Music Video Research Methods - Process

During the research process for this Unit the initial approach was to first analyse the chosen music video texts for common conventions that would link them together such as the artists attitude towards women in the videos, the lyrics and the way in which the women are presented. The next stage was to gather information regarding the themes expressed in the videos, such as the attitude towards women, which would allow me to focus on a topic that I could research and find sources that related to it. I began to collect primary sources of information through the organization of a focus group, where a number of people were shown each music video text and were then asked questions about their thoughts on the videos, what themes or conventions they could see within them and what kind of audience the videos could be intended for. Their answers often went to the objectification of women and the hyper-reality of the artists lifestyle which seemed to be common among all of the texts. I also collected various secondary resources such as a copy of Laura Mulveys Essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” which helped explain the reasons why a certain audience would watch something like an R’n’B music video and the way in which women are presented in certain types of visual media. Other secondary sources included online versions of extracts from Naomi Wolfs book “The Beauty Myth” and Sigmund Freud’s “Three Essays on Sexuality” which all provided useful information regarding attitudes towards women, female sexuality and why an audience would gain visual pleasure from viewing women in the way they are presented in music videos. In addition to this I also used a few websites that either discussed the topic of music videos or had quotes and explanations from the essays I had looked over, which provided me with useful pieces of information quickly, that I otherwise would likely not have spotted. After I gathered this information I needed to cross check its validity before I used any of it within my essay, as incorrect information would be useless when applying it to the texts, so I compared the various theories and information that I found in my secondary resources against each other to try and find a link between them, then I needed to apply them to the music videos I had chosen to analyse in order to prove that the theories were present within the text. I believe that through the research process I gathered a viable amount of resources both primary and secondary however I think that a few more primary sources would have given me more information to work with as well as a few more secondary online sources may have helped me to make my points clearer as some of the information I found was rather repetitive and it was difficult to pick out a decent amount of useful information regarding the theories that could be applied to the music videos.

Music Video Research Methods - Outcomes

The outcome of my research led me to find a variety of useful information, the majority of which from secondary resources, concerning theories on how an audience would find visual satisfaction from viewing something such as an R’n’B music video, due to the representation of women in this form of media as sexual objects and the hyper reality of the male artists lifestyle it would appeal to a primarily male audience. Through my research I found that there were many ways in which females could be exploited and represented in a negative manner in visual media such as music videos and my primary resources such as the focus group seemed to confirm this as the majority of people asked gave some valid points, they thought the women in the videos were being exploited and objectified by the male artists ad were deliberately sexualized for visual gratification for the audience. The secondary resources I used contained a large amount of information on theories like the male gaze, which I could apply to the music videos in order to draw a comparison between how the women are represented and the reasoning behind this sexualization, which helped me make points to argue how they were being objectified and used in these videos as opposed to being empowered as some of my research might have claimed. The outcome of the research using my secondary resources was that I had a large amount of information and direct quotes from the sources such as Mulveys Male gaze theory that I could then use to link to the texts in order to show how an R’n’B music would appeal to its target demographic. My research also helped me realize how media such as music videos are constructed to appeal to its audience in order to offer visual gratification through the objectification of the women, however I believe that this could lead to negative effects in reality as the male audience might see it as acceptable to treat women in the way they are portrayed in these videos and this point was brought up during the focus group. I think that If I needed to improve on my research I would try and focus on finding more reliable sources of secondary information and conduct more primary research such as questionnaires and more frequent focus groups, which would give me more leads to other sources, I would also go through the procedure of checking the validity of the information I gathered more efficiently in order to get more accurate data from my research. I think that through my research I managed to address some major points such as the objectification of the women in these videos and the gratification the audience might get from viewing them, so I believe that my research was valid and accurate in its application of theory to the texts and the focus groups reactions and questions seem to back this up as the majority of their opinions coincided with the research I had undertaken and this confirmed that my research did have validity as the majority agreed with the theories that were applied to the videos.

Focus Group Recordings

Music Video Focus Group from Lewis Mercer on Vimeo.

