The principle of voyeurism stems from Freud and explains the gendered pleasures of cinema, referring to the idea of 'looking' in order to gain sexual pleasure. It is argued that the male viewer's gaze at the screen is geared to notions of voyeurism as it is a powerful, controlling gaze at the objectified female on display. In music promos, the female on display has become a staple element, most notably in modern R&B, rap and mainstream female pop genres.
Andrew Goodwin on voyeurism
Goodwin argues that the female performer is often objectified through a combination of camerawork (i.e. close-ups and tilts that mimic the male gaze) and editing, with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star.
The sexual representation of women is also evident in male performance videos too, where a voyeuristic treatment of the female body is often apparent with the use of dancers as adornments which in turn, flatters the male star's ego.
Laura Mulvey
Mulvey proposed that there are three forms of 'looking', all of which presuppose a male audience with a voyeuristic intention; 'the male, controlling gaze': camera to characters, between characters on the screen and the audience looking at the screen. She poses the question whether women have learnt to be looked at through the composition of music video and the male gaze.
The Male Body
The idea becomes more complex when we see the male body on display as this can also act as a form of sexual, scopophilic pleasure to women.
Dominant Female Artists
The more powerful, independent female solo artists of recent years, i.e. Madonna and Lady Gaga, have further added to the complexity of the gaze by being simultaneously sexually provocative and also in total control. This offers a discussion on the range of experiences of music videos along with the contradictory meanings they may evoke.
- Camera movement, angle, shot type and shot distance all need to be analysed.
- Camera movement can accompany the movement of performers in order to create a more dynamic stage performance and to reflect energy, for example, constantly circling the band as they perform may reflect the high energy of a rock band.
Editing
- Fast-cut discontinuity montage editing is the most common form associated with music video and ensures multiple viewing.
- However, some use slow pace and gentler transitions to establish mood and tone, i.e slow-tempo acoustic tracks and ballads.
- Digital effects are often used to enhance the editing in music videos, as opposed to creating the illusion of reality which is commonly evident in cinema.
- They play with the original images to offer different kinds of pleasure for the audience. (see 'Street Spirit' above.)
The Close-Up predominates
- Creates a sense of intimacy for the viewer.
- Emphasises the commodity on sale (the artist, song and particularly - the voice).
- John Stewart (of Oil Factory) views music video as essentially having the 'aesthetics of the TV commercial', with lots of close-ups and cinematography techniques (i.e lighting) used most prominently for emphasis on the star's face.
A close-up of Radiohead's vocalist Thom Yorke from 'No Suprises' (dir. Grant Gee) presents half of the artists face captured in key light (used by photographers/cinematographers) to highlight the form and dimension of the star. The other half of his face is almost silhouette-like, complimenting the melancholy mood of the video whilst also linking to the haunting grain of Yorke's voice, emphasising the commodity being promoted.
- Light comes on gradually imitating the same tempo as the slow guitar intro.
- The bands genre is demonstrated by the mise-en-scene of the large expansive hall and the big set up.
- High-angle long-shot looks down, focusing on the artist, (like a CCTV image) representing there is a higher power which is ambiguous at this point.
- Close up of the artist wrapping a bandage around his hand as protection, which signifies he’s preparing for a (metaphorical) fight.
- Low-angle of the back of the star clenching his fist, representing he’s powerful as he is also positioned in the centre of the frame. He’s against the darkness, shown by the black he is facing, ‘keep you in the dark, you know they all pretend’ – speaking directly to whoever is hiding in the dark.
- Black line across the floor represents a divide.
- ‘...and so it all began.’ – Lyrics are a narrative.
- Aggression built up during the introduction is then transferred into the song through Dave Grohl’s vocals and lyrics as the rest of the band join in. Also the energy and aggression is presented through the fast jump cut editing and the fast pan and tilt movements of the camera, moving around the band showing how they are aggressively playing their instruments.
