Sophie Muller Analysis, A2 Media Coursework.

1. Pick A Music Video
Director Whose Work
You Admire And
Investigate Their Work
And Influences:
Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller
By
Adam Henry

2. Contents
Sophie Muller
Genre
Rihanna- Stay
Gwen Stefani- Baby Don’t Lie
Garbage- Sex Is Not The Enemy
Conclusion

3. Sophie Muller
Sophie Muller born 31 January 1962 is an English music
video director, noted for her long-time collaborations with
artists like Beyonce, No Doubt, Gwen Stefani, Rihanna and
Garbage.

4. Genre
The wide range of artists Muller has worked with shows that she does
not have a set genre, as her productions range from R&B with
Rihanna’ “Stay” (2013), to Pop with Gwen Stefani “Baby Don’t Lie
(2014), to Rock with Garbage “Sex is Not the Enemy” (2005).
Although there is no set genre, the music videos produced by Muller
are all mainstream. They are mainstream because, many of the
artists Muller has worked with are well established, giving them a
larger budget and meaning they can utilise great locations or make
fantastic sets, helping them appeal to a larger audience.

5. This video is concept based, as there is no direct link between the lyrics and
visuals. The connotations of Rihanna in the bath denotes cleanliness and
innocence, but also gives a hidden sadness or longing because the bath is used
to help calm someone down after a shock or trauma. This gives the impression
that the song is essentially sad, and may be about a broken relationship or a
relationship that one person wants but the other does not. The audience get this
impression with the lyrics “Something in the way you move makes me feel like I
can't live without you.It takes me all the way. I want you to stay.” This is because
this person is longing to be with another but it seems they are unable to tell them
or they may be afraid to tell them because of hurt or rejection. It could be argued
that Muller has chosen the bath to denote the idea of being trapped, as Rihanna
only moves from one part of the bath to another which creates a sense of
entrapment. This could be showing that she is trapped by her emotions and is
unable to free them by telling the person she loves that she loves them.
Rihanna- Stay

6. Gwen Stefani- Baby Don’t Lie
Baby Don’t Lie is also concept based, but makes extensive use of
animation. Although this video is more abstract than Stay With Me by
Rihanna, the visuals are in fact more parallel with the lyrics. The lyrics
are“We've been walking down this road some time”as the audience see
Gwen walking down an animated road for the entire video. The meaning
of this music video is much clearer than Stay With Me. This is because,
through the parallel lyrics and visuals, the audience can easily work out
that it is about the difficult road of trying to make a relationship work.

7. Garbage- Sex Is Not the Enemy
This music video also has elements of concept, giving the impression that
this is a recurring theme in Sophie Muller’s productions. This music video
also uses aspect of narrative and performance. This is because it is in the
Rock genre, where the instruments are the most important part of the video.
The conceptual visuals are of a woman in a bedroom tearing the place up
and throwing clothing around and lying on the bed. Giving the impression of
distress and anger. We also see her protesting about something, both of
these visuals (concept) and (narrative) go with the lyrics because the song is
about being able to be intimate with the person you love without being
thought of as disgusting for enjoying sexual relations. We get this from the
lyrics “I won't be shamed cause I believe that love is freeIt fuels the heart
and sex is not my enemy”.

8. Conclusion
From analysing three very different music videos all directed by
Sophie Muller, I have seen that she incorporates similar styles in
all of them even though they are all very different genres. They
are either concept based or contain conceptual elements. On the
other hand, I have seen that she is a very versatile director, as all
three videos have very different meanings, and construct these
meanings are constructed in very different ways.