Media theories that I could incoorperate into my video

Andrew Goodwin's theory

Which says that most video's show six main characteristics.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
   (e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
   (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
   (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

An example of this in my genre is:

1. The band are shown frequently
2. The camera and editing match the genre and music of the video.
3. Lots of girls in the video-voyerism

I could incoorperate this theory into my video because I could relate the point about the video matching the lyrics with points 5 & 6 in the theory. I could also (because of the lyrics- We love you anyhow, But you're not so pretty now) perhaps challenge or parody the fifth point of the theory.


Laura Muvley Male Gaze Theory

Muvley is a feminist film theorist who created the film and music video theory the male gaze. The theory states that in many films and videos, women are often portrayed in two ways, 'voyeuristic', for example seeing women as 'whores' and 'fetishistic' seeing women as Madonnas. Muvley believes that film audiences have to `view` characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.  There are 3 parts of the male gaze-
Men looking at women-
Men tend to look at women's curves, this is the idea that men tend to look at other parts of a women's bodies and not their eyes. Which is why the camera in films also focus on other parts of the women's bodies.
Women looking at themselves-
Women are made to look at themselves in a negative way, thinking that personality does not matter and that its all about how they look and their appearances. It triggers women's self esteem and leads to women aspiring to be like women in the media such as Katie Price.
Women looking at women-
Women generally compare themselves to other women, which is why women are perceived in such a bad way in the media. In particular models, who are giving off the impression to women that they need to be 6ft tall and really skinny.
This theory can apply to most forms of media, from Mainstream film franchises (James Bond, Transformers) to music videos of all genres.

An example of this theory in my genre:

This video speaks for itself. The band are surrounded by pretty girls wearing not much and shown in a sexual way.

The lyrics of my song (which I have posted) mean that I could incoorperate this theory and/or challenge it because of the meaning to the lyrics. I could challenge the theory and conventions of it in my video or just incoorperate the theory itself.


Dyer's star theroy.
Richard Dyer believes that there pop performers and pop stars are two different things. Pop performers may or may not be famous and just perform music, whilst pop stars are images constructed by record companies and bands in order to sell thier records. Pop Stars are often made of gimmicks and either stereotypical or quirky stage personas that feature in thier live performances and music videos. The artists songs, look, style and video's are often tailored to fit the attitudes and styles of thier fanbase and target audience. These images can be stereotypes (e.g most pop stars end up looking like the "popular kids" in American high school movies) or quirky and weird, which fits a lot of genres (Lady GaGa-pop, David Bowie-rock, Marilyn Manson-metal, Wednesday 13-Horror Punk/metal). Several other ways for the company to sell is buy selling the private lives of celebs in gossip magazines and creating controversial bands (when Mary Whitehouse tried to ban Alice Cooper in the UK, his album went to number 1- apparently he sent flowers to Mary Whitehouse)
These artists sometimes create thier own image as a way of breaking from the normal conventions (mostly like Marilyn Manson, Wednesday 13 and Alice Cooper), but all artists who do this also know that it will sell thier music. This idea of having a specially designed and specific image can be either good or bad, as some artists will have good songs with important messages and meaningful lyrics, but at the same time some just produce the record company product of meaningless garbage to pander to the fans.