Monday, 19 April 2010
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Message from Ms Prince
Your blog has now been marked for research and planning. Any subsequent work added will not count towards your overall mark.
Sunday, 4 April 2010
Ashanti - Foolish
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUPrnu3BEU8 Textual analysis
The opening of the scene is of two men sitting in a car and talking about trying to get a girl. It then leads on to Ashanti going on a date with the main male, as the are walking into the place of the date he gives money to man at this point he is hiding the fact that he is giving him money, this could mean that he is handing him money for something he shouldn't. He later hands money over to someone else for bringing them a table, the male is handing moeny over as if he has a lot of money to waste. This could signify that he is very wealthy and has a lot of money. Ashanti asks the male what he does he pauses and says construction, this could implies that he is lying, which also leads us to think he is doing dodgy things to get his money. It shows two shots of the male leaving the house and Ashanti standing at the door and waving goodbye, at the second shot she asks for moeny and that's when he lifts up his top and use stack of money in the belt, he hands over a stack to Ashanti, this also stresses the fact that he is involved in something dodgy, as a normal person who is doing a 9-5 job wouldn't have money in their clothes like that.
It then shows a scene of Ashanti and the male arguing and her throwing the car keys out the window, this could mean she doesn't want material things all she wants is for him to love her genuinely. They then carry on arguining, till he then has a swing at her with the lamp however she bends down and he misses her, this is actually a serious situation as it shows he is aggressive and tried to hit her. Whilst he attempted to hit her she os singing, ' I don't know how I allow you to treat me this way and still I stay.' This could mean that she knows the way he is behaving is unacceptable however it sounds as if she's not about to leave him anytime soon, also that line sounds as if he has tried to hit her or been agressive toward her before, so it's not the first time it has actually happened.
There's a scene shortly after where he comes back to her house, which looks as if it is her parents house, he knocks on the door and she answers the door. When she answers the door her mother also comes out and starts shoutig at the male, this could mean that Ashanti has no control over her own life, as when her partner returns it;'s her mtoher that askd where he's been not her. This could mena to some extent her mother controls her life and from what we gathered before Ashantis partner controls her. This could stereotypically mean that females are controlled by others, firstly in the video by her partner and then later in the video by her mother.
It then leads to the scene where Ashanti is packng her bags, at this point hse has convinced the audience she is going to finally leave her partner. She is walking down the stairs to leave the house and she opens the door and her partner is standing at the door, as soon as Ashanti sees him she drops her bag and hugs him. This could signify that she is extremley weak when it comes to him, as she loves him dearly and could also signify she is weak. However, if the audience listen to lyrics carefully whilst Ashanti is packing her bag she sings, 'kknowing that i should go' that doesn't sound convincing to the audience that she is going to leave, it sounds as if she knows she should leave but she can't.
All in all, this song and video represents a woman as weak object of a male. Ashanti in this video wants to escape from the relationship and knows she should however she can't because she is in 'love' with her partner who has continuously argues with her, cheated on her, leave for days without telling her where he is going and lastly and most importantly he's attempted to hit her. She knows she should leave him but she doesn't. At the end when she hugs her partner the word foolish appears, this could mean she is foolish for taking him back once again.
The opening of the scene is of two men sitting in a car and talking about trying to get a girl. It then leads on to Ashanti going on a date with the main male, as the are walking into the place of the date he gives money to man at this point he is hiding the fact that he is giving him money, this could mean that he is handing him money for something he shouldn't. He later hands money over to someone else for bringing them a table, the male is handing moeny over as if he has a lot of money to waste. This could signify that he is very wealthy and has a lot of money. Ashanti asks the male what he does he pauses and says construction, this could implies that he is lying, which also leads us to think he is doing dodgy things to get his money. It shows two shots of the male leaving the house and Ashanti standing at the door and waving goodbye, at the second shot she asks for moeny and that's when he lifts up his top and use stack of money in the belt, he hands over a stack to Ashanti, this also stresses the fact that he is involved in something dodgy, as a normal person who is doing a 9-5 job wouldn't have money in their clothes like that.
It then shows a scene of Ashanti and the male arguing and her throwing the car keys out the window, this could mean she doesn't want material things all she wants is for him to love her genuinely. They then carry on arguining, till he then has a swing at her with the lamp however she bends down and he misses her, this is actually a serious situation as it shows he is aggressive and tried to hit her. Whilst he attempted to hit her she os singing, ' I don't know how I allow you to treat me this way and still I stay.' This could mean that she knows the way he is behaving is unacceptable however it sounds as if she's not about to leave him anytime soon, also that line sounds as if he has tried to hit her or been agressive toward her before, so it's not the first time it has actually happened.
