Applying Music Video Theory: Little Mix "Shout Out to My Ex"

When looking at the music video Shout Out to My Ex it is clear to see that all six music theorists come into play. Starting with E. Ann Kaplan we look at the editing of the music video. typically with any sort of on screen video continuity is important and is not meant to be notice as it will break the immersion however applying this to music video's is very different. The editing within Little Mix's music video is very noticeable. At the beginning the music video cuts from a performance type video with them singing and a pseudo-documentary style video showing what the audience perceives as a background to each member of the group showing their personality. Diane Railton looked into this. Further within the video editing also plays a key part. When the chorus picks up pace editing gets more energetic, this is to install a rhythm into the audience viewing this making them dance. 

Next music theorist is Andrew Goodwin. Goodwin's research states that there are six different rules when analyzing music video's. The video's genre is pop and therefore needs to be upbeat. One thing that happens in modern pop there are either soloists or a gender bias group. This shows to be apparent with Little Mix being an all girl group. Also in pop music videos women tend to be sexualised however the girls hold the power. This is apparent when at the beginning of the music video Perri is Waving her body around in a certain way that exudes power. This also shown with Leigh-Anne within the pool scene in a later verse. With the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals there is aspects of amplification and illustration as well. Point of illustration are shown when Jesy shoots a gun saying Over it at the same time the lyrics say it. This is done with a mid-shot. Other times within the music video it is just amplification. The theme of the song is somebody getting over an ex and there fore when the group throw's some males belongings out of a car this is a clear amplification of the songs main theme. There is also reference to Perri's late relationship with Zayn as they ditch a guy who resembles the singer which is done intentionally to spark controversy. The relationship between the music and the visuals is also important. The way the shots are edited together are done to the beat of the music, noticeable but intentional. This is to keep the audience entertained but also to help advertise their song. The shots are also very important within the music video. Every member of the group has equal screen time and most of the time are shown together as a group with a long shot. This is to promote their image as a group however they also are promoted and put together in such a way that they appeal to different target audiences. There is no set ethnicity within the group and their weights vary, not to mention they also have very different singing voices. Some members of their audience will want to be Jade where as other will want to be Jesy. The Mise-en-scene in the video is very important to. The way the women are dressed is very similar to high fashion at the time. This is done purposely to promote the group as being in with the trends and seen as being cool. Also their clothing is meant to show them as a sexual figure. Not only does this empower them as women owning their femininity but also helps to attract male members of the target audience. This is clear example of the male Gaze at work which is when the camera is looking at the women the same way a man would, in a sexual manner.  

Sven E. Carlsson looks at the artists themselves within the video and not the video it self. The artist can be represented in one of three ways  in a music video as a modern mythical embodiment. The group are a commercial exhibitionist. This means that they are selling their figure and their celebrity lifestyle. Moving on to how they are represented in terms of gender within the video. This is Carol Vernallis' theory. This goes back to the face that they are not all the same ethnicity or weight showing diversity within the group. This also supports that there was no continuity within the video but this is done to have impact on the audience. Keazor and Wubenna look at editing. When the music is playing the editing is synchronized with with beat. Also because of the genre of the song there is use of high frequency cuts especially at the chorus of the song.

My Favourite Music Video

Caravan Palace - Rock it for me

The reason I like the music video to Rock It For Me by Caravan Palace is because of how aesthetically pleasing it is. It is an animated video of a town made up of geometric shapes with only the colour red being visible. It companies the music well as the environment in this animated world is very up beat and happy. It is conceptual and does not really link to the lyrics. I really like the animated style of this video as it is not harsh to the eyes and the simplified features of the people makes it enjoyable to watch. As the artist does not appear in the video they are referred to as an Electronic Shaman which means the artist uses animation instead of appearing in the video. Another reason I like the video is because it is very arresting. The environment in the music video seems impossible to be real which interests me as the views and makes me want to watch on. At the end i also like how the robot dances to the music whilst simutaniously destroying alien ships. It adds a level of humour to the music video. Also during the middle of the music video I find the factory scene very satisfying  as they are all hammering at the same time to the beat of the music.

