Analysis of the Uses and Gratifications Theory

passive                  audience                           active

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The theory of use and gratification is about how passive or active an audience member is.

The media effects theory assumes that audiences are passive.

An active audience is more discerning, they actively seek out media texts to have their needs met or gratified.

Uses of media text:

To be informed

• self-education
• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world.
• self-identity- don't want to appear ignorant to what's going on around you
• perceived by others
• the audience might find this interesting 
• satisfying an ardent curiosity and general interest.

To be entertained

• To be amused
• to be distracted
• it fills free time
• emotional release
• escaping, or being diverted from problems.
• from a stressful world
• getting essential cultural or visual enjoyment
• sexual arousal- whether through pornographic image or explicit texts i.e. magazines and music videos.

Catalyst for social interaction

• mainstream texts bring people together, to discuss what they liked or hated
• helping to carry out social roles.
• having a substitute for real-life companionship.
• enabling one to connect with family, friends and society.
• identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging.
• gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy.

Sense of identity

• connect with the texts whether its music or films
• feel an angst in the lyrics
• gaining insight into one's self
• finding reinforcement for personal values
• finding models of behaviour

How will I use Goodwin's elements within my video?

I will have frequent references to the notion of looking and I will show the voyeuristic treatment of the female body by showing my artist looking at herself in the mirror and using close ups of the zip of her dress when she is changing. The notion of looking includes men or women being portrayed seductively or if there is eye contact with the camera, this will feature heavily in my video as it is quite a sultry song and my artist will be quite a seductive and alluring character in parts of the video. My video will acquire the notion of looking as it references the use of props. e.g. Mirrors and cameras.

There is a succinct relationship between music and visuals. e.g. either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting this will feature in my video as I'm basing my narrative on a girl telling the audience her life story, therefore illustration and amplification will be key.

Record companies tends to have certain demands for their artist and my record label isn't any different. They often include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist will have a visual style which recurs across their work. The “4th wall” will be broken in my video because there will elements of performance, which is a direct address to the audience.

Vernallis analysis - Arcade Fire The Suburbs

          

The Female Gaze - Laura Mulvey

Is there a ‘Female Gaze?’

There is no secret that women are constantly being the object of desire through the use of voyeurism in music videos, however, it appears that males are slso experiencing it, suggesting that perhaps there is a 'female gaze’. For an example of how the male gaze exists within music videos I analysed “Anaconda by Nicki Minaj, I have found a contrasting music video from another artist which instead promotes female gazes. A key difference I noticed between how Nicki was presented in “Anaconda” when she was the subject of voyeurism and how the D'Angelo was presented in “How Does It Feel” was that females are presented as exclusively sexually whereas when a male is the subject of the female gaze he is presented sexually but in a strong and masculine way. This could reflect how women see men as more then just sexual objects and the natural gentle female nature, therefore that is also expressed through the female gaze.

 “How Does It Feel” – D'Angelo  

                        



Instead of a variety of locations and shots to keep the audience entertained, D'Angelo is highly sexualised to become an engaging piece of entertainment for the audience members to focus on. We watch him as he stands in front of a black screen and through the positioning of the camera the audience are forced to be taken in by it and by the art of voyeurism the audience both male and female are completely satisfied with the video despite a lack of narrative and contrasting shots.

 1) This video starts of with a very slow reveal of the artist through the use of extreme close ups, we are first introduced to the artists eyes, which are closed these aspects within this shot show the realism of the female gaze as if this was a video that  incorporated the "male gaze" the first shot would most likely be off a females body parts (breasts, but etc.)

 2) This extreme close-up was one of the most sexual images of this artist throughout the music video. The fact that this relitively moderate shot was the peak of the male’s sexual representation suggests that the female gaze is a lot more subtle then the male gaze. Although it is just of his mouth he is now sexually captivating the audience in the way that usually is the role of the female. 

3) Just like within the notion of the male gaze when the camera lingers on the female shape, in this close-up shot the camera is drawing attention to the male shape. Broad shoulders and a muscular upper body are symbols of the male body just as wide hips and a narrow waist are associated with the female shape, by focusing on these two masculine traits the video forces the audience to view the video through the eyes of a hetrosexual woman, telling the viewer to play close attention to the male body.

4) This last shot definitely suggests that there is a "female gaze" as the artist is completely naked and the camera movement is almost teasing the audience as it stops tilting just when it gets to this position, putting the audience in a position of a heterosexual female.







Here is a collection of album covers that would appeal to a female audience as they have sexualised men. However, through these images the male artists are shown as very strong and powerful as well as sexual unlike their female counterparts who just look like sexual objects whose only purpose is to satisfy their male audience.

The Male Gaze - Laura Mulvey

What is the "Male Gaze"?