- Extreme close-up of Grohl’s face, camera is positioned at eye-level creating intimacy with the viewer, puts us in the place of the opposition. Red background behind band signifies anger, passion.
- Jump cuts and alternates between high and low angle shots – manic atmosphere. Creates a dynamic feel, reflecting the energy of the rock band.
- Panning around the back of Grohl, shows he’s opposing something.
Middle
- The back of one riot policeman emerging from the darkness – opposing force, represents the divide.
- Cross-cutting juxtaposition between extreme close-up of Grohl and the riot policeman
- Grohl = anarchy, aggression, rebellion.
- Riot policeman = order, law, control signified by his uniform
- This develops into a narrative as the lyrics seem to almost mock the officer “What if I say I will never surrender” “you’re the pretender”.
- Policeman pulls down shield over his face for protection, ready to fight. Similar to Dave Grohl wrapping bandage around his hand at the start.
- Camera tilts from high-angle to low angle from behind policeman = status and hierarchy shifts.
- Over the shoulder shot from Dave Grohl to the policeman, targeting him directly, singing lyrics to him.
- A line of riot police emerge from the darkness
- Dave Grohl (the star) positioned in the centre of the shot. Field of depth – closest to the camera and in focus.
- Camera tracks along the line of police to highlight chronological number order of the police, represents order - antagonists to the band which represent rebellion, expression, out of control.
- Long-shot shows two opposing forces. Foo Fighters – live, energetic stage performance contrasts with the stagnant police.
- Extreme close-up of Grohl’s mouth shouting lyrics into the microphone – ‘What if I say I will never surrender?’ challenging police, followed by a high angle shot showing there are a line of police and only four band members.
Climax
- Constant cross-cutting between Grohl and police creates tension.
- Contrapuntal sound – quiet, slow guitar bridge juxtaposes with the charging of the riot police.
- Tempo and dynamics suddenly rise as the red wall explodes.
- Long shot showing a side angle of the band as they lean forward imitating the immense force of the intense red explosion. Releasing their power, anger and fury.
- Slight low-angle shot portraying the police getting ‘defeated’. Camera is positioned amongst the falling police, representing the chaos and how their status has dropped dramatically. Contrasts with the band who are standing strong.
- Role reversal – riot police are meant to force people back, however they are getting forced back by the band’s fury and the red explosion.
- Foo Fighters are drenched in red, showing their immense power, fury, passion and anger.
- Jump cuts at the end are synchronised on beat with the drums. Chaotic – alternates between the police and the band which shows the contrast between the differing statuses.
- Grohl smashes guitar to release anger/energy – generic convention of a rock performance.
- Colour of the shot fades from red into white showing balance is restored and that the band have won, ending with a close up of the star’s face.
The concept of voyeurism stems from the psychologist Freud and it is used in Media Studies in terms of explaining the gendered pleasures of cinema and refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure.
British feminist film theorist, Laura Mulvey, wrote the essay 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' whichproposed that film is an instrument of the 'male controlling gaze', producing representations of women, the good life and sexual fantasy from a male point of view. The male gaze occurs when the audience is put into the perspective of a heterosexual man and Mulvey suggests that it is geared to notions of voyeurism and that men possess power and control, whereas women are viewed as passive objects and have learnt to be looked at objectively from a male perspective. In music video, this is conveyed through three different relationships: camera to characters, between characters on the screen and by the audience looking at the screen. On the other hand, recent and independent female solo artists such as Madonna and Lady Gaga have added to the complexity of the gaze by being at once sexually provocative and apparently in control. This brings into question the contradictory meanings that music videos may evoke.