There's a scene shortly after where he comes back to her house, which looks as if it is her parents house, he knocks on the door and she answers the door. When she answers the door her mother also comes out and starts shoutig at the male, this could mean that Ashanti has no control over her own life, as when her partner returns it;'s her mtoher that askd where he's been not her. This could mena to some extent her mother controls her life and from what we gathered before Ashantis partner controls her. This could stereotypically mean that females are controlled by others, firstly in the video by her partner and then later in the video by her mother.
It then leads to the scene where Ashanti is packng her bags, at this point hse has convinced the audience she is going to finally leave her partner. She is walking down the stairs to leave the house and she opens the door and her partner is standing at the door, as soon as Ashanti sees him she drops her bag and hugs him. This could signify that she is extremley weak when it comes to him, as she loves him dearly and could also signify she is weak. However, if the audience listen to lyrics carefully whilst Ashanti is packing her bag she sings, 'kknowing that i should go' that doesn't sound convincing to the audience that she is going to leave, it sounds as if she knows she should leave but she can't.
All in all, this song and video represents a woman as weak object of a male. Ashanti in this video wants to escape from the relationship and knows she should however she can't because she is in 'love' with her partner who has continuously argues with her, cheated on her, leave for days without telling her where he is going and lastly and most importantly he's attempted to hit her. She knows she should leave him but she doesn't. At the end when she hugs her partner the word foolish appears, this could mean she is foolish for taking him back once again.
Beyonce's - Broken Hearted
This a performace based video with a few quick flashbacks, however as we don't know what really has happened i'd say its more performance based. Beyonce is the only person that is regularly shown in the video, some may say this is done to show her emotions other may say as she is the only one in the video it is unclear to what has happened and hard for the audience to get involved as they are unaware as to why she is upset.
The opneing scene is of a car approaching a car park and then a scene of Beyonce wiping her tears, this is the first sign that we get that Beyonce is upset. It then leads to a flashback, a happy moment of her and her partner, this could signify she is missing her partner and the happy moments between her and her him.We then also discover the reason she has arrived to the beach or sme could say the reason the video was set in a beach, as it's trying to portray that the spot Beyonce and her partner were always at and had there 'special moments' at was the beach. As the song goes on we see many of them being happy at the beach.
There are various close-ups of Beyonce's face, as this is an emotional song there's bound to be a lot of close-ups to show how hurt/in love the performer is. At 1 minute 20 seconds of the video, it zooms into Beyonce's face whilst she is singing the words, 'I know that i love you' and she stops singing because shes's about to start crying, this could mean that she does love her partner a lot - she's not denying it however, she stops singing and is about to start crying this can signify he also hurts her.
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The first half of the song the lyrics are of her being upset and the video s in black and white, this could signify she is hurt so there's no colour as colour usually connotes happiness also the blacka nd white could represent that it is the past. When Beyonce turns happy the video turns into colour, this could mean this is how she feels now, also by the video turning into colour it could mean the audience can tell she is now happy.Also some could say females are sterotypically represented in the video/song. Beyonce sings ''But I don't complain cause I been afraid that yoou would walk away'' and at that point in the video she is in the arms of her lover- some could interpret that she means she's afraid that the male is going to leaveher is she tells him how she really feels, therefore she doesn't tell him how she actually feels and hides it from him- she's also seen in the arms the male which could signify she needs protection and doesn't want to be alone, to some extent this could mean he controls what she says and that he dominates her.
When the video turns into colour you see the video rewinding and Beyonce putting together a rose she preiously pulled apart and singing, 'no broken- hearted girl' this could mean she's putting together the rose- so everything is okay, eveyrthing is gonna fixed and she's no longer unhappy, at this point in the video it zooms into her face and she is smiling.
