Feedback

Enyinna, your textual analysis is detailed and intelligent. You show a real insight into how these texts convey thier meanings and messages. You must now ensure that you upload the following:

• notes on the key theoretical perspectives studied e.g. Marxism, post feminism
• upload evidence of planning work i.e. details of the track, genre, initial ideas and storyboard sections

Kanye West - Flashing Lights ft. Dwele

Kanye West - Flashing Lights

Unlike many other artists, Kanye West himself co-directed the video, along with Spike Jonze; and it was produced by Jonathan Becker and Joshua Greenberg. This music video was one of three that Kanye West had made for the song, however he favoured this one the most and decided to only release this one to the public and music channels (although the remaining two made prior to this were also leaked regardless).

It first starts off with a long shot of the desert and is used as an establishing shot of the area to keep the audience guessing as to what is actually going on and in suspense of what is to come. The video leaves little to the viewer to be strongly aware of the story at hand however such factors such as the setting being at night and taking place in a desert where the character(s) would be isolated, the slow motion to the video and the actual ambiguity and vagueness to the video already sub-consciously makes us feel uneasy and we become slightly aware of the sinister tone that the video possesses.

Due to the video being very ambiguous we as the audience can never truly know what’s happening and the plot behind the story since we are directly thrown into the action and are not directly informed as to what’s going on, so the director of the video has intentions of leaving the viewer completely in suspense and uncertainty and leaves us guessing.

Although it is not directly told to us what is happening, the director does form enough of a structured plot to the video that we the viewer can be able to make certain guesses and interpretations to what they think is happening, therefore we can take a very open-minded view to it and form an opinion based from our own analysis. An approach such as this is ever so rarely seen in music videos in general, yet alone a hip hop music video and therefore I do believe the director attempted for a very unique direction for the video.

I believe the director intended the video to be both aimed at satisfying the male and female audience as we have the male gaze at hand here where we see a very attractive woman who is dressed in very little, being of an existent character in the video. On the other hand this character also satisfies the female audience as she can represent a more post-feminist portrayal of a ‘sexy woman’ who can yet still call the shots. This is because throughout the entirety of the video the audience is always aware of who is in power here, which is her and nobody else. She is pretty much the only visible character throughout most of the video and therefore she dictates the camera and the audience into seeing her and only her. To exemplify upon this we also see the camera make many panning motions towards her, and there are tracking shots used on her to illustrate just how mighty and powerful she really is and how much attention is needed on her. It again shows how she gains authority over the camera, as a shot in particular shows her walking to a certain area and while there is so much space placed in front of her she still manages to be the only figure visible on screen.

The song in general has a very dark tone to it, and everything ranging from the beat of the song to the lyrics help portray it in a more pessimistic and darker light. Therefore she is also presented in great darkness within many of the shots in the video, which reveals her in a silhouette form and brings a very sinister and mysterious feel to her.

There is a shot where she throws a lighter in the air for it to land on her clothes that she just rid of to burn them, and we see her walking towards us (the camera) while the flames are burning behind her, and this already creates a vicious and monstrous persona to the character and presents her as being very menacing.

When we see her walking towards us however she never looks at the camera and that also tells us that she is in demand and very authoritative as the camera needs to be on focus to her, yet she hasn’t got a care in the world for the camera or us. This shot happens to be in a medium close up form and therefore we acknowledge the detail needed on her as we can see the motions she is making and notice she is walking to a certain direction, and this accompanied with the point of view shots her head is facing in allows us to understand that she has some sort of goal and needs to go back to the car as it has more significance than we may have initially thought.

By her walking towards the camera it means the camera also has to back away from her, pointing out how threatened we are supposed to feel by her presence. The video being in slow motion not only creates a very dramatic feel for it, but also makes her appear almighty and grand because her movements are slow yet still inevitable and sure, and so she almost seems like an unstoppable force who has an aim that we the audience know nothing about, yet can only watch unfold and do nothing in our power to stop.

