Eminem is famous because of his embodiment of white rapping. At the time of when he started to become more recognized, rapping was mostly dominated by the black culture and therefore, it was hard for him to start fitting in. However, because of his lyrical ability, Eminem was able to quickly start gaining more recognition and more reputation amongst the rappers making him become a respected rapper. In addition to his ability, Eminem's lyrics themselves were also extremely meaningful as he decided to rap about his life and all of his problems that he had for example with his mother, wife and even daughter. As he was rapping about this, people started seeing him as a very talented rapper and therefore, allowed for Eminem to become even more famous. As a result of this, Eminem is starting to become a role-model for many rappers as they believe that they have a chance, especially since Eminem originated from a very troubled background.
Star as constructions
Before turning into what she is today, Miley Cyrus was a mere construction of Disney Channel. Disney Channel decided to turn her into the sweet girl who everyone adored, especially because of her role in Hannah Montana. As she was constructed into this innocent sort of girl, Miley was able to gain a lot of popularity, especially amongst the teenager crowd who saw her as someone who they could easily look up to. In addition to her music making her innocent, Disney wanted her to be the sort of perfect girl who stayed out of drugs, as in one interview she said that "Drugs are for idiots". This shows that artists are turned into something they may not be, which is true for Miley because of what she's become, but companies simply do this because they know that they can make a lot of money out of someone.
Stars as a products
Many companies who own artists understand that music is only one way of making money. Another way for record labels to make money is through merchandise. If an artist(s) is popular then they will understand that people will certainly want things so that they can stand out and show the world that they like that artist(s), which is where merchandise comes in. A very good example is One Direction. As they are very popular amongst teenagers, record labels know that teenagers will spend their money on anything, as long as they get to show their love for them. One Direction's record label have gone so far that they've even made an online store (http://www.onedirectionstore.com/) where they solely sell One Direction merchandise. In this store they sell from clothing, to jewellery and even toys and games. This is a very good way to make profit and both the artist and the companies know that.
Stars as ideologies
Many artists/stars will represent one certain group or class so that they can easily get their support. Because the artist focuses that one group or class, many fans will try to follow them and copy their ideology. One very good example is Beyonce. She has made some songs which are created so that women are seen as equal as men, if not greater. One example of this is the song 'Run the World (Girls). This song is basically about women having the same rights and power as men. As she is singing about this, she will easily attract the female demographic into supporting her, allowing for Beyonce to easily get more recognition amongst this genre.
This week was the start of our A2 coursework and we started off by learning about a few theories (representation) and styles and conventions both for music videos. In my opinion, learning about these theories can help us when we are to create our own music video because we can use some of these styles and conventions so that we can have a broader amount of ideas. Also, we can use the representation theory work so that we know more on how artists portray themselves, and so we would have a better idea on how we could portray ourselves.
In this video, women are mostly represented as being very sexy and hot which agrees with Goodwin's theory since their flirtatiousness can make men want to see more, making them very attracted to the video. In addition, at certain parts of the music video, such as 1:17 or 2:37 you can see some girls wearing a very small amount of clothes which makes the women seem very attractive for a lot of men, which once again supports Goodwin's theory that men only watch the video for the women. Another way in which this gets supported is with the constant close up of the women which shows that they are trying to treat women as objects since they are just using those women to look appealing and for the gratification of men.
In this music video, at the start, (0:07) there are a few scenes which CCTV footage, and in this footage you can see one of the artists lying down in a bed covered by half naked woman. This shows that women are being used as objects and only there for the pleasure of the viewer because it can make some viewers start to get aroused. Also, having a lot of women around an artist easily suggests that the artist is very popular and very masculine which is used to create a better image of that artist, as well as show all the money and fame that they have.
Berger's 'way of seeing things'
In this music video the artist, Kesha, was seen to be very rebellious and rather self-centered as she is seen wearing a miniskirt and having messy hair in contrast to her family who seem to be very posh and well-mannered. Towards the end of the video, the artist is seen clubbing and drinking alcoholic drinks. Personally, I interpret this badly because I am not used to this kind of behaviour since I was brought up to be well-mannered and to not get myself into this which can cause trouble.
In addition, it's stereotypical that a girl who dresses trashy with clothes that barely fit is as previously stated self-centred since they are seen as people who do not know how to take care of themselves and are always seen to be getting in into trouble which can actually be seen in the music video at 1:42 where the artist is seen to be getting arrested.
