Lady gaga textual analysis (post modern music video)

narrative and performance based video

Paparazzi is performed by Lady Gaga which is directed by Jonas akerlund. As the video start we see various shot such as medium close up and establishing which help us identify the scene. We see a large house which has money every where. which show wealth to the audience as the 'paparazzi' are obsessed with the rich and famous. The mise-en-scene of props of jewellery money everywhere and newspaper with lady gaga on the front cover. Her face on the cover on american money may be infering her popularity and fame. This may have some intertextuality referencing to sunset boulevard a popular film from the 1950s. There are narrative referencing alongside stylistic similarities to this film.

As the video play we get a feeling of a old Hollywood style referencing as the typography seems very old styled. this is an example of patische /homage as this lets us no there will be some type of narrative in this video. the subtitles at the very end are the same as the y seem very old styled as well. The text 'lady gaga in paparazzi' is a generic convention as it is a lady playing a leading role in a production.

As we come to the next scene we see lady gaga making out with her partner we get a strong sence that this is going to be a narrative video as no music is being played. As lady gaga comes upon the balcony we see a point of view shoot as a photographer is taking pictures of her. she is thrown off by her boyfriend after being slapped. we then see Hitchcock homage it ios a reference to one of his films vertigo . Where there is a use of a blonde 'femme fatale' this referencing is very powerful for audiences to understand Lady Gaga state of mind. we see lady gaga doing some performance which is conventional of a pop track.

As the video continues we see mid shot of a dead body in a bathroom.Also a close up, medium shot and long shot of a dead body at the end the stairs. A manikin is seen as well on the grass. This may be showing her mind state as she may want revenge on her boyfriend. We see lady gaga wearing a humanoid kind of costume. this intertextuality reference is a breakdown of distinction between binary divides. There is a blurring of reality of fiction and as we see lady gaga represented in two different ways. at the start of the video she seems sweet and innocent at the end she becomes popular after killing her boyfriend 'she innocent... she's back'the papers still love her after what shes done. We then she her taking mug shot as she in a police station the mise-en-secene helps us to identify this.

We see lady gaga wearing a mini mouse costume and the poisoning her boyfriend. This costume could help her relate to younger audiences who listen to pop music. There is a very mixed feeling as she tries to look innocent about it. Overall we can see this video has many different readings which lady gaga promotes well through a good use of mise-en-scene.

Well done for the reasearch and planning work completed so far Teddy. You must now upload your Paparazzi analysis.

Gender Stereotypes in Music: Current Reasearch Findings

• Men engaged in significantly more aggressive and dominant behaviour
• Men represented as independent, adventurous, unemotional and competent
• Stereotypical gendered occupations ( i.e males as firefighters/mechanics women as Cheerleader/Waitress)
• Women engaged in significantly more explicit, sexual and passive behaviour
• Women represented as objects of sexual advances or as eye candy
• Sex role stereotyping sand negative attitudes towards females
• Women more likely to be presented in provocative or revealing clothing
• Women portrayed as decorative objects that dance, pose and do not play instruments
• Reasearch findings not only restricted to the hip hop genre

Gender Representation

ROCK

performanced based - can be of concerts

close up of main performer

torn clothing

wild atmosphere

tatoos long hair

RnB

close up of main artist

alot of eye candy- normally women

Performanced and narrative- male and female

show wealth- clothing cars

Dance

close up of main artist

male and female performers

studio shot

performanced and concept based

Hip Hop

close up of artist

women on display as objects

Choreographed dancing

clothing expensive jewellery

Men in control of women just there for male pleasure (gaze)

MODERNISM

• art/social-political movement that aimed to reinvent culture that had become outdsated
• roughly occurred between 1890-1960s
• a rejection against realism. divisions of modernism include avant-garde and surrealism.
• films/novels/art were self-reflexive of society

POSTMODERNISM

• 1970 ONWARDS
• breakdown of barriers between genres and style
• breakdown of distinction between binary divides
• (e.g human and machine
• mixing up time,space and narrative
• emphasis of style over content
• blurring of fiction and reality/ representation and th real
• becoming more use to mediated version of reality, than reality itself (hyper reality).

Sexual objectification and the male gaze (Laura mulvey 1975)

• objectification of women- seen as objects
• the clear visuals of female nudity - display implies subordination
• internalisation of the gaze, changes women's perceptions of themselves and makes them think of themselves as objects
• shift to objectification as a source of pleasure
• men as the dominant group have been the looker - women the objects
• Definition of voyeurism: erotic pleasure gained from looking at a object (who is unaware of being watched)
• Presence of women solely for the purpose of display
• female on display is passive and objectified for a male gaze regardless of viewers gender
• Voyeuristic treatment of female body in 'male' videos - use of dancers as adornments to the male ego
• the inclusion of women for display is a staple element in music video's across all genres
• WOMEN ARE LOOKED AT JUST FOR THE MALE GAZE

FEMINISM 1960/70's

• A movement in which women questioned there position within patriarchal society and the 'private sphere of home/children/domestic bliss

• serves to uncover challenge and eliminate oppression and dominant gender imagery
• women began to debate the narrow range of stereotypes present across all media;
• women as virgins,mothers or promiscuous
• women as sex objects
• women are inferior to men
• women are domestic house wife

Post feminisim and the female gaze (1980's)

• A re-appraisal of feminist values
• Does not strive for equality as this assumes men are best they wish to surpass male achievements.
• Objected to theories which postion them as objects of the 'male gaze'
• identifies a 'female gaze'- women actively desiring men
• Women began to assert their right to dress and be sexually attractive.

Music videos- Andrew Goodwin

In his book Dancing in the distraction factory, Andrew Goodwin identified a number of key features which distinguish music video as a form

He believes that...

• there is a strong relationship between lyrics and the visuals which is linked through lyrics

• Strong relationship with music and visuals

• Different genres will have their own music video style and iconography e.g hip hop artist using chains

• record companies demand that there are lots of close ups on the main artist

• Artist over time can soon developed a star iconographic image out of themselves in their music videos e.g jayz sign or ndubz dappy shouting 'nana nine'

• Most likely to be a reference to voyeurism, particularity in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking

• There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and tv texts

I'll be referring to this in my music video analysis