This document summarizes how different locations, gender, age, costume, class, and ethnicity are commonly represented in music videos. It provides examples for each, such as how Miami music videos often depict wealth and good weather, how London videos may be shot in black and white to seem more depressing, and how rap videos frequently show baggy clothes and chains for costumes. Gender, age, and class stereotypes are also outlined.

1. Representation
By Lucy Denny

2. Welcome
This animation will be about the representation of
music videos and will focus on topics such as…
• Locations
• Gender
• Age
• Costume
• Class
• Ethnicity

3. In a music video that is set in Miami you would expect to
see good weather and wealth. This is because in Miami the
weather is hot and the people that live there are usually
quite rich. For example in music videos such as Pitbull’s
hotel room service you see him in a posh hotel wearing a
suit which represents wealth and you see him surrounded
by women who are wearing next to no clothes and rolling
in money to again represent wealth as well as sex. Another
example would be Will Smith’s song Miami where he flies
in a private jet and walks down a red carpet which
represents wealth and parties on a beach to represent
good weather and good vibes.
Miami

4. In a music video that is set in London you would expect to
see bad weather and depressing scenery. This is because
the weather in London is usually dull and rainy and the
music videos that are set here are usually edited in black
and white and the songs are usually slow so that they are
more depressing. An example of a music video that was
shot in London would be Ed Sheeran’s song ‘A team’
which is about a homeless girl in the streets of London
trying to get money for drugs which represents how
people in London don’t have that much money and the
video is in black and white so that it makes it more sad
and depressing.

5. Berlin
In a music video that is set in Berlin you would expect to
see young people partying and going clubbing. However
you might also see its iconic history such as the Berlin
wall which was knocked down which could be show in a
music video in order to represent freedom and diversity.
An example of a music video that is set in Berlin is Alanis
Morsette ‘Guardian’ which focuses of the city and skyline
of Berlin and is quite a dramatic and heartfelt video.

6. Ibiza
In a music video that has been set in Ibiza you would
typically expect to see sex, drugs alcohol and parting. The
typical age group that would be in a music video set in Ibiza
would most likely be between the ages of 16-20 because it
represents how young and irresponsible these teenagers
are. An example of a music video that was set in Ibiza is
Mike Posner’s ‘I took a pill in Ibiza’ which is a song based on
doing drugs in Ibiza and in the music video its set in a club
where there's drug use and sexual scenes in the bathroom.
This is a negative representation of Ibiza as it just
represents how people just go to Ibiza to take pills and have
sex.

7. Mansions
In a music video that has been set in a mansion you
would expect to see expensive furniture and posh
scenery. This is because only wealthy people can afford
to own a mansion so a music video that is set in
mansion are usually used to represent wealth. An
example of a music video that is set in a mansion would
be Taylor Swift’s song ‘Blank Space’ which shows Taylor
walking round a mansion in a expensive dress and
destroys expensive paintings to represent her wealth.

8. Gender
male & female
Males are usually represented in a music video through
stereotypes. For example men are usually seen as a dominant
figure throughout a music video whereas females are usually
represented as a weaker sex. Other stereotypes can also be
shown when a man is seen as being quite feminine then they
are usually being portrayed as a gay person and if a woman is
dressed manly she would be portrayed as a lesbian. Females
can also be seen as sex objects throughout music videos and
males usually have perfect muscular bodies. An example of
this would be Nicki Minaj ‘Anaconda’ which is a group of
women being used as sex objects as they are twerking
throughout the whole video. This is a negative representation
of females.

9. Age
Young children are usually seen in a music video dressed
in young childish clothes and surrounded by toys.
Whereas teenagers would represented as rebellious as
they are likely to go against what their parents say and
would be shown as carefree and lively. Adults would be
represented as the kind of people that don’t care about
what people think but are more likely to be aware of
what's going on as they aren’t as carefree as the younger
generation would be. An example of a music video that
represents age through teenagers would be Rita Ora’s
‘How We Do’ which represents how teenagers are
careless throwing parties and drinking alcohol.

10. Costume
Costumes are represented throughout music videos as
in a typical rap video you would expect to see baggy
clothes and chains. Costume is also represented in a
music video as you would expect to see teenagers or
younger people wearing quite revealing clothing, for
example a teenage girl is likely to be showing off her
assets by wearing next to nothing or low cut tops.
Costume also differs depending on the location. For
example if a music video is set somewhere like Ibiza or
Miami then they costume will be shorts and vests for
men and bikinis and dresses for women.

11. Class
Upper class music videos would usually be represented by
mansions and lots of money, music videos that are like
this usually involve wild parties by a pool and expensive
cars to show how rick they are. A middle class party
would usually be represented with average sized houses
and an average everyday car to show that they cant afford
as much as others. A lower class music video is rare to see
and is usually used for a sympathy video. An example of
this would be Ed Sheeran’s ‘A Team’ which is based on a
lower class girl that is homeless and addicted to drugs.

12. Ethnicity
Ethnicity is shown throughout music videos as a stereotypical rapper
would be known as a black man and they would usually be
represented through crime or money and drugs. Eminem was the first
white man to break this stereotype as he became a famous rapper but
yet still acted and dressed like a black man. We also got Macklemore
who is again a white rapper that broke the stereotype as he a rapper
that dresses and acts quite eccentric. An example of a music video
that represents ethnicity would be ‘Walk This way’ by Aerosmith and
Run-DMC as this music video was the first ever video to have white
people and black people together and the video was based on
breaking the wall between the black and the white. Another example
would be Vanilla Ice ‘Ice Ice Baby’ which also broke the stereotype as
it is a band where the white man raps and the black guys sing.