representations within music videos, examples and theories

1. Representations & Theories

2. Groups:
- Teenagers
- Older Generation
- Female
- Male
- Social Classes
- Sexuality
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- Mental health
Genres:
-Pop
-Rock
-Indie
-House
-RnB
-Grime
-Metal
-Jazz
-Classical
-Country
-Hip Hop
-Punk
-Souls

3. Female
In music videos females are often sexualised/objectified and degraded to appeal
to male viewers by wearing provocative clothing, this is often to appeal to a male
audience. This supports Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘male –gaze’ she suggested
that there were two modes of the ‘male gaze’ voyeuristic and fetishistic, it is
mainly about how male audiences view women but can also include how women
view themselves and other women the term was established by Mulvey in 1975
as she believed that audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a
heterosexual male. .
Males
Stereotypes:
Strong
Dominant
Powerful
Heterosexual
Hegemonic masculinity reflects the tendency for males to seek dominance over
others such as other males and subordinate females. This is usually evident in
music videos as the male characters are stereotypically more dominant that
women.

4. Female example
Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball
Here you can see a few screenshots from Miley
Cyrus’ music video for the song Wrecking Ball.
The close up of her face reveals that she is naked
and her body language and facial expression
makes her appear vulnerable. The other pictures
show her wearing minimal clothing and the
actions she is doing are very exaggerated and
sexualised in order to appeal to a male audience
like Laura Mulvey’s theory suggests.

5. Male Example
Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines
The video consists of men dressed smartly in suits and sunglasses making them look
powerful and in charge whereas the women wear minimal clothing and dance
provocatively around the males. The reinforces Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’, the idea that
women are sexualised in order to appeal to a male audience and the actions within
the video degrade the women and make the males appear superior.

6. Sexuality
Most commonly it is heterosexual relationships presented in music videos, however it is
becoming more common for gay and lesbian relationships to be shown, this is because
of the way society is moving to be more and more accepting.
Stereotypes of Gay Men:
• Feminine
• Confident
• Loud
• Outrageous
• Struggles with
sexuality
Stereotypes of Lesbian
Women:
• butch
• blunt
•Masculine
•‘man haters’
•Male clothing

7. Examples
Troye Sivan – Talk me Down
The music video narrates the relationship of the two males
through present time and flashbacks. It does present the
struggle of one of the males coming to terms with his sexuality
which is stereotypical within the media. It also focuses on
families not being able to accept their sexuality again, this is
something that is typical when sexuality is highlighted within
the media.
Sam Smith – Lay me Down
This music video is an emotional one and is a hybrid of
performance and narrative. It is not highly focused on
sexuality and this is unusual as usually the fact that
there is a homosexual couple is the main part of the
storyline. This shows how this music video feels like it
should be just as ‘normal’ in society for a music video to
feature a gay couple as it would be for a heterosexual
couple.

8. Abramham Maslow's hierarchy of
needs

9. Hypodermic needle
• Also known as the Magic Bullet Theory, it states that media has a direct,
complete and immediate effect on the audience. The message for the media
is directly received and wholly accepted by the user. The audience is
considered to completely passive entities that are left at the mercy of the
media. Media is considered to be super strong with the potential of
mesmerizing its audience. Users have no control over the media.

10. Two Step Flow Theory
The two-step flow of communication model says that most people form their opinions
under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media

11. Andrew Goodwin
Andrew explains his theory through 6 conventions that should be evident within a music video.
• A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the
lyrics.
• Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and the visuals, which
illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.)
• Genre-related style and iconography
present.
• Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a
recognizable brand image.
• Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
Goodwin recognized that many music videos included voyeuristic angles of women in order to
entice a male audiences interest in the artist and also the lyrics to which these shots represent.
This is used to sexualize the artist and cause a fetishistic connection for the male audience.
• Intertexual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos.

12. Goodwin also stated in his theory behind music videos that there are five key aspects that are used to contribute to a
successful music video
1. Thought beats - Where you 'see' the sound.
Goodwin categorized this key aspect in three steps:
1st step: This is when you look into the music and interpret it by looking at the verses/chorus.
2nd step: Goodwin says this is "the voice within the song" - this is when the artists voice is extremely unique
and can be recognized for this quality. Ellie Goulding is a prime example:
3rd step: Goodwin states that this is the step where the artist is telling a story within their songs as therefore
generates their reputation as a 'storyteller'. The music video in this case is created to emphasize the lyrics and
the story within the songs. For example, Adele is known to tell a story of heartbreak through many of her
songs:
2. Narrative and Performance.
Goodwin stated that music videos should avoid the common narrative as their role is more to advertise than
become a story. The artist therefore will become both a participant and narrator within the music video to
increase its authenticity for the audience. Lip synching and other actions featured in the video increase its
verisimilitude and therefore prevents the audience from disbelieving the narrative/ performance.
3. The Star Image.
Goodwin identified that the star image is another key aspect within music videos. He believes that an iconic
star image can increase the audience's awareness of the artist and therefore can show a development of the
star over time which will increase the audiences interest in their videos.
4. Relation of visuals to song.
5. Technical aspects of a music video
Camerawork, sound, editing, mise – en –scene

13. Uses and Gratifications theory
Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass
communication. The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead
of the actual message itself by asking “what people do with media” rather than “what
media does to people” (Katz, 1959) . It assumes that members of the audience are
not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own
lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to
meet their needs. The approach suggests that people use the media to fulfil specific
gratifications. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other
information sources for viewers' gratification