Wednesday, 20 November 2013

homework on positive and negative representation of women in music videos

1st negative video: Meek Mill ft. Young Chris  -House Party
Mise en Scene: Most women in this music video are wearing clothes that show a lot of skin, which suggests that all they want to do is get together with the men by looking attractive. They are also (as the song name says) at a house party, which normally have bad reputations for things such as trashing the house, as well as having reputations for everyone being careless, getting drunk and a lot of people getting sexual. There appears to be a scene at a bar which gives the impression of women (although, in fairness, men too) getting drunk at parties.
Cinematography: A lot of the shots zoom in on the girls and track them, which could imply that they want to get noticed, this is also portrayed by the close ups of them. The mid shots/long shots of them with the men suggests that these women are there more for the reputation of the party than the party itself (by that I mean that they want the men to notice them and they try to get involved with what the men are doing). There are a few 360 shots and pans which could be suggesting that the girls want to show themselves off.

2nd negative video: The Roots -What They Do
Mise en Scene: The women in this music video are wearing either their underwear or bathing suits which is an immediate implication of them being eye-candy or objects of desire. They all seem to be at the house of a rich person and go with them to other places which could suggest that they are trying to impress the rich guys and only care about representation instead of the person they're actually with.

Cinematography: just like the Meek Mill song, almost all of the cinematography consists of zooms, pans and mid/long shots. This, once again, suggests that the girls are trying to show themselves off to the men and be involved with them. Which is kind of the entire point of the music video scenes that involve the women.

Positive Video: Lindee Link -The Next Time
Mise en Scene: Lindee and all the other girls in this music video are wearing perfectly acceptable clothing, which doesn't even need a description to why it's positive, it's just the opposite to the others. The scenes involve a forest pathway (specifically on a bridge over a river), a coffee shop, a silver back wall, a black back wall and a runway. A forest is a nice, refreshing, natural place to be which could represent the personality of Lindee by saying that she is kind and happy with who she is. The coffee shop is a general place for people to be when they want a break and it is almost the opposite to a club or party, which are the places normally shown in negative music videos. The runway is an open place which could suggest she is happy to be free with who she is and not narrow her choices down to just rich guys or celebrities. The black wall was mainly just there to represent the sad moment and the silver wall for the good times. She is wearing minimal jewellery (an earring and a ring) which are perfectly reasonable things for a woman to wear and they're not there to give her a representation of looking rich to buy it all. Her make-up consists of eye-liner and lipstick, which, once again, is a perfectly reasonable and normal for a sensible woman to wear.
Cinematography: There are many close-ups in this music video which I think are there to make the viewers feel more connected to her. The camera shakes a lot which could be a suggestion of her having strong feelings (relating to her lyrics). Other cinematography used are pans, tilts and 360 shots. The tilts and pans are mainly there to show that what she's feeling doesn't stay the same and her feelings are constantly changing whilst the 360 shot is probably there to show that she's made a turnaround (because she's forgetting about the past and moving on which is what the song is about). The final usage of cinematography are long shots which I think (again, relating to the meaning of the song) that she's keeping the ex-boyfriend away so that he stops hurting her feelings).

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