1. HollyTaylor
Girls Aloud- Call The Shots
Characters:
There isa male inthe showerwhoisobjectifiedashe istoplessandas he isthe onlymale who
featureswithinthe videohe isoverpoweredbythe womenwhichcreatesthe representationthathe
isweakerandvulnerable incomparison.There are alsothe charactersof the five girls,whohave
perhapsbeencheatedonbythe man. The five girlsare representedasbeingstrongerandmore
independentthanthe manas one of the girl’signore a phone call fromthe boyfriendandthen
multiple shotsdepictthe womenasunitedandother’sdepictthe womenasbeingstrongerand
independentastheyare shotinlowangle shotsto create a sense of authorityandpower.There isa
particularfemale characterwhoisseenlookinginthe mirrorapplyinghermakeup,thisdisplaysa
particularstereotype thatwomenare image conscious.Laterinthe video,the same girl isshotinan
overthe shouldershotof herhuggingthe man and cryingon hisshoulder,thiscreatesastereotype
of womenbeingweakandseekingcomfortwithmen.
Narrative:
The male appearsto of beeninrelationshipswithall the girls,asone of themburnsthe photoshe
has of himand her togetheranddoesn’tansweranyof hiscalls,thissymbolisesmetaphoricallythat
theirrelationshiphasdisintegrated.There isalow angle shottowardsthe endof the videowhere a
feelingof unisonbetweenthe womenandahigherauthorative figure overthe male,thisfurther
establishesthe narrative of abrokendownrelationship.The videocontainsamixture of anonlinear
and fragmentednarrative,performance aswell asa conceptual aspect,asitwasn’tentirelyclear
whyimagerysuchas the white flagsandfire wasfeaturedwithinthe video.The fire issymbolicof
the girl’sangerinregards to the male’sactions.The narrative endswithashotof the maingirl
burningthe photoof her and herboyfriendandthentossingthe photographinthe bin,thiscreates
a metaphorical feelingof the girl tossingawaythe relationshipshe haswiththe man.
Iconography:
There are typical iconsof the pop genre asthere featuresatoplessmale whichisusuallyseenwithin
popmusic videosastheyaimto attract a particulardemographicof youngfemalestowatchthe
video.There alsofeaturesflowerswhichisiconicof relationshipsa purple andwhite colourscheme
featureswithwhite beingiconicof purityandinnocence whichsuggeststhatthe womenare the
innocentcharactersincomparisontothe malesfeaturedwithinthe musicvideo, photographsof one
of the girlsandthe mansuggeststhat there isa nostalgicfeel tothe relationshipanda mobile phone
features whichisconventionallyrelatedto relationshipsasthisisusuallyhow youngerpeople
communicate witheachother.
Setting:
The colour purple featured heavily throughout the video, the colour has conventions of:
To use your imagination to its fullest
To re-balance your life
2. HollyTaylor
To remove obstacles
To calmoveractivity or to energize from depression
And so the use of the colour purple could be used in order to symbolise the fact that the
girls in the video are “re-balancing” their lives by cutting the man out of their lives, e.g.
when Nadine drops the photograph of her and the boyfriend in a fire also by doing this she
is “removing obstacles” from her live by cutting the boyfriend from her life.
The setting of the video is mainly inside a house, which creates a sense of realismwhich
furthermore is relatable to the audience. One of the girls: Nicola is lay beside a pool, with
the water being a deep blue colour which has connotations of importance, confidence,
power, and authority. This therefore suggests that she has overcome the emotions of her
relationship breakup and is more confident now. The “depth” of the colour blue is symbolic
of the depth of her emotions and feelings she harboured during the relationship.