At the begining of the video/ lyrics made the audience believe that whilst being in a relationship with the male she loves she is unhappy- a 'broken-hearted girl' however, towards the end of the video it reveals she doesn't want to lose to male and she'll actually be unhappy- a 'broken- hearted girl' is she loses the male, the lyrics support this view as it says '' I don't wanna be without my baby, I don't want a broken heart.'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0csLlzdhAPk
Snoop Dogg- sensual seduction
In the video Sensual Seduction, Snoop Dogg is portrayed as a 'ladies man' as we see Snoop Dogg surrounded by four women. We also see Snoop Dogg standing between some pillars which look like an entrance of a palace and the women sitting down as if they are his servants- this could mean that Snoop Dogg own the woman and they do as he says. This is an example of patriarchal representation as the video shows the man (Snoop Dogg) being more dominant and it looks like he owns them. The music video has a scene where Snoop Dogg is in bed with a woman and they are floating in space, the stars are used to connote that they are in heaven thus implying that he is that ‘good’ in bed that the woman feels like she is in Heaven when she is in bed with him. The lyrics also link in with the visuals, he sings ‘she might be with him, but she’s thinking about me, me, mee,’ this shows that Snoop Dogg has a bit of a big ego because he thinks that she is thinking about him even if she is with another man and he thinks a lot of himself.
In addition the females attire makes them look as if they are a prostitute or some sort of 'sex kitten' for example knee-high boots, short skirts and very tight leggings. Sensual seduction represents men to be ‘pimps’ as the ‘playsheets’ are loaded with sexual innuendo. Intertextuality is also used to represent men in this way such as the outfit which Snoop Dogg is wearing at one point references to the Starksky and Hutch character he plays called HuggieBear who is an actual pimp (afro hairstyle, orange suit etc...).
The use of mise-en-scene plays a big role in how the representations are shown. The costumes which are worn provide us with a clear and easy image of how the director wanted to represent woman and men for example the woman in the video are wearing tight clothes and boots which is viewed to be prostitutes attire, also connecting with the songs title sensual seduction which actually means the act of sexual action. The costume design of Snoop Dogg also represents him to be a pimp as the clothes are mainly white or orange suits, shades and actions which imply to the audience that he is in control of these women.
The text is conventional of its genre as generally in rap videos this is what is expected of how women and men should be shown as audiences would expect this to happen, making the video successful in making its aim.
Female audiences may respond to the song and video differently, some may find it to be normal and others offensive. People who may find this video to be normal because it is what they expected of the video/song as the title of the song actually implies it, thus it is making the audience aware that the video will be of women portrayed as being sex kittens. However some may find this to be offensive as it represents women as objects and tools for men and have no other purpose other than an object for a male.
Textual analysis
Goldie - Inner City Life
This song is about a single parent family lving on a council estate, who can barely pay their way through life. It's a narrative based video, with a starting scene of a mother washing the dishes in a cramped kitchen. There are children in the background laughing and painting, this cannotes that even though they don't have a lot of money they are happy with what they have and are having fun. Even though that the children are happy, the mtoher is upset and worried as she cannot pay the bills- you can tell this as she is holding the bills in her hand in worry, one could say she turns to prostitution to pay the bills, there is a birds eye view of a female and male in bed however they are portrayed as though they are not intimate with each other so one could guess that is getting payed to have sex with the male. In addition the setting which is shown is in black and white thus adding to the effect of poverty.
There is a shot of a BMW, which some may say is unsual to be seen in a poor council estate. they may suggest that person who has the BMW has done something dodgy to afford the car e.g. drug dealing. Marxists would say that this point reinforces cultural hegemony because some white British people might say that they are drug dealers but some other ethnic groups might say they have a good job but live in a poor estate.
The messages which are evident in the text is that everyone has problems however they all have thier own way of dealing with them such as playing sports or going to clubs; this gives them an escapsism of the reality they live in allowing them to keep their problems to one side and enjoy live. Marxists would argue that these are realisitic messages of how life is in the urban area as the lyrics and images suggest serious matters i.e. the lyrics "i long to be free" highlights the fact that life is not pleasant for these people and they long for something differentm however they are not dwelling on the fact that their life isn't perfect but are getting on with e.g. the mother doesn't have money to pay the bills but she is trying her hardest to get the money and not letting her children know the fact that there is a serious problem and she is trying to keep them as happy as possible in the derious situation.
There are various shots of the woman stressed, we can tell she is stressed as there are many shots of her wiping her forehead and washing the dishes whilst the lyrics saying ‘inner city pressure’ this may represent that the inner city life for people in high rise estates are stressed howver there are manyshots of young kids riding their bike and having fun so this could also mean that the elder people feel the pressure whilst the younger ones don't all they want to do is have fun.
All in all this song is about the inner city life how it is hard for the majority to live, but also that even though it is hard they are still enjoying theirselves and being happy.
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