Music Video Style and Representation Comparisons.

Solo Female: Beyoncé- 'Crazy in Love'.

A music video with no apparent plot line suggesting that it has a fairly spontaneous and illogical narrative, hence implying that its purpose is not to create a heart-throb story- this is also very unlikely considering the nature of the music being sung. It is evident throughout the music video that Beyoncé aims to appeal to both the male and female viewer through the use of the male gaze, including provocative poses and close-ups on body parts. It is, in a sense, an exhibition of Beyoncé and she is very much central to the performance. On top of this, she creates the impression that solo female artists are confident and assertive divas at heart. The representation of men stereotypically being the dominant gender is also reinforced in this music video through Jay-Z appearing in control.

 

 

Solo Male: Ed Sheeran- 'Thinking Out Loud'.

Ed Sheeran's music video, in contrast to Beyoncé's, heavily features a female gaze- that is to say that the way it is presented as from a female perspective or reflects female attitudes, because of the creator's gender and as it is deliberately aimed at a female audience. It is apparent in this music video that Ed is in control of the dancer- he takes the lead and she dances around him; unlike 'Crazy in Love' there is no threatening feel generated however. On top of this, Ed is presented as somewhat metrosexual in character, being a elegant and clearly emotional character in the music video. Arguably this breaks away from the using representation of male soloists in music videos.

 

Boy Group: Backstreet Boys- 'I want it that way'.

The boy group heavily features in this music video, with all attention being paid on them; this is similar to music videos produced in the contemporary music market by boy groups such as OneDirection. Once again as a consequence of their target audience (young females) it is clear that the music video is unthreatening and light-hearted, likewise there is no complex plotline- it solely focuses on the performance of the Backstreet Boys. Throughout the video they are often shown as pointing at the camera as well as singing directly to it. The purpose of this is to make the audience feel included in the video and hence the boy group are presented as more desirable. It could be argued that once again the female gaze concept comes into effect in this video.

Girl Group: All Saints- 'Black Coffee'.

Unlike the other examples given there is only a minimal form of male gaze in this music video, perhaps this could be as a result of the nature of the song or the impression the girl group wanted to develop. Furthermore, in contrast to Beyoncé the females in 'Black Coffee' are not overly diva-like and assertive, although at points they are fairly confident. The stereotype of male dominance however is once again revealed in the short plot/ narrative that is present in this music video. With the combination of harmonising and individual sections to showcase each of their talents, All Saints are shown to oppose some of the concepts expressed in the other examples.

Male Band: Muse- 'Mercy'.

This futuristic video features a scenario telling the tale of a female model who discovers she is a clone and rebels to assert her individuality, hence generating a view as upheld by the Muse band members. Essentially it expresses their views regards the controversial issues as faced in society. The cross-cutting between the band performing and the basic narrative told increases in pace towards the middle when the song reaches its climax. This conforms to the expectations of a rock band whom are stereotypically loud and fast-paced, being very uncontrollable in nature. Whilst it does explore the effective performance of the band, much like Queen's 'I want to Break Free', it is also largely conceptual in the perspective it tries to develop. There is no focus on developing a female gaze and considering the model clone is female it is possible to argue that this video generates the view that men are in charge, however with the role of increasing individuality taking place this video explores how this sexual discrimination will soon balance out and women and men will have equal rights as well as equal dominance in society.

Female Band: Hole- 'Celebrity Skin'.

Hole are represented as 'breaking away from the norm' in this music video (a similar sort of showcase is demonstrated in Queen's 'I want to Break Free') through challenging attitudes about celebrity culture etc. Whereas one might expect a rock band to be uncontrollable- and Hole certainly don't disappoint when it comes to this- they do however use some features of their video to represent alternate ideas- for example introducing the pink guitar to the band or the use of provocative dancers to develop a male gaze, both of which are not usually attributed to the style of music they produce. But, in other aspects, such as the fast paced close-ups that are used throughout the video to induce a feeling of uncontrollability, it does conform to the conventional attributes of a female rock band. Similar to the girl group example, All Saints, throughout this music video particular attention is paid to including shots of each band member performing individually in order to showcase their talent.