The Male Gaze
This is a very clear example of how women can be used for the simple sexual pleasure of men, as throughout the music video the two artists can be seen wearing rather revealing clothes making them more appealing. At 1:07, you can even see Shakira in a hot tub completely naked, only coving her breasts using her hair. This clearly shows how she is being used as a sex object for the pleasure of men, turning them more popular. In addition, there are sometimes close ups of the artists, showing their backs closer to the screen just to appeal to men which is a very easy way for them to gain popularity.
'Reception Theory
This video raised a lot of controversy because of Miley Cyrus's 'new image'. She is now being more free as she is able to make her own decisions, even though they aren't usually the best. This therefore raised some disputes over how she now is, and so we can apply the 'reception theory'. The dominant side are the ones who agree with Miley - she has become more independent and strong meaning she can do what she wants. However, there are people who oppose this who are known as the oppositional. This group of people believe that Miley Cyrus is an awful person for what she is doing because she's turning into a bad influence to her younger audience who looked up to her. Then you get the negotiated people who just don't care about what she does or who she is.
Genre is a term that can be split up into differentcategories, based on characteristics that they share, for example, settings, storyline's, narratives,characters and themes. Many genres include grime, hip hop, rock and R&B.
One theorist known as SteveNealestates that 'genresareinstancesofrepetitionanddifference' and 'genresare notsystems,theyareprocessesofsystematisation'. This means that many music videos of the same genre contain similar conventions which I will demonstrate.
This music video by Section Boyz fits into the genre of grime. This music videos supports Steve Neale's theory because this music video is rather similar to what can be seen in a lot of grime videos. The artists are directly doing at the camera whilst performing notorious activities such as smoking drugs and they also try to look like they are dangerous. If the artists were not doing this, then it would be different to a lot of other grime music videos which the public may not enjoy as much.
When compared to the music video by 67 in the song 'Skengman', Neale's theory can be applied as both of these music videos are extremely similar. 67's music video also contains a group of people constantly looking at the camera trying to look as menacing as possible which can also be seen in Section Boyz's video. In addition, the same props can be seen, mainly drugs. This is because drugs is a large prop used in the grime culture and therefore if they didn't have it, then the music video would not be a typical grime video. In addition, in both of the music videos there is similar clothing being shown - dark hoodies and tracksuits used to show how they are dangerous as they are wearing dark clothes.
Eminem is famous for his rapping and thus, fits into the genre of rap. Eminem fits into Neale's description because he is similar to some rappers, but at the same time very different. Many rappers today don't rap about very meaningful things as it's mostly about girls, drugs or money. However, a difference in Eminem's music is that he raps about real things that affect him in real life, for example in the song 'When I'm Gone', Eminem is rapping about his daughter and how she is being affected by Eminem's fame. Some rappers also rap about real life which is a similarity to Eminem.
50 Cent's P.I.M.P shows how rap can be totally different but still fall under the same category. Unlike Eminem who raps about his life, 50 Cent's song is all about him being a pimp. The music video is full of women being 'sexualised' just to show how much of a pimp he is. Contrary to Eminem's emotional lyrics, Cent's one is all about him having as many women as he wants whenever he wants which is totally different to Eminem's 'When I'm Gone'.
This song by the Vengaboys titled "Boom, boom, boom!!!" fits into Neale's theory of repetition and difference. Many dance songs are very upbeat and made to make an audience member dance. This is the case in this song because the song has a rather fast tempo meaning that it will be easy for an audience to start dancing to it. Therefore, this suits the audience because if someone searches up for a dance song and they get this, they will be pleased since it fits into their criteria.
The song by Dr Kucho called Can't Stop Playing is also a dance song. It contains a very fast pace which is used to make the audience members get up and start dancing. Though the two songs sound fairly different, they both have the same target which is to get an audience member more hyped up which would be usually seen in clubs. In addition, to fit in with the dance genre, both of these music videos include people dancing which is just to make it more obvious what the songs' purpose is.