It is not only the many camera and editing techniques that make this character be presented as so powerful and in demand, but also her actions as we see that she has the man, Kanye West, tied up in the boot and therefore helpless. It shows that she does indeed hold the authority in the video and even a man whom would be typically be portrayed as the more dominant force, especially in a hip hop video, is weak, feeble and powerless to protect himself of her wrath and unable to stop her motives and prevent herself from achieving her goals.

When we see her forcefully ram a prop, being a shovel, into Kanye West repeatedly we develop the view of fear we have upon her and recognise how much of a villainous character she really is. As the camera pans away from the boot and the car, we don’t actually literally see the shovel being thrust into Kanye West’s body and this makes her appear even more evil and cruel as the camera seems to not want to show us the gruesome details of our actions, making us fear the woman more and being more frightened and terrified of her.

When closely analysing the music video myself, I have come to a rough and opinionated conclusion that perhaps Kanye West and the woman in the video were once lovers. However he wronged her by most likely committing adultery/ having an affair and committing infidelity and therefore she found out about it and is punishing him (murdering him) because of it. If that is the case then it creates for a very intriguing plot as it portrays such a villainous character whom is doing the wrong things however is not all entirely to blame as the person she had once loved wronged her first. It portrays the woman as being somewhat twisted and psychotic however as she is going through such drastic lengths just to hurt him back, as she is even willing to take his life because of it.

We know that there must have been some sort of affection between the two as just before she starts stabbing Kanye West with a shovel, she kisses him in the cheek. That not only displays a possibly existent love-life between the couple, it also emphasizes on just how disturbing of a character and twisted she is, because she is placidly able to make a transition of making a gesture of love to him to instantly making more than just a gesture of sheer hate and detest.

In conclusion I found that I had mixed thoughts over the video. I believe it is an incredibly unique type of video especially when considering what genre it is for, however the extent of the ambiguity and obscurity to the video acts almost like a double-edged sword for it. It allows the audience to make their own interpretations to the video to a certain degree, however it leaves too much for the audience to guess and arguably lacks enough depth for a narrative in order for a viewer to thoroughly understand what is happening. Overall the pros may indeed still outweigh the cons and the dark nature to the video can leave a sense of macabre to it where we the audience still have a certain interest into the gruesome events in the video, and our interest is still pertained due to this.

Enyinna, I am most impressed by your range and depth of textual analysis so far - excellent work. You must now upload your work on postmodernism and Paparazzi.

Ciara - Like A Boy

Ciara - Like A Boy

This video from Ciara (R&B artist) is performance and concept based and was directed by Diane Martel. It is also a post-feminist related video as it has the women who take in charge and have control and dominance throughout the video.

At the start of the video we see an extreme close up of Ciara’s arms and hands and see various tattoos on them plus rings on her fingers too. The video is already drawing us in and pointing out to us the twist and subversion to the typical woman we may find in videos. It zooms out and we see a mid-shot of Ciara saying “2007, ladies I think its time to switch roles”. By the mid-shot allowing us to recognise her appearance more thoroughly and by what she says, we as the audience can understand she has attained not only a dominant persona, but also rather masculine one too as this is exemplified through her mise-en-scene features such as the attire and tattoos, which we would stereotypically associate with only the male artists.

‘Switching roles’ happens to be the main theme in this video as already we see a close up of Ciara leaning above her partner, shouting at him, putting her arms around him and none of this visa-versa, therefore we acknowledge the fact that Ciara governs the relationship which is something not very typical from a music video, especially in the genres of R&B and rap where it is more distinctive and representative for the man to be in charge instead.

However the post-feminist view over the video allows it to become more unique and let the genders “switch roles”, where the women don’t have to wear short, tight or revealing clothing in order to be more than noticeable.
Ciara portraying a male however by dressing up somewhat like on, and her posture and appearance allows her to mimic a typical black male/rapper and also portrays her as being more powerful as her character does not seem to display passiveness that illustrates a damsel in distress, but more so a person with a sturdy presence and can handle herself.