The male gaze is a theory first introduced by Laura Mulvey. The expression refers to how the audience of a film is forced to ‘view’ characters through the eyes of a hetrosexual male. Features of the male gaze include a cameras focus on the shape or curves of a woman, imitating the wondering eyes of a captivated hetrosexual man, women being presented as objects of desire and either through narrative or camera shots in terms of angles etc being portrayed as inferior. Although Mulvey's theory was based on films, the idea of the male gaze and voyeurism can also be found in many music videos, particularly within the Hip-Hop/R&B genre where women are seen as sexual objects. An example of how the male gaze is evident within female rap artists Nicki Minaj“Anaconda.”

           







Here is a prime example of the "Male Gaze" at large. This is Nicki Minaj's single cover for her latest song "Anaconda."


















The videos narrative completely supports the male gaze and the notion of looking. Despite Nicki Minaj being the main artist in the video, she is has been sexually objectified through the camera angles. Although the entire video echoes Laura Mulvey’s ‘male gaze’, there are some moments that really highlight the idea of the audience having to view the video through the eyes of a hetrosexual male, which I have screen-grabbed and displayed below.

This screenshot shows the main artist, as well as a group of female back up dancers, doing provocative moves, to appeal to the yes of heterosexual men. Nicki Minaj's objective for this song and video was to empower curvy women through the lyrics and by "shaking her moneymaker."

The positioning of Nicki Minaj is quite animalistic, moreover her chosen stance highlights her assets. Due to her chosen position she is setting herself up for sexual objectification created through the male gaze.

Male gaze through camerawork

When it comes to “gaze” there is certain relationship with the camerawork. There are different kinds of shots that could be used to show the gaze. The examples are shown below with where the shots are mainly used in Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda' video  Medium shots (Nicki on the floor sticking her bum in the air) Close-ups (body parts in particular) Long shots (loads of female dancers, dancing provocatively) Tilting from legs to head (showing the female body)

Below is a collage of different album covers that conform to Laura Mulvey's theory of "The Male Gaze."

Voyeurism- 50 Cent Candy Shop

In an interview with 50 Cent he stated: "I attempted to be as sexual as possible, from a male perspective, without being vulgar or obscene".

                           



Goodwin’s theory of voyeurism refers to the idea of expressing sexuality in media texts through the notion of ‘observing’ . This idea is mainly aimed towards male viewers, (this links into the male gaze) as we are invited to look at the female artist or characters in a sexually objectifying way, this is often executed through camera framing, angles and the use of mis-en-scene. For example Goodwin suggests that females can be objectified by revealing parts of their body e.g. breasts and buts and by wearing revealing clothes with camera angles such as low angle shots and close ups used to emphasise this. Goodwin’s theory is certainly evident in most of the music videos seen on music channels such as MTV and Kiss. From watching videos I've noticed that they all follow the same idea of featuring a sense of voyeurism.  A good example of how voyeurism is used within modern day music videos is the 2009 song Candy Shop by 50 Cent ft Olivia as there is a clear sense of voyeurism in some of the scenes. Like, many hip hop artists, 50 Cent conforms to conventions of hip hop as this video includes the following typical conventions:

• Video vixens
• Sports car
• Sexual connotations
• Provocative clothes

This screenshot depicts a clear example of a sense of voyeurism for the viewers as well as the characters as their is a live feed of them being intimate with each other in the back ground, suggesting that they are also voyeurs.






The female characters within this video have been highly sexualised through their provocative movements and clothing, used as a ploy to entice the audience. In the above screenshot we see the female character on the bed


Below are 3 screen grabs highlighting 3 shots/moments that demonstrate voyeurism.

This is a low angle shot of the women dancing, this is an example of "male gaze" because we the audience are forced to look at these women's buts whilst they dance in a sexually provocative way. Moreover, the choice of costume also adds to this idea of women being objects to satisfy men as the main female who's singing is wearing cherry red hot pants whilst her back up dancers are all wearing bikini tops, leaving very little to the imagination.

This is an example of voyeurism as this is a shot viewed form 50 cent, as he is on the balcony looking down on these women as they dance. A feminist critic would infer that this could be symbolic over his power over women, a she a man is looking down on the woman thus giving him more status and power.

This shot shows two women being really sexual and provocative in a bathtub  as one of the ladies is pouring chocolate on the other one, this time it is the editing that helps to create a sense of voyeurism as this has been slowed down to be even more erotic and sexual for its audience.

Disjuncture - Bound by Kanye West

Disjuncture is a theory to describe the visuals of a music video bearing no correspondence to the lyrics or meaning of the song. The affect of disjuncture will often leave the audience confused but if done well it can give the song a deeper meaning that the audience may have not initially realised. Disjuncture is often used within electro-pop/house music videos as their is very often little/no performance shots of the artist so the narrative is the main focus of the video with the song simply acting as background music. Disjuncture is also used when an artist wants to stand out from the crowd with a video consisting of unique visuals that don’t particularly relate to the lyrics. An example of how disjuncture is used within music videos is Kanye West's Bound.

Above are a few screenshots that basically some up up the randomness of this video, there is no real narrative or sense of characters.