Key Music Video Theorists

E. Ann Kaplan

Key Text

Rocking Around The Clock : Music Television, Post Modernism and Consumer Culture (1987)

Key Points

This text focussed on MTV and was published 5 years after MTV had launched.

We were still 5 years away from the internet being 'born' and the world was a different place because of this.

Remember that, at this time, if you wanted to watch a music video then you had to wait for it to be shown on a channel such as MTV (which not everyone had access to of course as it was a satellite channel) or one of the popular free to air music shows such as 'Top Of The Pops'. 

As a consumer of music videos, you had no control over what you were shown which meant that channels like MTV could build up to 'event style' showings such as that for Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. 

Kaplan identified music videos as a post-modern form of the media. This means that they subverted of disregarded the expected conventions of film-making.

For example, editing in music videos is meant to be noticed whereas continuity editing in the majority of other visual media such as film was not.

Kaplan also recognised that music videos were a hybrid form as they were part advertisement and part entertainment.

Andrew Goodwin

Key Text

Dancing In The Distraction Factory (1992)

Key Points

Goodwin wrote this book at the point when music television was beginning to falter slightly and the internet had just been created.

Remember though that the internet in 1992 was very different to the internet as we know it now. CLICK HERE to watch a short video which shows what the internet was like in 1992.

Goodwin is best known for his 6 Features Of Music Videos.

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

2. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals - this is shown through either illustration of the lyrics, amplification of the meaning of the lyrics or disjuncture from the lyrics.

3. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visuals can either illustrate, amplify of show disjuncture from the tone and atmosphere of the music.

4. The demands of the record label lead to a focus on the artist's image. (This was, remember, at time when artists relied on a record label to promote them whereas it is possible today for artists to self promote due to advances in modern technology.)

5. There is frequent reference to the notion of looking. This could be in relation to screens within the screen or, more prevalently, in relation to the way in which the camera 'looks' at the female body according to Laura Mulvey's theory relating to The Male Gaze. This mainly focusses on the sexual objectification of women. (Look the theory up via Google to develop your knowledge.

6. There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

Sven E. Carlsson

Key Text

What Is Music Video? Audiovisual Poetry or Commercial Salad Of Images? (1999)

Key Points

You can read this article by CLICKING HERE.

Carlsson identifies that the 'artist' or 'performer' is represented in one of three ways in music videos a as "modern mythic embodiment":

• the commercial exhibitionist
• the televised bard
• the electronic shaman

The following lengthy quotation is taken from Carlsson's article and explains each of these:

"In one type of performance, the performer is not a performer anymore, he or she is a materialization of the commercial exhibitionist. He or she is a monger of their own body image, selling everything to be in the spotlight – selling voice, face, lifestyle, records, and so on. This commercial exhibitionist wants success and tries to evoke the charisma of stardom and sexuality, he or she wishes to embody dreams of celebrity, to be an icon, the center of procreative wishes.

Another type of performance in the music video universe is that of the televised bard. He or she is a modern bard singing banal lyrics using television as a medium. The televised bard is a singing storyteller who uses actual on-screen images instead of inner, personal images. Sometimes the televised bard acts in the story – sometimes he or she is far away and inserted images help him or her tell the story. The greatest televised bards create audio-visual poetry. They transform the banal story of the lyrics employing on-screen images to create a story about life and death. Too often, however, the televised bards only contemplates her or his own greatness and unfulfilled wishes.

The third type of performer is the electronic shaman. Sometimes the shaman is invisible and it is only her or his voice and rhythm that anchor the visuals. He or she often shifts between multiple shapes. At one moment the electronic shaman animates dead objects or have a two-dimensional alter egos (as in cartoon comics), seconds later he or she is shifting through time and so on. The electronic shaman is our guide on a spiritual journey through blipping images and magical attributes. And the electronic shaman promises that there is a hidden meaning in everything; he or she promises that we live in a magical, mythical reality. The electronic shaman’s voice and rhythm form the life-line that connects images and sound simultaneously creating new experiences and associations for those involved in the conscious-streaming journey outside time and space."

Carol Vernallis

Key Texts

Experiencing Music Video : Aesthetics and Cultural Context (2004)

The Kindest Cut : Function and Meanings of Music Video (2001)

Key Points

Versailles believes that verbal, visual and musical codes combine to create representations of race. class, gender, sexuality and performance.

