Gender Representations in Music Videos

Representation is a "re-presentation of the world"
Stuart Hall 

An audience is segregated by different things that can influence their interests such as their age, sexuality, gender, culture, origin, education, religion. To successfully sell a music video you need to consider the target audience, locations, themes and props depending on what the initial target audience wants to see.

Representation of women in the music industry

Women are often sexualised in the media, however we could argue that within music videos there seems to be a hyper-sexualisation that occurs. Women are seen dancing provocatively.

This creates a huge debate and causes two schools of thought. 

One side of the debate says that women asserting their femininity and expressing themselves sexually. On the other hand the other side of the debate says that this is damaging and problematic as if males did this it would be seen as offensive. 

Laura Mulvey

She suggests that women are objectified and connoted"to-be-looked-at-ness" in films. 

They become an object of desire and are positioned "for the pleasure of the male viewer", they are positioned for the "male gaze" 

Challenging Representations

Some female artists challenge the stereotypes and are rarely sexualisede.g Adele, Meghan Trainor and more recently Lorde. These artists subvert expectations offering empowering lyrics and stunning vocals. 

Masculinity

The more closely that a man conforms to expected and what we have all come to accepts as traditional characteristics of masculinity, the closer he is to being a "real man" 

Despite masculinity undergoing drastic changes in recent times, evidence indicates little change in hegemonic masculinity and strong representation of the four themes of the male sex role (stoic, aggressive, dependable and not feminine). 

Hegemonic masculinity

Hegemonic masculinity is competitive and reflects a tendency for males to seek to dominate other males and subordinate females. 

Characteristics such as drive, ambition, claims to self-reliance, heterosexuality, misogynistic, and being aggressive. Is this evident in contemporary music? Is it genre specific?

Homo-Erectism

Sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male-male or female-female. The concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homosexuality" implies a more permanent state of identity or sexual orientation.  

Music Video Study Day Editing Skills Develop

Production Screenshots 

This is where i dragged the footage from and dropped it into the holder so it was easily accessible for me to use and continue to drag it onto the initial timeline. 

This is where we dragged the footage onto the timeline along with the song to edit it. Placing the footage and the song on different levels allowed me to have the song and the footage playing at the same time. 

This is what it looks like when we finished editing, we didn't have enough time to finish all of it but this is what we had eventually.

Finished products

During the music video study day, I edited some footage that previous students have filmed to make my own version of their music video. When I started I found it really difficult to cut the footage in time with the beat to form salt and pepper movements.

The second video I edited was using a song and random clips of people dressed up in animal costumes dancing. this video was better for editing as the beat of the song was a lot slower.

What I found out from this is that editing takes a lot of time and concentration in order to get the timing right for the shots and to also match the song to the lip syncing. This means that I need a lot time edit the video. 

Music Video Study Day Filming, Performing and Lighting Skills Development

Instruments Set Up

The process of re-creating The Strokes music video of the song 'Last Nite' we learnt the basic structure and set up a band would have within the music video, this includes the setup of all the instruments including the guitar, bass, drum set and the microphones. 

Lighting

In terms of lighting there were built in lights within the studio we filmed in, which changed colour when you pressed the lighting controller on the wall. The lighting in the room would change from pink to blue and purple etc. Then additional lighting came through which were placed behind the performers, so that the light would shine towards the cameras, creating a more, "on stage" performance look.

Camera set up
There were multiple cameras set up around the performers, there were four cameras on tripods, two on either side and then there was the camera placed at the front on a tripod but this one was on a track that moved side to side smoothly. Then there was another camera on the fig rig ensuring the close up and more focused shots were included.

Reflection
i find that this will be useful for  my work as i now know the basics as to what i need to do and the process i need to go to to film a music video. From the lighting set up to the cameras, instruments, props and instruction giving.

Music Video Study Day Top Tips

Planning 

• Research and planning is the key to the success to a good music videos.
• Do not choose a hugely popular song or current song as it may be easy to copy off existing music videos.
• Look at previous students work as it may be good to find inspirations and ideas on what you an do to gain full marks. 
• Look at a variety of inspirational videos to gain ideas. 
• Do some re-creations of websites, photographs, album covers etc also blog your skills development. 
•   Make a timeline of a song an mark out sections for example the performance (band, dance, location) narrative etc. 
• Plan everything - props, equipment, shot lists, location recces. costumes and costume changes, learn lyrics, dance routines, storyboard and flat plans, model release forms, call sheets as a minimum. 
• You should have between 70 - 100 blog posts - use previous student blogs as guidance. 
• Start early so you can re shoot and re work 

Lighting 

• Make sure all aspects of mise-en-scene are are visible and you can add depth by carefully positioning the lights and also try having the lights face the camera. 

On Set

• Check all your equipment is working and fully charged. 
• Ensure you have loud audio playing and the performers will then actually sing along rather than mime so that the music video can look at its fullest potential. 
• Do full length takes of songs, even if it is just at one camera angle.
• Costume and makeup should be already organised and ready to go. 
• Aim for at least 10 takes per filming day. 
• Ensure participants perform - its your role as directors to excite the performers. 
• Take photos of the shoot (performers,cinematographers, director etc)
• Make a time lapse video of shoots and reflect on it.
• Blog the shoot - what went well, what didn't, what will you do on the next shoot.

Editing

• Sync up audio and footage before editing.
• Do a full edit first then go back an tweak and play around with key frames, split screens etc.
• Continuity is key.
• Ensure cuts are aligned to the beat of the music. 
• Don't hold shots for long - follow the dynamic of the song (the higs and lows).
• Ensure location Variety.

Researching Genre

Researching Cross Media Promotional Packages

Researching promotional campaigns beyoncé from racheltsangasong

Group Member Post

Wiktoria Bochnak 

Rachel Tsang

Alistair Bertram