The man, who we presume to be her boyfriend/partner, is always stationed sitting on a chair. I believe the director did this purposely to subvert the sense of a chair being a symbol of power that it normally is. The man sitting on a chair could normally connote power, as it is symbolic to a king sitting on a throne, however because Ciara is always standing above him we see mid-shot and close-up clips of her shouting, verbally and physically abusing him, talking into his ear etc. It makes him appear as if he is actually sitting in an interrogation chair and she is the one in the driver’s seat pushing him around. This immediately takes away all of his power and creates a sense of vulnerability and helplessness, and makes it easier to acknowledge that it is Ciara who is the one with all the power. When Ciara herself sits on the chair, connotations to a king sitting on a throne are made to much more vivid detail, as she is able to sit on it without being disturbed, and her posture shows that she is relaxed, laid back and suggests her superiority.

There are many close ups of her tattoos, which are provided to exhibit them and used to illuminate her authority as tattoos usually relate to gang culture and pride, furthermore representing her power. The close-ups themselves also allow Ciara to appear very powerful and important as they show immense importance to the artist since we see her and only her in the screen, which make her appear very large and therefore representing her significance. The mise-en-scene aspects from Ciara’s appearance with the attire and tattoos suggest a much more masculine side to her (wears a vest, baggy jeans and a hat/ baseball cap and possesses various tattoos on her arms), and therefore creates a dominant persona on her which is something normally seen only on men in various music videos, particularly in the genres of rap and rock.

Her appearance is not the only methods used to promote this idea of power amongst her and exclaiming her masculinity and therefore dominance, but her actions are just as equally important to doing this as well. She grabs her crotch, and does various hand/arm gestures when singing which are resemblant to various male rappers.

The grab of the crotch allows Ciara to imply how powerful she is as it is a gesture very often used by rappers to show their masculinity and also to conform and live up to their ‘gangsta’ status. This is because it shows a rebellious, rude side to them that’s not trying to please the mass public by being polite and civil, instead it is a sign that basically tells them to ‘go away’. The dancers in the video also act accordingly to Ciara as they too are dressed up very masculine, and follow dance moves that would be normally associated and performed by male dancers.

In certain scenes there happen to be two Ciaras shown in long shots. A female Ciara that is wearing a dress and sticks to much more typical and conventional dance moves that would be seen on women, however there is also a male Ciara that is wearing a suit, has their hair tied back into cornrows and uses dance moves that are affiliated much more to male dancers.

The female Ciara is wearing white and that could suggest the pure yet somewhat passiveness to the typical woman in music videos as white is a colour easily stained, and easy to be coloured over. The male Ciara is wearing black, and that perhaps represent the typical male dominance in videos, particularly over women, as black absorbs white and is near impossible to colour over. The colour scheme of their attires also make it correlate well to the black and white theme to the video and this theme is used to represent contrast as white and black are known as opposite colours indicative of the genders male and female. Although the male Ciara would seemingly be the dominant character, this is not actually the case and ironically we see female Ciara actually show more demanding traits and characteristics compared to the other. There is a part to the scene where female Ciara demands male Ciara’s hat and male Ciara is obliged to give it to her. This further implies to us as how now the women are becoming much more controlling and domineering, as she is pretty much bossing male Ciara around. Not only this but shortly after the female Ciara rests her foot on top of male Ciara’s shoulder, increasingly suggesting the shift in power as not only is female Ciara standing on top of the male one and appearing higher, taller and therefore mightier; she is also instigating to us that the men have to bow down and accept women having all the control and authority.

The female Ciara also does a shifting gesture to the male Ciara, which leads to the male Ciara dancing off the screen, also suggesting dominance.