This is the recording of a focus group held to discuss the music video texts we analysed, the first discussion being about the video for "Survivor" by Destiny's Child, the questions discussed focused on the possible empowerment of the women in the video due to the female singers. The second discussions as on the video for "Windowlicker" by Aphex Twin some of the questions discussed involved the mockery of RnB conventions in this video and the objectification of the women's bodies even though they had male faces. The third video was "Tip Drill" by Nelly and this video provoked the most discussion due its graphic and extreme content, the discussion turned to the controversial issue of how this video could affect male attitudes towards women, including issues raised by women towards the singer. The final video shown to the focus group was "Lapdance" by N.E.R.D while not as controversial as the previous video the focus group still found issues that could be discussed including the use of the women as background objects simply there for visual enjoyment.

R'n'B Music Video Essay

To what extent does the representation of women in contemporary R’n’B videos present stereotypically dominant views of female sexuality

    The purpose of this essay will be to explore the representations of women in an analysis of three contemporary R’n’B music videos that express the stereotypical views of female sexuality, I will divide these into three sections of analysis concerning these texts:- “Lap dance” by N.E.R.D, “Windowlicker” by Aphex Twin and “Survivor” by Destiny’s child, these texts will be analyzed to examine the codes and conventions of R’N’B music videos and how they express representations of female sexuality.

   

     The first music video I analyzed was for the song “Lap dance” by “N.E.R.D” made in 2001. The video instantly showed a variety of half naked women dancing over the male singers; this immediately expresses a sexualized representation of these women as while they are dancing, the camera still centres on the male singer suggesting these women are part of the background, simply there to be looked at by the male singers and the audience. It then begins to constantly cut to close up shots of the women’s bodies, showing their hips, chests and rear, this shows obvious sexualization of the woman’s body as a form of visual stimuli for the male audience in the form of scopophilia in which “the subject takes other people as objects of sexual pleasure and subjects them to a controlling and curious gaze” [Freud, 1905] the act of obtaining visual pleasure by looking at erotic or sexualized imagery, “to be looked at” is all the women’s purpose is intended for, as a means of visual pleasure and entertainment for the male dominated audience. Over the course of the video the images of the women become more graphic as the women are then shown in provocative and sexual positions while wearing nothing but underwear and lingerie. The women are shown engaging in homosexual and erotic activities with each other, with close ups of the curves of their legs, chests and hips and the reactions on their faces imitate sexual pleasure. These images express a representation of women from the viewpoint of a male hyper reality; the women are engaging in erotic and sexual activities, all of whom are scantily clad in bikinis and lingerie for the pleasure of the males present. This is something that would not happen in reality, and yet the video suggests otherwise as the males are constantly surrounded by women as if it was normal occurrence. Mulvey’s theory on the “Male Gaze” can be applied to this video, where women are objectified and used in a visual manner for the entertainment of men, she states that “ In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact”[Mulvey, 1975], the women in this music video are constantly shown as sexualized, often in erotic poses and half naked as means of visual pleasure for a male audience, and are objectified as if they were noting more than pieces of background scenery. This is enforced as in one scene of the video a secondary white male singer is flanked by two half naked girls and while the camera is focusing on him, the two girls are simply dancing beside him as part of the background, and when one of them gets too close to the center he physically pushes her away back into the background, signifying the objectification of the women by the dominant male presence in the video.

