped black vest top to show off her body. By showing only her back at first not face it helps to
create interest in the video as the audience want to see the rest of her body and her face.
At 2:35 in the video we have a low shot looking up at Geri with her looking down at the camera
making her look like the dominant person in this clip as though we are looking up at Geri maybe in
awe or amazement at her.
The narrative of the music video is about a young woman coming in for a dance audition with a piece
she has rehearsed. She falls at the beginning of her dance and timidly asks the panel of judges if she
can start again brining in the song. The judges are portrayed as very judgemental and seem
extremely hard to please. Geri then starts her dance from the beginning and this time stays upright,
she then begins to dance with more confidence and sing showing of her skills. The room then fills
with fellow dancers and singers who all put on a spectacular performance to the judges who look
shocked but amazed at the audition. The song itself is part of the soundtrack from the film ‘Bridget
Jones Diary so clips of the film are shown throughout the music video showing the story of the first
and most popular Bridget Jones film, the key moments and characters such as Colin Firth.
Geri at the beginning of the music video is represented as a young timid dancer who has come for a
very important audition however after she restarts her dance she is a strong powerful female who
has taken full control over the audition and over the judges. Her personality is also shown through
her clothing such as her black underwear, bare legs, and black cropped vest top and black boots
which make Geri look intimidating, confident about her figure and gives her a huge amount of sex
appeal. This again links in with Laura Mulveys male gaze theory of men being drawn into the video
through the camera focusing on Geri’s revealing and tight fitting clothing and that she has been
completely sexualized. Some may feel that the video is not about the dancing but all about her body
and sex as in one scene at 2:03 she climbs on top of the judge’s desk and begins to crawl
provocatively. She then grabs one male judge’s tie and pulls him back and forth like a doll showing

2. her power over him physically and very sexually whilst the other judges just stare mouths agape. Her
short platinum blonde hair makes her look like she’s a serious but could be cheeky and her tattoo on
back shows her characters rebellious side and maybe even her own. Geri’s clothing, body and body
language all represent her as dominant but fun loving female who could be liked and admired by all
which I believe was the desired effect of the character she portrays.
However the judges have been represented as boring, strict and arrogant and this is shown through
many different things such as their clothing, attitude, lighting and facial expressions. For example all
of the judges are wearing dark colours such as grey, black or browns making them look quite elderly
and extremely dull as though their personalities were a reflection of their clothing. They are all also
covered up with hardly any skin showing other than their hands and faces creating a complete
contract with Geris character. When Geri enters the room to put on her record the judges eyes
follow her and widen slightly in shock. Many put their pens to their mouths or whisper to their
neighbours creating the impression that they cannot believe what they have just seen and
disapprove of Geris character. The lighting on them is very low and washed out creating the
impressions that their characters are colourless and bring a grey dull atmosphere with them. We as
an audience see the judges characters represented as dull boring people who need to enjoy life a bit
more.
We can relate some of the music video to Andrew Godwin’s theory on the different characteristics
to be recognised in most music videos. One of these was ‘music videos demonstrate genre
characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in
Hip Hop).’ This is seen at 3:38 when Geri and the other dancers run out into the street to perform a
more basic group dance where everyone is doing the same moves. This may attract audiences and
encourage people to learn the choreography for this part of the music videos dance as it is quite
simple to learn with easier dance moves than previous ones.
The music video has been edited extremely well and runs smoothly. The synchronisation of lyrics
with Geri’s mouth is practically perfect giving the audience the impression that she singing
throughout the video flawlessly. A huge amount of shots are mid shots or head shots of Geri so we
are able to see her face clearly and watch her sing with passion for the song. This is also done so the
audience can recognise clearly who the dancer and singer is and keep seeing her face over and over
again. Clips from the film Bridget Jones Diary have been placed throughout the music video as
constant reminder of the film as the song featured in the movie and is therefore part of its well-
known soundtrack. The clips that have been edited in are mostly of the three main characters with
mid shots and head shots; Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger), Mark Darcy (Collin Firth) and Daniel
Cleaver (Hugh Grant). All extremely renowned and loveable faces so the audience watching the
music video would instantly recognise them from the film or other films. Key funny moments of the
film have also been edited in such as when Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) falls into the water from the
boat. At the beginning of the music video you are not told the name of the song or the artists. It’s
not until she puts the record on the these have been edited in and slide on to screen showing Geri’s
name first then the song title and that it’s part of the Bridget Jones Diary soundtrack.