In this music video, Taylor Swift performs to a live audience and uses it as a music video. In this performance, you can see the crowd jumping and overall being very excited showing their enthusiasm when listening to Taylor Swift. In terms of the artist, a performance music video can benefit them and the record label because it will make the artist seem to be able to captivate an audience and so will increase the popularity of the artist. Also, a performance music video can display the artist's true self as they get to perform how they want to whereas a studio created music video will make the artist more limited as they have to follow the producer's ideas and possibly not what they want themselves. For audience appeal, the way in which the audience seems very excited such as at 1:28 where everyone has their hands up, will be able to be intriguing for other audience members and so, will mean that more people would like to listen to Taylor Swift. For conventions, the editing has many fast cuts which corresponds to the beat of the music. There are many high angled camera shots to show the crowd which connotes the vibe that is being felt inside the arena, but also many medium long shots of the artists performing the song to show the artists' own excitement.
Narrative
In this music video, there is a clear narrative style to it as there is a story throughout the entire video as Skrillex shows the growth of a group of boys - from becoming boys all the way to their adult years. For the artist, the benefits that they get from it is that it could display an event that could of happened in the artists' life and show they would like to display it in a music video. For example, in this music video, the artist could have known someone that had a troubled childhood which included stealing but later turned out to be someone who worked with compliance towards the law. For the audience benefit, having a story as a music video can be beneficial because the audience may be able to relate to what is shown and so making the music video more powerful for them. For conventions, the editing does match the music video at certain points which can make the music video more pleasing to watch.
Conceptual
This video has a conceptual style because there isn't much action rather than the artist walking down a long street. This can be beneficial for the artist because it can easily separate them from other artists since its very un-often to see a music video that is so simple and because of its simplicity, it can get a lot of popularity because discussions would occur about the music video. In terms of audience appeal, the music video is beneficial to achieve this because there can be unanswered questions, such as 'why is the artist just walking down the street without caring?'. These questions would keep an audience member interested because they would want to find out an answer to it. For conventions, the editing very much matches the tempo of the sing because as there are long takes and the song is not very upbeat, the tempo of the editing easily matches it.
Animation
This music video is clearly animated throughout which has benefits for both the audience and for the artist. For the artist, a very easy benefit for them is that they can save money for the institution as it is all done through computer rather than having to pay for humans to travel and to actually create the music video. Also, another advantage for the artist is that their imagination and creativity is limitless meaning that they could create anything they want and relate it to the music. For the audience, the benefits are that an audience member can be easily engaged throughout. As the music video is very interesting, an audience member would want to keep on watching it so that they would know what would happen next. Also, an element of mystery can remain since some of the things which were animated may not be 100% clear and so, an audience member would want to figure out what it's about. The conventions which are included in this music video is that it is inter textual as it refers to another media text. Because of this, it can easily make the music video more popular as people would understand the references linked to the other media text - League of Legends.
Interpretive
This video is clearly interpretive especially in the second half, where Eminem is depicting his lyrics. This can benefit the artist because it can show how Eminem wants to be perceived, for example when he was talking to his daughter, he later on put his head down in sadness. For the audience, it can also be beneficial because the audience will be able to easily understand the lyrics and so, understand the experiences that Eminem has gone through. In terms of conventions, one of the main conventions is lyrics. The lyrics in this song are very deep as they clearly show Eminem's emotions and thoughts, for example when he says "turn around, find a gun on the ground,Cock it, put it to my brain, scream Die Shady! And pop it",
Surreal
This music video is undoubtedly surreal because of how creepy it can be interpreted. For the artist, its benefits is that it allows for them to express their creative side and also use their imagination freely without any limitations. For the audience, having a surreal video can be very appealing because the audience would be left asking questions as they would be wondering what the video was about and they would wonder what meaning it has. Because of this, they would most likely ask their friends to watch it and so, it can easily raise the artist's popularity.
Parody
This video is a parody of Eminem's Not Afraid. This is because he uses a lot of the scenes that Eminem used but made them try to seem funnier. In terms of benefits for the artist, it can raise a lot of awareness for the artist because a lot of people enjoy watching and hearing parodies. For the audience, parodies can be very funny and enjoyable to watch and so they will continuously be entertained when watching the music video.
Cameo
At approximately 2:25, there is a cameo appearance by another artist known as Beck, making this a good example. In terms of artist benefit, having guest artists appear in their music video will easily grant them more popularity because they would like to see an artist they enjoy appear in another piece which thus, raises the artist's popularity. For the audience, seeing an artist that they like can raise their excitement and so they could share the music video with their friends.