       The second music video analyzed was “Window Licker” by “Aphex Twin” released in 1999, the video starts with two men trying to invite a pair of prostitutes into their car, the language they use towards these women is vulgar, disrespectful, calling them “bitch” and “ho”. It mocks the language males might use towards females of that profession, and shows them treating the women as if they have no opinion of their own, as objects for simple aesthetic enjoyment. What follows is the men’s car, being rammed from behind by a white limousine, its length highly exaggerated and the singer being revealed from inside, this is the moment when the music actually starts up as the women get in with him. The next few shots are from inside the limo, they consist of close up shots of the women’s rears directly in front of the camera, as well as their hands as they fondle the man in the centre of the seats, one noticeable feature is that now the women have altered versions of the mans face instead of their own. Whilst this could be seen as a parody of the conventions found in RnB videos it can also be viewed as objectification of the women as the man doesn’t seem to care as they still have a female body. This is enforced by the next shots as the women are stood in the limo with their torsos above the roof trying to entice the two men from before who are following the limo, they either do not seem to care or do not see that the woman now has a male face as they are only interested in the female body. This video seems to be an intended attempt to satirize the conventions of RnB videos as it mocks the themes of the hyper realities that these videos present such as having fame, money and countless females surrounding you. Through the exaggerated length of the singers limo and also by being surrounded by scantily clad women, only with male faces attached to female bodies this could be seen as generally mocking concepts of female beauty that Naomi Wolf would describe as “features obscured and eyes extinguished, they are being imprinted with a sexuality that is mass-produced, deliberately dehumanizing and inhuman”[Wolf, 1991]. The next scenes of the video simply include various close up and establishing shots of scantily clad women’s rears, breasts and hips as they dance in line with the artist at the centre. This expresses a clear sense of objectification as the women are simply dancing in the background and they appear to be there for no other purpose than aesthetic enjoyment for the audience and the artist’s own visual pleasure and personal gratification. The ending scenes of the video show the scantily clad women dancing in formation while the artist sprays them with a Champagne bottle. The camera focuses on the women’s rears and chests as the liquid falls onto them, and it is shot in slow motion to exemplify the women’s movements. This again forms a hyper reality that exaggerates the attitudes of women towards men of wealth, which could have inverse effects on its active male audiences.

    The third video I analyzed was quite different to the previous two in many aspects as it was “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child made in 2001, this video unlike the others mainly features three female singers and while it does differ from the previous videos there are also many similarities. The video begins with the three women stranded on an island, they are shown running through the shallow water near the shore and lying in provocative positions on the beach. Immediately from this starting scene the women are being sexualized as they are purposely lying in erotic poses on the beach, running through water and the camera is constantly focusing on close up shots of the women’s curves and their skin. This immediately sexualizes them as it is showing only their bodies and their provocative poses, the next few scenes show them running through a forest in fur bikinis which enforces the sexualization as they are now wearing even less clothes than before and these clothes change in material very scene, from being made of fur to being made leaves, something that is easily removable. While the target audience may seem like it is meant for women it would also attract an active male audience simply for the visual gratification of looking at the singers. The video could also be viewed as something that would empower women rather than objectify them as the video features female singers, being independent and as the lyrics suggest they are “survivors” yet the way the singers behave in the video such as posing for the camera and dancing erotically would suggest that they are still being objectified, it seems to be targeting a male audience rather than females and this video could possibly affect the way in which women think of themselves, Naomi Wolf describes it as “Beauty and sexuality are both commonly misunderstood as some transcendent inevitable fact; falsely interlocking the two makes it seem doubly true that a woman must be "beautiful" to be sexual.” [Wolf, 1991]. This video contains many aspects that could be seen as objectifying to women, while even though the singers are all female the video seems to use them for visual appeal to its audience. There is the possibility that these singers have constructed this video according to their production company in order to appeal to the male audience. This would suggest that these women are aware they are objectifying themselves, but proceed to do so anyway as a way to attract a larger audience.

Bibliography

Texts – Music Video

1. Lap dance by N.E.R.D http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_uDcCZDrxg
2. Window licker by Aphex Twin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBS4Gi1y_nc
3. Survivor by Destiny’s Child http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmc8bQoL-J0

Internet

      4.   http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/usegrat.html - This site provided some useful information on the uses and gratifications theory that would explain why a certain audience might enjoy viewing these kinds of videos.

      5. http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/836516-the-beauty-myth-how-images-of-beauty-are-used-against-women - This site provided a varied selection of passages from Naomi Wolfs book “The Beauty Myth” which would be useful for selection of relevant information.

Books

    6. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality, 1905, Sigmund Freud

    7. Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, 1975, Laura Mulvey.

    8. The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women, 1991, Naomi Wolf, Published by William Morrow & Company.

Music Video Analysis Texts

These are the Music video texts that I plan to analyse, to discern the codes and conventions of R'n'B music videos and to explore the representations of female sexuality in the genre.

1. "Lapdance" by N.E.R.D



2. "Windowlicker" by Aphex Twin




3. "Survivor" by Destiny's Child