Rihanna - 'Distubia' Analysis - Vernallis

Disturbia - Rihanna

Vernallis' opinion is that the lip syncing is one of the most crucial things because the purpose of the video is to sell the song, and more importantly advertise the artist. Here we can see a close up of Rihanna which is selling the artist as she is the main focus of the entire video. Also, the close up allows the audience to engage with her and enjoy the song more if they can see the visual of her singing it.

This video immediately echoes Vernallis' theory of editing to the beat as we can see in the opening of the music video. This creates more of an attraction to the song and the video because it is likely to look a lot better to an audience if the video is edited to the beat of the song.

Furthermore, Vernallis stated that the artist in the music video is constantly on camera, with extras being placed into the background so the focus is still on the star of the video. In this video we can see Rihanna as the main artist as she is pretty much the only person shown throughout the entire video, however there is the part where she is singing to the manakin and this is the point where she still remains the main focus. The staging is set up in the performance part of the video in such a way that still makes us focus our attention on Rihanna.

The Possible 'Female Gaze'

Is There a Female Gaze?

The ‘male gaze’ is obvious in many different types of music videos. It is now so common that it is almost an expected feature. In my previous post I mentioned and analysed the features of the male gaze, however, I am now considering whether or not there is also a female gaze as a contradiction to the male gaze. Women are constantly being the object of voyeurism in music videos, however it appears that they are not the only ones. Men are being used in music videos to support the new concept of the ‘female gaze’. An example of how the male gaze exists within music videos is in the video 'Stupid Love' by Jason Derulo. 

The way in which the female character is laughing at what Jason is saying signifies her enamour of him. She is clearly happy just being round him and this attraction which is made very obvious with the way the camera is angled to show her reaction to him, allows the target audience to feel like they want a relationship like that with a man. 

Similarly, in this image, we can see her pose is implying how engrossed she is in what he is singing to her. She feels lost in what he's saying. It's as if she's in her own bubble with him and her gazing at him is used to show the affection she wants to show him. The fact he is looking away shows her releasing her emotions without him knowing. 

This pose highlights his strength which could be interpreted as something women want in a man. Therefore, it would attract the female audience to watch the video just for the images of the artist as women want a strong man to love and protect them and make them feel safe. 

The image of Jason Derulo being shown topless in this scene emphasises the female gaze as the director was aware the target audience would be engaged whilst watching this part of the video as he is seen as exposing himself in order to appeal to the women watching. 

The male is the subject of the female gaze and although he is presented sexually, it's in an intimate and affectionate way. This symbolises how women see men as more then just sexual objects which is expressed through the female gaze.

Arctic Monkeys - 'Stop the world 'cause I wanna to get off with you' Lyrics

Lyrics 

Open Sesame (we've places to go)

We've people to see (let's put 'em on hold)

There's all sorts of shapes that I bet you can make

When you had to escape, say the word

Well I know that getting you alone isn't easy to do

With the exception of you I dislike everyone in the room

And I don't wanna lie but I don't wanna tell you the truth

Get the sense that you're on the move

And you'll probably be leaving soon, so I'm telling you

Stop the world 'cause I wanna

Get off with you

Stop the world 'cause I wanna

Get off with you, ooh ooh ooh

Eyes the color of (water left in wood)

Icing sugar dust (crazy green flashes)

It's a funny thing that I cannot explain

Don't you know the train keeps rolling

Stop the world 'cause I wanna

Get off with you

Stop the world 'cause I wanna

Get off with you, ooh ooh ooh

Well, I know that getting you alone isn't easy to do

And I don't wanna lie and I don't wanna tell you the truth

And I know we got places to go, we got people to see

Think we both ought to put 'em on hold and I know you agree

Stop the world 'cause I wanna

Get off with you

Stop the world 'cause I wanna

Get off with you, ooh ooh ooh

The 'Male Gaze' Theory - Laura Mulvey

The Male Gaze

The term 'Male Gaze' was constructed by Laura Mulvey, a British feminist film theorist in 1975. She believes that film audiences are forced to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. This makes women appear as objects to men.

Some of the key features of the male gaze include the camera lingering on the curves of the female body or when the female body is being sexualised even when it is irrelevant to what is going on in the scene or advertisement.   

Some examples of videos which use the Male Gaze are:

In this video we can see Megan Fox being objectified by her clothing being quite revealing which will appeal to heterosexual males as well as the position she is put in, as the male character is seen to like her. The camera shots here emphasise that the audience should be focusing on her body when there are shots showing her body from her legs to her face. The way as she walks away he is looking at her, this puts the audience in the position of the male character so everyone is forced to look at her. 

 Another example of a video which uses the Male Gaze is:

This video also objectifies women as Nicki Minaj is shown in her bikini which highlights the Male Gaze because me are being forced to look at the women in a sexual manner. The close ups of the women's bodies are the main focus throughout the video, therefore this supports Laura Mulvey's theory.

These images show Nicki Minaj as being confident with her body by the poses she does in order to make herself stand out and emphasises the Male Gaze however, she is creating a certain image for herself which will make females not attracted to her even though the intention is to draw in the male audience.

The long shot of the women all standing together with hardly any clothes on highlights their intentions to the audience as they are performing extremely confidently and looking at the camera shows their expression towards what they are doing. The stretching of their legs here is another sexual image which will reel in the heterosexual males.

This image of Nicki Minaj standing by herself in her bikini allows the audience to engage with her and feel like they can look at her body as she is exposing herself freely. The extra women in the background are also exposing themselves but not to the same degree and their sexual poses emphasises the nature of the video and its purpose. 

Vernallis Analysis for Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"

Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"

Carol Vernallis' Theory

Vernallis' Theory

Vernallis' theory centres around 4 key concepts whcih all relate to the construction of a music video. 

Narrative:

Vernallis says that the video is a visual response to the music. She also believes there may not always be a clear resolution at the end. Another opinion of hers is that the structure of the video may appear disjointed. 

Editing:

She thinks that the editing may match the musical phrases or the beat, also she says that the video may break the rules of continuity editing. This could be used with jump cuts, breaks of the 180 degree rule and extreme changes in pace. 

Camera Movement and framing:

Vernallis believes that extreme shots are very common as well as close-ups and establishing shots as they show the different extremes of the video. The camera may move on the lyrics or move in time with the music. 

Diegesis:

The diegesis may be revealed quite slowly and actions are not necessarily completed. Vernallis says that there may be gaps in the audiences understanding of the diegesis and there may be many repetitions. 

Collage of CD Covers/Digi Packs