1. Analysing representation in a music video
In this essay I will be analysing the music video ‘All in my Head’ by Fifth
Harmony. Fifth Harmony are a young female pop and R&B group from the United
States. Generally, the group doesn’t focus on sending a message through their
music however, a number of their songs in particular ‘All in my Head’ and ‘Work
from Home,’ give good representations of gender whether stereotypical or not.
Therefore, in this essay I will be exploring the representation of gender in this
video.
The video in general displays a stereotypical view of the modern female as
presented in media today. Multiple male characters are presented in a
stereotypical way however, they are not as prevalent in the music video. There
is a distinct lack of narrative in the video yet, the group show the stereotype of
women being treated as sexual objects and to an extent even being submissive,
something that is recognised as common due to the fact that women are seen as
below men by many people in today’s society. The group of 5 themselves closely
represent these ideas about the female gender.
The camerawork is very important due to the fact that it is able to maintain the
representation of the female characters in the video. A Large amount of close up
shots are used to show off a variety of sexualised facial expressions. This
highlights the idea that women are treated as objects and lust for attention. This
is furthered through the use of high angle shots. These shots used regularly in
the video show off the female body whilst the group partake in erotic dancing.
Once again, the females can be seen as over sexualised and this links into Laura
Mulvey’s male gaze theory. The female characters, through the high angle shots,
are framed for the male gaze as the audience are able to glance at the female
body extensively. This ultimately, presents a marginalised representation of the
female gender.
As well as this, mise-en-scene plays an important role in portraying gender ideas.
Firstly, the females in the video are wearing minimal clothing and coupled with
the facial expressions this suggests a strongly objectified and sexualised
character. More mise-en-scene however, can link into David Gauntlett’s theory in
which he acknowledges pluralistic change but understands that hegemonic
cultural stereotypes still exist. During the video e see a frame in which the group
are placed at different levels with some of the females being placed much higher
up in the frame. In this instance, the representation of stereotypes changes and
becomes more diverse. The placement of the females suggests a sense of
dominance, which certainly challenges common hegemonic stereotypes. This in
turn, creates a more pluralistic view of gender in general as in modern society
we see women in greater positions of power and with far more influence.
The video’s target audience is more than likely to be males and young females.
Therefore, the sexualised representation of the female character created by fifth
harmony becomes far more apparent as it attracts males as well allowing
females to feel a sense beauty and worth. The representation of gender both
conform to and challenge dominant stereotypes commonly seen yet, the
stereotypes are not necessarily negative.
