Abstract

Abstract

The question for my media coursework is

How has gender representation in music videos changed to suite a more contemporary and critical audience?

So I will be looking at how music videos have changed for its audience. I will be using the rap genre of music because it has very clear representation of men and women. It shows men as powerful and dominant and the women as objects and something to be looked at. In some music videos that might have changed to make men and women more equal due to a changing audience but on the whole it is mostly a male dominated music genre. I will also use the pop genre because men and women are equal in the genre and mostly it is not just the men being powerful and the women just being seen as objects for the men to look at. In the rap genre of music is it a male dominated music genre but in pop there are as much men as there are women.

Audiences are constantly being shown music videos so it may have an effect on them such as replicating the behaviour shown in the music videos. Men could be more disrespectful to women and the women could be making themselves objects for men to look at because of the messages and values that music videos are showing its audiences. That could desensitise its audiences so they will think that it is normal behaviour to act and think that way about people so if music videos show more extreme messages and values about men and women the audiences will be desensitised to it and that could change the way audiences are. So the music videos have changed the audiences and they have become more tolerant of it. Also the audience could know that some music videos are wrong and that they do not watch it so music videos have to change to suite its audience and attract more people to watch it.

I will be using media theories to help answer my media coursework question such as male gaze, female gaze, gender theory to see how male and female music artists use their videos what view they show the audience and effects theory to see how music videos have effected its audience and if audiences show the same respect for people as in the music videos they watch. I will also use the uses and gratification theory to see how audiences use the media such as looking at what the artists are doing. Personal relationships to talk about artists with others, it also uses the water cooler theory they can interact with others about music videos. It could also be part of their personal identity by looking at the popular artists they could copy them to fit in so it could also be part of the effect theory as people are trying to be like their favourite artists. So it could also be a distraction from normal life for entertainment and relaxation and escape.

Media Theories

How has gender representation in music videos changed to suite a more contemporary and critical audience?

Media theories I will be using 

Male gaze

Laura Mulvey Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema (1975)

“In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness”

The theory suggests that the male gaze denies women human identity, relegating them to the status of objects to be admired for physical appearance. The theory suggests woman can more often than not only watch a film from a secondary perspective and only view themselves from a man’s perspective.

Female gaze

It is the opposite of the male gaze theory. This time the mean are being looked at from a female’s perspective as objects.

Gender theory

How the media represents gender?

Effects theory

What effect the media has on its audiences?

Uses and Gratifications

What audiences use the media for?

Surveillance – the need to know what is going on in the world.  By keeping up to date with news about local and international events we feel we have the knowledge to avoid or deal with dangers.

Personal relationships – the need to interact with other people. This is provided by forming virtual relationships with characters in soaps, films and all kinds of drama, and other programmes and other media texts.

Personal identity – the need to define our identity and sense of self. Part of our sense of self is informed by making judgments about all sorts of people and things. Such as judgments people make about TV and film characters. The choice of music, the shows we watch, the celebrities people like can be an expression of their identities. One aspect of this type of gratification is known as value reinforcement. This is where we choose television programmes or newspapers that have similar beliefs to those we hold.

Diversion – the need for escape, entertainment and relaxation. All types of television programmes can be used to offer a diversion from daily life as well as satisfying some of the other needs at the same time.

Subculture – Representation of Groups – Dick Hebdidge

In his book, Subculture and The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdidge said that a subculture is a group of like minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant on to which they belong.

Ken Gelder lists 6 ways in which a subculture can be recognised:
1) Often have negative relationship to work
2) Negative or ambivalent relationship to class
3) Through their associations with territory ( The street, the hood, the club) rather than property
4) Through their stylistic ties to excess
5) Through their movement out of home into non-domestic forms of belonging (social groups as opposed to family)
6) Through their refusal to engage with they might see as the ‘banalities’ of life.

Other ways of recognising a subculture might be symbolism attached to clothes, music, visual affectations like tattoos etc.

I will also look at the language used in the videos and semiotics. Semiotics is the study of signs.

Question

How has gender representation in music videos changed to suite a more contemporary and critical audience?

Evaluation

Evaluation of AS Media Studies Coursework

We chose brief one and chose the first broadcasting task and the first print task. We produced the first two minutes of the opening scene including a title sequence to the new TV show “Shutter Speed”, a pre watershed comedy travel reality TV series by silver linings productions. It is about a teenage boy trying to make his way around England without any money and he also takes pictures along the way. It is aimed at young adults aged around 15-35, mostly males. The audience is around that because it keeps to the brief and it is to air on E4. Also I have produced a teaser ad campaign to promote the new TV show. The print features the main objects in the show the moped and the camera. That will make people want to discuss the programme further to get a better idea of what it is going to be about.

Research has shown that comedy travel shows such as An Idiot Abroad is very popular. Also reality TV shows are popular with the young target audience we have targeted. Made in Chelsea, that is on E4 has won awards and is one of the most popular shows on E4. We decide to make it a more male orientated show because most of the reality TV shows on E4 is mostly watched by women. That showed a gap in the market for a more male orientated reality TV show. We included elements of motoring because that is mostly for a male audience. I looked at the popular motoring show Top Gear. I looked at the way they shot the cars and used the same techniques on our scenes with the moped. There shots gave it a more dynamic and fast paced feel when we shot the moped on the road.