However, the idea becomes more complex when it is argued that the male body can also act as a form of sexual pleasure and questions can be raised about how the female viewer is invited to respond. In 'Like I Love You' - Justin Timberlake, the male star is the main focal point of the music video as close-ups of his face is a common feature throughout and long-shots are captured of him break-dancing; an impressive and additional talent that might appeal to a female audience. In addition, instead of the generic hip-hop/R&B music video convention where the female character teases the male star and acts sexually provocative towards him, there is a clear role-reversal and Timberlake is seen as acting in a sexual manner towards the female character who seems quite innocent in comparison. Teenage female viewers who would typically watch this video probably idolise Timberlake as a 'heart-throb' and are likely to express a desire to be in the position of the female in the music video.
In conclusion, Goodwin and Mulvey's theory of voyeurism can be applied to music video to a certain extent as it is clear that a sexual representation of a female on display is a staple element of music promos. However, recent times have allowed these theories to become challenged, since strong female performers such as Lady Gaga have emerged onto the music scene and seem to possess high control and power but still evoke some sexual appeal. Also, the sheer fact that men can be treated as a form of sexual pleasure for female viewers adds to the complexity of the male controlling gaze.
We used the classic children's story of 'Little Red Riding Hood' as inspiration to create a storyboard for a music video.
The storyboard incorporates some iconic narrative elements of the tale but it is presented in a disjunctive and disjointed style, making it seem more like a music video. Whilst we were story-boarding, we kept the song 'The Pretender' by Foo Fighters playing on repeat in our minds, as not only do the lyrics relate to the story, but the technique helped us to envisage how the song would fit against our imagery and constantly reminded us that we were trying to avoid a logical sequence of images that made perfect sense and to aim for a disjunctive form instead. Furthermore, we added in various frames of band performance (e.g. - close-ups of musical instruments) and really thought about how to make our sequence as dynamic as we could imagine, so we sketched in line arrows to represent character movement and block arrows to signify camera movement.
By the end of this process we managed to achieve twenty frames of abstract, artistic imagery which constructed our storyboard for a music video. In addition, to make it seem even more disjunctive and detached from a conventional narrative, we asked one of our class peers to take away around half of our frames at random. We then arranged our shots back in order and we found that our sequence could still be shot effectively, due to the broken-down style and abstract nature of music video in general.
We chose the song 'So This Is Great Britain' by The Holloways to base our preliminary task upon since we had analysed the lyrics and thought that they exuded a rebellious quality that we could capture in a music video.
The location for the performance was set in a skate-park on Southbank because the background of the artistic graffiti reflected a vibrant, youthful feel that would act as the perfect backdrop for the energetic indie rock performance. The narrative scenes were shot in various places in Central London as we thought a patriarchal theme would complement the British punk rock essence of the song. However, whilst editing our footage we were concerned that filming amongst numerous famous landmarks and monuments in London expressed a 'tourist' quality that appeared quite amateur. Therefore, we aim to expand our choices when we film our A2 music video and possibly opt for more unknown, diverse locations.
Furthermore, we incorporated a lot of fast jump cuts into our video as they help to create a disjunctive narrative which also forces the viewer to focus on the musical and visual cues and serves to showcase the star. In addition, we often placed the star in the centre of a tightly packed frame and used tracking shots of him walking towards the camera whilst performing so it appears that he's singing directly to the audience, emphasising his rock-star status and expressed a sense of rebellion. Whilst editing, we cut to the drum beat of the song to create a rhythmic emphasis and found this to be extremely effective in terms of connecting the music to the visuals and it helped us to create a more abstract music video.
Lastly, during the editing process we encountered some issues with the iMovie software, finding it to be quite limited in terms of transitions and this left a lot to be desired. Therefore, we intend to use Final Cut Express and After Effects to edit our A2 music video as they have a lot more to offer and will no doubt contribute to a more professional, polished end product.
Sophiya Ali. 18 years old. A-Level student at Coombe Girls' Sixth Form. Studying English Literature, Media Studies and Psychology. This is my Media Studies Advanced Portfolio (Music Video); my individual, visual blog.
Contains: diary entries, research & planning, a music video promo, artist's digipak, artist's website and an evaluation podcast.
