The document discusses several theories related to music videos and their genres. It analyzes the music video "Work" by Ciara featuring Missy Elliot. It discusses how the costuming and rapping cues the audience to recognize the hip-hop genre. While an older Missy Elliot video showed more outrageous costuming, modern videos tend to be more sexually revealing of women. The camerawork in "Work" objectifies the women for the male gaze. In contrast, theories on narratives and binary opposition are deemed not relevant as the video lacks a story and opposing characters.

1. Theories
The music video I have chosen is
“Work” by Ciara featuring Missy Elliot.

2. Genre & Jason Mittell’s Theory
• Jason Mittell’s argues that industries use genres to sell
products to audiences familiar codes and conventions
that very often make references to their audience
knowledge of society and other media texts. This relates
to my music video that I have chosen to analyse: the
costuming mainly and the rapping. The costuming for
women in RnB/Hip-Hop are stereotypically seen in this
genre and has been used, this is one of the conventions
this familiarises the audience. Also the rapping gives
away automatically that this song is Hip-Hop because it
is always seen within this genre that it is urban and this
is the audiences knowledge of society, because rap is
shown as an urban culture therefore it states the genre
clearly

3. Christian Metz
• Argues that genres go through a cycle of changes during
their lifetime. Looking at another music video from longer
than 10 years ago within the same genre shows a
different iconic style of costuming and it is fairly
outrageous. The costuming is not revealing it is rather
strange and eye catching this music video is Missy Elliot
– Super Fly. This is very urban and similar to the music
video “Work”. The difference between the two music
videos “Ciara- Work” and “Missy Elliot-Super fly” is the
conventions portrayed visually. The costuming of woman
is more strange and the music videos generically these
days are more sexual on behalf of the women
stereotypically.

4. Laura Mulvey (1975)
• Argues that the dominant of view is masculine. The female body is
displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure for
the male. Women are therefore objectified by the camera lens and
whatever gender the spectator/audience is positioned to accept the
masculine point of view. This relates to the music video “work”
because yet again the costuming catches the males gaze.
Therefore this straight away catches the male audience. The female
audience would be interested in this look themselves this may be
seen as an influential image for these females that are viewing the
music video. Women are objectified by the camera lens in the music
video due to the specific shots such as a medium shot of the music
artists legs this straight away shows an attraction from the males
point of view; the director of the music video is trying to portray this
by using cinematography to fulfil the shot. (add Ciara's picture of
legs from documents)

5. Todorov Narrative
• Bulgarian structural linguist who made a great contribution to narrative
studies from the 1960’s onwards.
• Todorov argued that a story goes through stages of transformation that
lead to a conclusion.
• He suggests that the story goes through a situation of disruption by action
then a new situation is created.
1. The equilibrium of normality
2. Disruption of the equilibrium
3. Recognition of disruption
4. Attempt to repair the disruption
5. Return to equilibrium/normality
This does not relate to the similar genre music video I have chosen to
analyse, the music video is based on performance due to the dancing
only and the movements of the music artist there is no narrative (story)
behind the music video. There are no stages at all that create a narrative
story. Therefore this has no relevance to the music video and does not
fulfil the music video.

6. Levi Straus’ Binary opposition
• Argues that tension and drama in the
narrative comes from conflict or opposition
between two sides. This can be between
two characters such as different ideologies
for example captain hook and peter pan.
This yet again has no relevance to the
music video because there is no narrative
which creates action or opposition
between two sides. There are only
females in the music video performing.

7. O’Sulivan et al (1998)
• Representation
• Stereotypes
• O’Sulivan et al’s statement:
Details that a stereotype is a label that involves
a process of categorization and evaluation.
• In Ciara’s music video the representation of the
stereotype is females showing off their bodies
and dancing in a sexual manor is a
stereotypically thing to portray for women
through out RnB/Hip-Hop music videos.

8. Gender
• Gender has been used dramatically in the music video.
• There are only females and no males, although viewing
the music video stereotypically it looks as if it is targeted
to the male audience due to the dancing and the
revealing costuming and the dancing. The location is eye
catching and unique because it is based on a building
site this makes costuming even more interesting
because the females that are dancing are wearing work
uniform but have styled it out to a revealing style to
create fulfil the target audiences gaze.