APPLICATION OF THEORISTS TO OWN CHOICE OF MUSIC VIDEO

By Emma Bentley

LITTLE MIX – ‘HAIR’Ferdinand de Saussure - He claimed that meaning is constructed by the creation and interpretations of signs. A representation, for example, is the drinks at the start. The meaning is constructed through the simple signs (semiotics). The pink alcohol may just be an average beverage, however the audience see this sign and assume that due to the alcohol, they are party animals, and are wild. The location that the video is set in is a house, and this sign suggests that they are just normal girls having fun together over at one of their houses. Another sign that has been used is the hair brushes that they are singing into, we, the audience know that they’re a famous girl band, however the brushes are a sign that constructs a meaning that these girls are very normal, and as a result of the semiotics, the audience feel at ease watching them.

Laura Mulvey – The Male Gaze- The band are all wearing quite revealing clothes – e.g. Perrie is wearing a low cut bralette covered by a loose silk robe. This would be argued by Mulvey to be for a male viewers benefit. Also, they all wear very short shorts, or no shorts at all. When they are dancing up the stairs, the girls are provocatively dancing and Perrie is framed in the middle using the rule of thirds demonstrating an alluring position and the viewers eyes are naturally drawn towards the middle of the screen, therefore, according to Mulvey, this is to present the girls as sexually submissive female characters.

Dyer - Dyer believed that the representations in the media, such as the girls in the video, are a way of reinforcing the differences between people. For example, the girls display behaviour that is very stereotypical for women, and especially on a sleepover. They order pizza, drink alcohol, do their makeup, and then dance and sing together. The fact that the girls over-exaggerate the stereotype of sleepovers and try to include almost every stereotypical thing that girls are presumed to do supports Dyer’s statement that the representations help to reinforce the differences between people.

Baudrillard - He argued that our society has become so reliant on representations we have lost contact and perception of the real. The girls are not an accurate representation of how an actual ‘slumber party’ would occur. As Baudrillard would suggest, the concept of girls meeting up has been taken, and over-exaggerated. They are supposed to represent ordinary girls, however remain dressed in a very stylish way that does not give an accurate representation of how the average middle-aged female would dress and act when just relaxing at their friend’s house. Society now struggles to decipher between a representation that is portrayed through a music video than what is actually real, the audience propose their own questions regarding whether their sleepovers and friends should be like what they see on music videos etc.

LITTLE MIX – ‘HAIR’Institution - Robert E. Kapsis: ‘The very existence of genre films and cycles is a product of the film industry’s attempt to overcome the problem of uncertainty of not knowing the future tastes of the mass audience.‘ In regards to ‘Hair’ the video is very much what we’d expect from a pop video by a girl band: e.g. dancing, parties, bright colours, upbeat, close-ups. These conventions help the audience to identify the genre and decide whether they wish to watch it. There is dancing throughout the whole video, and there are copious amounts of bright, vibrant colours clearly making the video something from the pop genre.

Audience - King: ‘The attraction of genre to the industry is closely linked to its presumed appeal to viewers. Genres are constituted not just by bodies of films but also by the established expectations of viewers.’ ‘Hair’ has many evident conventions of a pop music video, for example: dancing, parties, bright colours, upbeat, close-ups and many more, so that the audience get their expectations fulfilled. The industry needs clear divisions between genres to ensure that different viewers can decipher which genre they would like to watch, and each viewer expects certain characteristic from each genre. For example, in a pop video, the audience might expect dancing, and the girls dance throughout the video. The fact that the conventions are used confirms the type of genre that the video is.

Social and Cultural –John Cawelti: ‘Popular forms can be partly understood as social rituals. A ritual is a means of reaffirming certain basic cultural values, resolving tensions and establishing a sense of continuity between past and present.‘ In relation to the music video, the ritual of the girls comforting one another helps to reaffirm basic cultural values. At the beginning of the video Leigh-Anne was upset, and her friends came round to cheer her up. This allowed us to understand about what had happened previously, and now in the present we know that her friends support her. The fact that her friends are supported reaffirms basic cultural values. At the end, they are all laughing, and this helps to resolve tension, and as a result, brings the girls ‘closer together.’

Ideology - Judith Hess: ‘Genre films temporarily relieve the fears created by social and political conflicts by offering simplistic solutions based on following tradition.‘ The popular genres are always repeated and re-created, this applies to the music video. We see many genre conventions within the video, such as bright colours, and this convention has been recreated in the majority of pop music videos. The video uses these conventions to temporarily relieve the fears created and allow an audience to have their expectations fulfilled.

