Who is the singer and who is he signed to?
- Vance Joy is an Australian singer-songwriter signed to Atlantic records (a subsidiary of major label, Warner). His music can be categorised as fitting into indie folk-pop genre.
Who was the music video directed by?
- The video was directed by Dimitri Basil and Laura Gorun and has had nearly 100 million views on YouTube.
Information about the song
- Riptide was Vance Joy’s first single to be released in the USA, following his debut EP, “God Loves You When You’re Dancing”. It became a platinum selling single.
What could be the meaning of the low-budget style?
- low budget could be due to the unique style of the music video was an artistic decision or an economic one as he was just starting off and his recent videos were high budget e.g. “Georgia” made use of larger budgets, special effects and elaborate, coherent narratives
Representation
- Perhaps Vance Joy’s record label chose to include such shocking representations of women being tortured in order to gain publicity and market the song e.g. generate audiences interest in the band and make profit
How was the music video filmed?
- An overt way; a wide range of contrasting shots juxtaposed (often through hard jump shots) to convey a large amount of information.
Media language- ice lollies scene
- polysemic readings - metaphorical readings, the splitting ice cream could be symbolic of a broken relationship. Therefore the cheery mise en scene presents a creepy and troubling binary opposition.
Intertextuality of…
- horror film - stereotypically attractive ‘horror film victim’ breaks free from being tied to a tree. Connotative of kidnapping and a violent threat. Contrapuntal imagery compared to the chirpy pop song. The representation often make audiences feel uncomfortable, which encourages us to see the victimisation of women as undesirable. Some women act as their own ‘hero’ in the music video, creating more powerful, independent representations of women.
Media language- money scene
- the music video further includes visual metaphors. This can be when the line involving ‘friends turning green’ there is an image of money on the screen. This representation links in with Roland Barthes theory of Semiotics.
How is the audience hooked?
- Concept based music video- more abstract- hook the audience through unusual style and make a statement by creating mood
Links between the lyrics and visuals
- Extremely strong link between lyrical content and on screen visuals - an explicit description, perhaps a binary opposition between a conventional and subversive music video.
What does riptide do?
-rejects normal narrative devices expected in a music video and instead constructs a montage of disparate images that lack narrative cohesion; leaves the audience to draw their own conclusions
What does the repetition of image sequences create?
more disjuncture- lacking unity, creating a separation or disconnection for example between the lyrics and visuals- literally matches the lyrics but creates an enigma, not narrative clarification
How does it lack verisimiltude?
Through knife going in hands & gun- to make the video surreal and lack realism -> means it’s a post modern product
Intertextuality
- reference to horror/thriller genre e.g. Ouija, The Conjuring as repeated images of women being dragged, graveyard scene, stabbing hand and abused state of women performer, Wes Anderson cinematic style; audiences to engage more actively to decode meanings from the product
Why Riptide uses a montage?
montage of everyday items establishes to the audience themes of travel and solidify the theme of escapism e.g. ‘cowboy running’ is matched with long shot, canted angle, symbolic of dual personalities, afraid of what he has become
Media language- waves scene
- On the word ‘riptide’ a low shot high angle establishing shot of the sea, connoting danger and death.
Media language- women being dragged
- reoccurring shots of female characters being dragged under beds etc. Gender emphasised through the connotations of costume, for example high heels, red lipstick and so on.
Media language- woman lip syncing
- unconventional master shot of middle aged women lip syncing to the track. Lip syncing gradually deteriorates and gets less professional. MES of blood and smeared makeup could connote abuse, violence.
- the use of incorrect lyrics, signposted with the on-screen subtitles, might suggest a code word, further emphasising the themes of abuse and escape. Fully polysemic, with absolutely meaning explicitly anchored by the producer. Is she drunk? Is she in danger?
- as the video progresses and you return to the character, her appearance alters as her make-up has smudged and her expressions become more and more vacant. bell hooks would argue that this video is sending contradictory messages about gender. She would question whether the video is objectifying women or is it rejecting the social norms that women face.
Representation- objectification
- Women in Riptide seem to be mostly objectified and victimised in some way.
- Voyeuristic M/S high-angled POV shot of young blonde woman removing a one-piece yellow swimsuit, slow zoom on to naked back, intertextual reference to early Bond films, even Baywatch.
- Throughout the music video women are considered to be objectified; which reinforces the ideal of a patriarchal society.
- Shallow depth of field. She is the only thing in focus. Everything else is blurred.
- High angle mid-shot suggests voyeurism- implies she doesn’t know she is being watched.
- Positions audience in a scopophilia position.
- These representations might appeal to a male heterosexual target audience.
- women conforming to social norms of beauty and glamour- that is associated with women in the mainstream media.
- reinforces a sense of patriarchal domination through the objectification of women
Parody
Presents a mocking of sexism in music videos - C/U ‘how to photograph girls’ - connotes that women are purely present to be looked at by heterosexual male audience.
Representation- women are presented as weak
The colour palette then darkens to match with the lyrics that run alongside the image. However, with the pink undertones, creates a strong sense of horror which is disallowed. The video uses high camera angles, terrified facial expressions, low key lighting and etc all add to the representation women as fearful.
Intertextuality
-The beginning of every chorus with a bright colour pallete and on a beach will cause nostalgia as audiences can relate to their happier memories of themselves and creates the ‘feel food feeling’
David Guantlett
The concept of pick and mix can be applied as there are a range of different stimuli that the audience are invited to interpret