She discusses the ways in which editing in music video does not follow the rules of continuity editing and focusses on the impact that this has on an audience.

Read some of 'The Kindest Cut' from the link above to learn more about this.

Keazor and Wubenna

Key Text

Rewind, Play, Fast Forward : The Past, Present and Future of Music Video (2010)

Key points

K and W stated that music video follows specific conventions.

These include:

• high frequency of cuts
• visual effects
• graphic elements
• synchronization of editing to the beat

However, K and W also identify that the internet has changed music video as a form. 

This has included:

• Music videos are now made with smaller budgets (largely possible due to developments in modern technology at the stages of production and post-production)
• Music television channels have lost their monopoly to the internet - this links back to the points I made in relation to Kaplan. In the contemporary world consumers of music videos are able to choose what they watch via online media such as YouTube, Vevo, etc.
• The internet has become a 'visual jukebox' where consumers choose content.

Diane Railton

Key Text

Music Video And The Politics Of Representation (2011)

Key Points

Railton identified 4 categories of music video.

1. Pseudo-documentary (behind the scenes, special access to the artist)

2. Art (creative and innovative)

3. Narrative (telling a story)

4. Staged (promoting a particular image of the artist for the audience)

Railton argued that music video shapes cultural identity with representations of race and gender particularly affecting cultural perceptions.

For example, she sees black women represented as sinful whereas white women are more likely to be represented as being innocent.

Railton recognises that men are also sexualised at times in music videos but that this representation more often than not is one where they still retain power.

She also argues that conventions in music videos are not limited by genre.

Railton's perspective is that music videos sometimes deliberately provoke shock to utilise the power of the internet and spark discussion due to controversy. This is an important point to remember when we consider that music videos are a promotional tool and there is an old adage which states that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

A good example to use for this is Miley Cyrus 'Wrecking Ball'.

The star came back with a bold new image in 2013, leaving her Disney days behind her with short blonde hair and a string of attention-grabbing videos and songs.

It’s a good song, but I doubt that’s the reason so many people watched the video, which features the singer straddling a wrecking ball in the nude. Well, almost nude. She’s wearing shoes, as one does in a dangerous construction zone.

This obviously worked as a promotional tool as 'Wrecking Ball' was Vevo’s most-viewed music video of 2013. The video drew 19.3 million views on the music video website just in its first day in September. Since then, it has racked up over 371 million views worldwide.

Me as a consumer of music

As a consumer of music I have access to it on a variety of platforms and software’s. Music is heavily integrated into my daily routine. As soon as I get up I am listening to music through a radio alarm that wakes me up in the morning. Not only is the radio station benefitting from this but the singers and producers who have made the music are as they get paid for the radio station to use their music. I also listen to music on the way to school using an app called Deezer on my iPhone. This is a streaming platform that lets you pay a monthly fee to listen to all of the music you want. This is more beneficial for me as it allows me to save money as my monthly subscription is £9.99 where as a hard copy of one album could cost the same.

Following the popular trend of vinyl’s as well I have brought a record player and purchase albums in the form of a vinyl. Record players produce a different sound that many people in my generation find interesting. I also buy hard back copies on CD as well as I find it satisfying to have a shelf full of your favourite albums ready to play on stereo or in the car. I also use music to cover up the boringness of mundane tasks such as homework by playing music off of YouTube. YouTube is one of the most popular places to listen to music however does not benefit the producer and songwriters on the music as the amount of money they earn per view has gone down.

When I am looking for music but done have the funds to pay for it I use a programme called Tubidy. Tubidy is a lot like Spotify and Deezer except you download the music from the internet and get it for free. No monthly subscriptions. I also listen to music on TV on a channel called MTV which is how I find out the most popular songs out to date by watching top 50 where they show the most popular songs voted by the public.

The music I’m into is slightly different from people my age as I’m into more “Hipster” music. This means I’m into music people haven’t necessarily heard of. The genera of music I’m into is Alternative rock or pop. This means they are not considered the normal form of rock. Bands like “Nothing but Thieves” or “Bloc party” are ones I really like.