Another idea that provokes thoughts of Ciara trying to appear in control instead of very passive and seductive, would be a part in the video where the bridge of the song cuts in and we see a subtle, vertically intertextual reference to the glamour model/ actress of Marilyn Monroe being made where we see Ciara (also in her white dress) having her dress being blown up just as was the case with the incredibly famous picture of the actress as well. However in this shot we see Ciara hold down her dress and not being fazed by any wind as we only see her hair blow, and this could convey her own controlling and concrete presence that she maintains as she is not trying to appear sexy yet somewhat passive at the same time.

In the end of the video we see Ciara wrap her arms around her boyfriend and kiss her him on the cheek, and this is very ironic and further extends the idea of ‘switching roles’ as a kiss on this gesture represents protection, safety and security and therefore implies that it is not the boyfriend that will protect Ciara but it is Ciara who will protect him.

Irony draws from this because it is stereotypically seen in a man’s character as being the protector and sheltering partner in the relationship, however due to the theme of switching roles we see this aspect become totally inverted. A feminist and post-feminist reading to this would show how the woman is the stronger, dominant force and shows how Ciara can be capable of being a strong protector and also sexy yet always in control (as seen in the shot and slightly paradic reference to Marilyn Monroe).

I believe this music video is very successful at the portrayal of men and women switching roles and swapping personas as it depicted the man (Ciara’s boyfriend) as being under the will of Ciara and sticking under her authority. It depicted women as being much more dominating and strong than they may usually be portrayed to be in most music videos. The aim of this video was not to bring men down out of spite and bitterness, however in stead it seemed to focus on a target and aspirations of bring women up and representing them in a different light that grants them with more power, when compared to certain typical hip hop and R&B videos to the similar/same genre as this song, and their own rendering of women. It is also to show that men aren’t just free to dominate and dictate any relationship as they choose, and shows us that if things were to switch over that men would feel abused, hurt and mistreated (just like the boyfriend in the video) therefore showing an intolerance to double standards.

Feminist & Post Feminist Readings

Both the videos here can be viewed in either Feminist and Post Feminist ways



Britney Spears - Toxic (Feminist Reading only)

• Stereotypical - Woman presented very sexual and provocative, regardless of her being the main protagonist
• Very promiscuous & provocative- Coffee poured on man's crotch area/ She rubs her bottom on man's crotch
• Sexual object - Her range of revealing outfits
• Typical feminine occupations (Air Hostess/ domestic work)
• She is not riding the motorcycle but riding behind the man - Not taking charge/ Women need protection by men
• Diamond dress barely covers her body - Exploiting women's bodies
• Representation of male on plane is more realistic of that to women
• Chameleon effect of Britney Spears - Has to use her image rather than talent. Demeans herself/ could possibly reveal artist's low self esteem
• Shows sex sells
  
  
  
  

Pussycat Dolls - Buttons (Post Feminist Reading only)

• Offer messages of sexual empowerment - Assertive, provocative and in control of 'the gaze (male)'
• Confident, sassy, sexy icons challenging traditional assumptions about passive female sexuality "I'm a sexy marma"
• Uses a provocative male address challenging Snoop to "loosen up" her "buttons" - However, the dolls prove 'too hot to handle' for Snoop

However there are also counter examples to this, of a Post-Feminist type of video.

Missy Elliot's 'She's a Bitch', is an example of this.

• It rejects conventional representations of women- free from objectification
• Does not conform to stereotypical gender representations
• Missy is not passive; she 'narrates' the action - lyrics are not self exploiting
• Androgyny: Masculine codes of movement, stance and dress
• Mise en scene- She wears man tailored suits/ shirt and tie/ dungarees/ army wear
• Subverts gender codes - Use of male dancers; Missy displays a 'male' persona - drives fast car, wears the 'bling' etc
• Body image refuses to conform to idealised female stereotypes - Missy is literally inflated in her video of 'The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)'