LITTLE MIX – ‘HAIR’

David Morley – Social and Cultural Content: ‘The meaning of the text will be constructed differently according to the different reader. There are individuals in different positions in society defined by: sex, class, race etc. ’ The audience will respond to certain actions/scenes differently. For example, when the girls arrive at Leigh-Anne’s front door, one person may feel very happy and this could be due to their personality and life experience, and another person may feel sad and sympathetic because they might not have had the same upbringing as another person. A higher class person may also respond differently and interpret the meaning of the text perhaps as being over-exaggerated, whereas a someone who is lower class may crave these sorts of friends and see it as a kind action.

Hypodermic Model – Adorno and Horkheimer:  ‘Media messages are received in a uniform way by every single member of the audience, and these direct responses are triggered by stimuli. For example, the hypodermic model would suggest that their dancing was to show that they were happy, and this is triggered by their smiles and bouncy choreography, and that is the stimuli. This message would, according to the hypodermic model be received in a uniform way by ever single person who will view the video. The main message of the video is that no matter what happens, if you have friends who support you, you can become happy again and it’s those friendships that matter. The fact that before the girls arrived Leigh-Anne was sad, and after their presence at the end of the video she was laughing would be believed to be a uniform message that every audience member would understand. Uses and Gratifications – Blumler and Katz: ‘This model suggests that the audience have a set

of needs which the media meet. The needs are: Diversion - an entertaining break from everyday life, Personal relationships - companionship through empathy, Personal Identity - our identity is shaped by the media texts we consume and our responses to them, Surveillance - information about the world around us. The diversion is the whole concept of the video, the content itself aids the audience taking a break from their everyday life, the personal relationships amongst the closely bonded girls show companionship through empathy and the audience can sympathise with the characters. The relationships not only create empathy, but a feeling of unison for the audience. Personal identity is evident through the sorts of videos / texts we consume, so we may think differently about life and relationships after watching the video. Finally, surveillance can be applied as the video offers us information about the world around us such as the fact that celebrities can live ordinary lives and face the same problems as the average man. Encoding and Decoding –Stuart Hall: ‘The preferred reading of the text is encoded via technologies. As a

result, the audience members will respond to the text in different ways.’ For example, someone might see the IPhone and see the encoded meaning, and respond one way, however another person may see something else, and respond in a different way. A teenager may interpret the IPhone and how it is so socially accepted, whereas an elderly man may not have the same experience, and will respond differently to the preferred reading of the text.

Levi-Strauss- Binary Opposites: ‘Levi-Strauss developed a theory stating that all people and events had 'Binary Opposites". Meaning that opposing opinions will cause conflict in the narrative between 2 sides, or 2 people. For example in the video, there is a binary opposite of Girlfriend VS Boyfriend. This feud between the two is the main cause for conflict, and is what is making Leigh-Anne upset. The whole song is about Leigh-Anne, and her ex-boyfriend, and her trying to get him ‘out her hair’. Levi-Strauss’ theory is correct when applying his beliefs to the video, without the binary opposite, there would be no conflict, and as a result there’d be no video.

LITTLE MIX – ‘HAIR’Todorov – Narrative Theory: Todorov states that most stories or plot lines follow the same pattern or path. There are five steps. Equilibrium - where the majority of the characters are content and things are how the should be, disruption – a problem that will disrupt the happiness. Realisation - the problem is identified, and finally equilibrium again - the problem/disruption is resolved and normality is resumed. In the video, the girls are content at the start, and then when Leigh-Anne rings them who her drama, this is the disruption. The problem is then identified to be Leigh-Anne’s ex-boyfriend getting into a relationship with another girl and L.A is upset. Equilibrium is restored once again at the end of the video and we see them all dancing and laughing together on the bed after her friends have raised her spirits and cheered her up.

Propp – Character Types: ‘Propp identified 7 different character types.’ The character types in this video are: The Villain – (opposes the hero) ex-boyfriend, The Donor (Gifts the Hero) – the other 3 girls, and The Princess (sought after by the Hero)– Leigh-Anne.

Barthes – Narrative Codes: ‘Barthes came up with a set of codes, and that one or more of the codes can describe the meaning of the narrative. These are: Action – suggests further action in the narrative, Enigma – questions regarding the narrative that the audience wish to be answered. Semiotics – elements which signify meaning, Symbolic – the main meaning of conflict in the text, and Cultural –elements which refer to things which are common knowledge. The enigma is what exactly happened between Leigh-Anne and her ex, the symbolic meaning is that friends are more important, and the elements are that friends will be there for you when you need them.