Amplification - Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus

Amplification is another one of Andrew another Goodwin identified conventions of a music video’s. This is when the visuals are used to enhance the meaning and effects of a song by constantly reinforcing the lyrics or message of the song. By amplifying a music video the artist is taking the lyrics and making them even stronger by creating visuals that not only support the song but it a, so enhamces the ovrrall message thus making it more powerful. Amplification is often used within music videos if an artist is trying to get across a new star image to their audience or if they want to make a weaker song more successful. An example of how amplification can be used within music videos to echo a artist’s star image can be found within “Wrecking Ball" by pop star Miley Cyrus, who uses amplification in many of her videos as, like many srtists, she as well as her type of music has changed and matured with her, resulting in her image constantly changing.  Amplification enables the director to become an artistic force in the construction of the music video as the direction doesn't have to be as literal and naturalistic as it does in an illustrative video.

"All I wanted was to break your walls" this line is clearly amplified by the use of visuals, below are screenshots demonsrstrating this.

The visuals shown here therefore help amplify the song meanings of emotional destruction by providing the audience with a strong visual image, of a metaphorical broken girl, literally destroying and wrecking walls as a result of the pain that the person she's singing too caused.

"I came in like a wrecking ball"  this is another example of aplification in this video as MIiley is literally coming into scene on a wrecking ball.

Illustration - Take a Bow by Rihanna

Andrew Goodwin identifies illustration as visuals that are used to represent the lyrics or message of the song. By illustrating a music video you are essentially showing the audience what the song is literally about. Illustration is often the most used method of linking lyrics with visuals used within music videos as it is the most basic and ensures the meaning of the song is not missed through a distracting music video. An example of how illustration can be used within music videos to represent lyrics can be found within Rihanna's Take a Bow.

"You look so dumb right now, standing outside my house"
this line is clearly illustrated by the fact that the male character aka the artists boyfriend is standing outside her house

Talking 'bout, Girl, I love you," "You're the one"

Intertextuality - Pink "Raise Your Glass"

Goodwin showed intertextual references to be a major theme within music videos. References that can be retrieved from other music videos, films, TV texts and even public figures. They provide the audience with further gratification and pleasure, as if they're able to work out the intertextual links they will feel a stronger connection with the artist feeling they are in on some sort of private joke or secret. Artist’s can also use intertextuality to help compare themselves to an event or public figure that will help them emulate the star image they want their audience to see them as. A great example of intertextual references being used within music videos to help star develop their star image is Pink's "Raise Your Glass."

Here it shows Pink paying homage to the renown "We Can Do It" poster of "Rosie the Riveter" by doing the action, the feminists salute.

Iggy Azlea- Fancy ft Charlie Xcx

Here are screenshots illustrating the intertextual reference of Iggy's video as she is holding a similar pink fluffy pencil as the character from Clueless.

Iggy Azalea is another example of a pop star that has used intertextuality within their video. The chosen text that has inspired this video is the hit 90's movie Clueless, below is a list of some similar qualities within this video that replicate the film such as:

• Costumes-  both Iggy and the main character from Clueless have the outfit decider machine that chooses the yellow plaided skirt suit.
• Scene location e.g. classroom and sports ground
• The way her name is introduced is in the same format as the movies title.
• Actors within the video resemble the actors in the film

The artists main audience are young people, teenagers till young adults therefore choosing to base her video around an iconic 90's film, from which the era most if not all her target audience were born in, was genius as it is something that links them together, as they would all know this film. Therefore, she has targeted a piece of pop culture that her fans would be familiar with and has possible expanded her audience to people who are just fans of the film, which makes this a very clever marketing technique.

Vernallis analysis- Chris Brown - Loyal ft. Lil Wayne, Tyga

Vernallis' theory suggests that The star (or in this case stars) of the music video should be the main focus throughout however, there is usually a background of performers in a performance video. In this case, Chris Brown is the main singer therefore, all eyes are on him, even though he has people in the background dancing behind him. Vernallis doesn't think this takes away from the main artist as long as there is the right kind of staging.
                               

 Here Chris Brown is dancing with a group of female back up dancers, although they're all doing the same moves, due to Chris being male he automatically stands out and is till the main focus for the audience.

Moreover when Chris is interacting with one of the extras, he's still in control. This shot shows this woman focussing on Chris whereas Chris is cheekily looking at the camera as if it is one of his friends, once again maintaing focus.

In addition, even though the back up dancers here are also male, Chris Brown still stands out due to his attire, as he is the only one wearing a white t-shirt and red gingham shirt around his waist.








Another one of Vernallis' many theories for music videos is that the leader singer must provide a flattering depiction of the singer lip syncing the song and that it should be made obvious to the audience, therfore there should be close ups of the artist to show them singing as she believes that this entices the audience in which makes them enjoy the video more because it makes the artist more engaged with the performance. Furthermore, I believe that this video executes this perfectly because even though this is somewhat a performance video, we as an audience still feel connected to Chris through his lip syncing as it almost feels like he's having a conversation with us, as he's being playful with the camera.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory for Music Videos

Below is a slideshare I found during my research into Goodwin's theory about music videos.

                    

                         Andrew Goodwin’s Theory from guestc6d43a4a