The mise-en-scene in the print work relates strongly to what the programme is about and the channel it will be broadcast on. It clearly shows the purple E4 logo on all the advert campaigns. The institution is clearly visible in all the print work. It is a very distinctive logo that can attract certain audiences. The audience will know that the TV show is going to be on E4, a popular channel with teenagers and young adults. That instantly narrows down the amount of people that will be interested in shows like E4’s. E4 creates shows for young people in the age range of 15-35. Research has shown that it is mostly comedy shows dramas sitcoms and reality TV that are all aimed at the young audience demographic. It also has the time, when the programme starts, on the print work so audiences know when to watch the programme. Some of the audience may have a moped or might be doing art or photography as a subject. They could easily relate to the main character because of what he is doing. The programme will start at 10:00pm which is the time a lot of teenagers will be watching TV. Research has shown that E4 puts its best programmes around this time, about eight o’clock in the afternoon to ten o’clock at night so there could be a very big audience on at this time. The print does not reveal too much about the show so it can generate discussion amongst the target audience as stated in the brief for the print task. I used iconography associated with the title, “Shutter Speed” and the reality TV show, the moped and the camera. The title shutter speed relates to the shutter in the camera and the speed of the moped. In one of the print images it shows a camera taking a picture of the moped. That establishes the main objects in the programme. It establishes a strong idea about what is defiantly going to be expected in the programme for the audience. The simplistic design would be more memorable because there is not much to take in only the important parts of what the audience needs to know, such as the channel it is being broadcast on, what time it is on and what the programme could be about.

It could have been improved by adding a website link to E4 or to a social media site such as Facebook or Twitter. That could attract a larger audience because many people will have access to the internet these days. Most of the people using the internet are the young audience that E4 have. The print could also be improved by having the main character in it so the audience can have more of an idea about the show. Not having the main character leaves them in the dark but it creates a talking point about who it could be. People will not recognise the actor so it could be better not having him in the campaign to leave mystery. He could be added at a later date when the show is a bit more established with the E4 viewers so he will be more recognisable. Better image software could be used to make the images clearer.

The opening scenes of the show get across what the main points of the show are. It clearly shows Henry, the main character taking pictures, riding his moped around England and earning money. Students can relate to this because they will be finding ways of earning money. It targets the issues of the main audience well. They target audience may also have a method of personal transport such as a moped. There is also an explanation of what the show is about by the main character. That makes the audience get to know the main character and at the same time know what the show is about. The audience can get comfortable with the main character and get used to him. There is also a map showing where the main character is and where he is travelling to. The spectators will get to know there locations around England with the help of the map so they do not get confused or lost about where the main character is. To show that it was England we filmed parts of the opening scenes after it had rained. England gets a lot of rain so it helps the audience connect to the face the location is defiantly somewhere in England. It was also cloudy weather in some parts of the opening scenes. The puddles and clouds connoted that it was England, many TV shows show England as dark gloomy and has lots of rain.

The opening scenes could be improved by adding more detail into what the show is about and what goes on in it. That would help audiences get a clear idea about what it is about. It only gives a brief introduction about what the programme is about. That is also used to make audiences talk about it because it is only a teaser trailer. There are also some continuity errors in some of the scenes. They could have been avoided by paying closer attention when we were filming. Next time I shall look at everything in the shot and make sure nothing is out of place. That will improve the change of nothing being out of place. Also redoing shots that have something out of place will help the problem of continuity. Some of the shots with the moped show it going down the road and it is out of place. Reshooting that in the right places will correct that but it cannot be completely accurate because it is a moving vehicle and the speed cannot be completely accurate every time. Also some of the costumes that were worn change in the same scene when they should not have done. Next time remember what clothes the characters were wearing and tell them to wear it to prevent mistakes.

When I was looking ideas for the third platform which is e media TV shows such as Made in Chelsea had social media pages on Facebook and Twitter. It also had trailers on YouTube to further promote the programme. Most of the information it had was on the Channel 4 website which also has E4 on it. There are also fan sites as well that have information about the programme. There are not many adverts promoting E4 shows online. They are mostly on Channel 4 channels and promotions of its shows on YouTube and the Channel 4 website. It would be best to create a fan page site. That would have links to social media and E4 to help increase the variety of promotional tools and help to attract a wide audience from the different websites.

Shutter Speed video

Shutter Speed advert

Shutter Speed poster

Shutter Speed E4 logo

The Inbetweeners E4 Poster

E4 does simple posters to easily get the message across. The brand easily shows the E4 logo and its purple colour in the bottom right corner also when the programme will be on TV.

The E4 poster shows the main characters in the middle standing out from the crowd. They are in the programs setting, a school and what looks like a class photograph. The audience can see that they are different from the other students at the school and stand out in a bad way. It is like they do not fit in with the rest of the students. They stand out by not wearing the same clothing as everybody else it tells the audience they are different. 

They each have different personalities shown in the poster. it shows the one at the top as the joker because he is laughing and putting his fingers behind another persons head. The next one is shown as a nerd and middle class because he is wearing full uniform and he is also wearing glasses. The other one looks like he does not want to be there. The last character looks relaxed and is looking at a girl that suggests that he likes getting girls and is the ladies man out of the group.

Filming

We have two cameras to film with. They are both professional cameras. We can get a range of shots with them because we also have tripods to set up the cameras in diffident locations to make the shooting more stable than just holding them.

The locations we would be filming is around town.

We will use tracking shots to film the moving moped.