2. Todorov - Narrative Theory
At the start of the music video, the equilibrium is that Demi is
confident that she will be able to defeat her enemy who is wanted,
however later on in the video, the disruption arises and it appears
that the people that Demi thought were on her side, were on the
side of her enemy, which leads to the realisation, when the fight
scene occurs with her enemy. Demi gets held hostage however,
while she is in the van, she finds a way to escape, and uses a gun
to break open the van door, which is a surprise to the enemy, who
is driving behind the van.
Restored order is used when the two enemies realise that they
have been played against each other and when they both see the
stamps on their arms, they empathise with each other, as they
know what they have been through. When they shake hands, the
man behind it all looks shocked, as he cannot believe that the two
girls are now on the same team. The two girls fight off the real
enemies and equilibrium occurs again, when the enemies are
arrested exposed on the news for everyone to see. Demi and the
girl then drive off on their motorbikes, content with each other and
how the situation has ended.
3. Propp - Character Types
Demi is being held captive by a
man of high and must obey his
orders. She has been given the
mission to find a woman who is
'wanted'.
When Demi finds the woman and
is ready to fight with a group of
men who are also on her side, the
man of power appears on the
screen next to he 'wanted' woman,
so Demi is shocked as she has
been set up.
The villain makes the two female
characters go against each other.
however in the end he is defeated, as
the girls both team up and get him
arrested, because they realise that he
is the true enemy.
Michelle is originally seen as the
villain however, when she finds
out that herself and Demi have
purposely been made to dislike
each other, she realises that she
must take action against the true
villain, making Demi and Michelle
the Hero's.
4. Levi-Strauss - Binary Opposites
The main binary opposite within this music video is
good vs evil, as there are clear hero's and villain's,
who end up going against each other, and as
expected, the hero's win and the villain's are
defeated.
Another binary opposite is male vs female, as both
Demi and Michelle are shown to be fighting the men,
who are the villain's in the music video, and end up
winning, which shows the empowerment of women
and how they are capable of being the stronger sex.
5. Barthes - Narrative Codes
Action The start of the music video shows a maximum
security prison, which suggests danger and makes the
audience wonder what is going on and why Demi is in
prison.
Enigma We then see Demi in a large room with low key
lighting, being given a mission to find a missing girl, which
makes the audience wonder why the man chose Demi to find
the missing girl.
Semic The miseenscene is black clothing,which does not
give much away about the characters however, Michelle's
character wears a red crop top which symbolises danger and
seduction.
Symbolic The music video shows that good always
overcomes evil, as at the start, Demi and Michelle are
enemies however,when they realise that they have been set
up,they become friends and defeat the true villain.
Cultural This video is a lot like many action films, as it
includes elements such as fight scenes and mystery.
7. Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze
Michelle is wearing a red crop which shows off her toned
stomach, which shows that she's fit, therefore men will
pay attention to the aspect of her body.
It is also the most prominent part of her body shown on
screen.
There is a high angle which shows Demi's breasts
however,they are not the key focus of the shot which takes
the idea of women being sexual objects away from the music
video.
13. David Morley Nationwide Study
This is a reception theory, meaning that the meaning of the text will
be interpreted differently, depending on their position within
society.
A high class person may watch this music video and not agree with
the violence involved, as they may believe that this is not suitable
for people to watch however, a low class person may not see any
problem with it, as they are aware that this is what happens within
the secret services and are used to seeing it on other forms of
media, such as on soap operas.