How are representations created in the music video ‘Too
Good At Goodbyes’ by Sam Smith?
Jimmy Napes’ music
video for Sam Smith’s ‘Too Good At Goodbyes’ challenged the traditional
representation of sexuality through the lead characters identifying as homosexual.
Although LGBTQ+ representations has grown immensely in the media, perhaps one
of the first music videos representing the LGBTQ+ community was Carly Rae
Jepsen with her 2012 ‘Call Me Maybe’, heterosexual relationships still dominate
our screens and are deemed the most normal to feature in popular artist’s music
videos. Unfortunately, in music video’s today LGTBQ+ are either featured for a
short amount of time whilst the main focus belongs to a heterosexual character
or couple or certain ‘camp’ attributes are extremely highlighted to add a
comedic effect. (see Pink’s Raise Your Glass and Kelly Clarkson’s Heartbeat
Song). However, Jimmy Napes has challenged this stereotyped representation of
sexuality by focusing the music videos lime light on a homosexual relationship
narrative. Sam Smith has said in recent interviews with Fearne cotton and Ellen
DeGeneres that is ‘very proud to be gay’ and is said to be an upstanding
representative of the LGTBQ+ community so it comes to as no surprise that his
number one single music video narrative is based around a homosexual couple. In
a recent article from ‘mtv.co.uk’ they said ‘Not only
that but it is a racially diverse video that puts LGBTQIA+ love front and
centre. Not only is Sam's lover in the video a man but the visual also
stars a lesbian couple.’ This music video is actively being recognised
as
challenging the stereotypical representations of sexuality in music videos and
the media. The fact that in the music video we see an incredibly emotional side
to the relationships as we see what we can infer as the audience to be the end
of these relationships highlights to the audience that homosexual relationships
are just as human and difficult as any other heterosexual relationship. This is
further heightened by the positioning of the heterosexual couple being place in
the exact same place as the homosexual couple. Thus, we are forced to reflect
on the fact that the gender of the couple does not make a relationship to what
society deems as more normal, either way, homosexual or not, it is still a
loving relationship.
The fact that the stereotypes of the homosexual couples are extremely
underplayed resonates that they are still people, the same as any heterosexual
couple. We can also see this, again, shown by the way the lesbian couple are
portrayed to be quite feminine. The stereotype of a lesbian relationship is
that there is one ‘butch’ women that replicates the role of a male and the
other female fills the role of the more stereo typically though feminine female.
This representation is being challenged in this music video by both women being
shown to be feminine, thus highlighting the message Jimmy Napes seems to be
wanting to show through the video; showing the opposites to overplayed
stereotypes of homosexual people in relationships.
Upon reviewing our footage we noticed our shots were not as in precise focus as hoped for, in retrospect for our music video we would need to check our footage is in focus before we edit. This could be avoided by doing multiple tests of our scenes.
Whilst planning our music video we were given a list of all the blog posts to be completed, with this we divided the group posts equally, dependant on each other skills, to make it fair. This ensured no member of our group was left out or that no one was left with a larger work load than others.
The pictures below showcase how we fairly divided the work in our group, we placed initials under the tasks give to certain people. Izzy was given the task of producing the mood board and deciding the location and mine-en-scene, Lucy was give the task of annotating lyrics, planning costumes, Shanelle decided to do the edit the test piece and create the shooting schedule and my tasks were to work on a detailed mind map encompassing all aspects of the planning and to create a story board shot by shot.
I contacted Finn Doherty request permission to use his own music in our music video and whether he would like to be involved in acting in our music video.
This was the response we received later that evening,
A young man is feeling troubled and isolated in social situations after experiencing heartbreak in a sad break up, after this he struggles to find his way again in life.
Taylor Swift is a female international music artists who has been one of the most successful women to date. 'Blank Space', released November 10th 2015 has over two billion views on YouTube. It reached number one in Australia, United States and Canada. The 1989, from which 'Blank Space' appears one, sold 1.287 million copies worldwide. Taylor Swift has headlined many festivals and sold out many of her own tours, however locally she headlined Norwich's Radio One Big weekend in 2015. Swift's music is classed in the genre of pop, being one of the more mainstream artist's she features in the Top Ten frequently with new music.
In the media Swift is shown to be a boy crazy young woman who is stuck in a cycle of failing relationships. Magazines portray her to be neurotic girlfriend that traps the man she is with, then when the pending doom hits the relationship she writes about them. Swift herself has said "If you're horrible to me, I'm going to write a song about it, and you won't like it. That's how I operate.” With the media constantly bringing out headlines like these in such magazines as 'Famous' and 'Star' it is no wonder Swift has produced 'Blank Space' as a hit back at the media as she mocks their ridiculous representation of her. Swift has said before that this representation of her private life is simply not true, various publications have produced articles depicting her love life apart but one stands out from the rest; The Telegraph's Taylor Swift love life timeline.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/taylor-swifts-love-life-a-history/
'Blank Space' conforms to most genre of conventions of pop music, for example Swift is shown throughout the music video to be impeccably dressed with high fashion clothing, for example here, at 0:41 seconds, we see Swift featuring in a diamond ball dress. The lavish clothing is a common feature in pop videos, this maybe to express wealth or an extravagant lifestyle. Another genre convention that features in Swift's is the lyrics are based around relationships and love, especially in Taylor Swift's case as most of her songs feature these two topics.
The song has a set structure that attributes a consistent beat which most pop songs typically do, other artists such as Ed Sheehan say you can make any existing pop song with the same three guitar chords. Which may be suggestive that they all sound the same.
In the music video of 'Blank Space' Taylor Swift challenges the media representations as she mocks their stereotype that she is psychotic in relationships and bounces from man to man. Swift produced a statement on the subject herself that reads 'For a female to write about her feelings, and then be portrayed as some clingy, insane, desperate girlfriend in need of making you marry her and have kids with her, I think that’s taking something that potentially should be celebrated – a woman writing about her feelings in a confessional way – that’s taking it and turning it and twisting it into something that is frankly a little sexist.' This quote directly hits back at the media that portrays her in a particularly negative light in relationships. For example this is executed in one of the first wide shots;
Swift also challenges the media's representations of her through this close up shot;
Here we see in this wide shot how things are starting to go wrong which is suggested by the wise en scene and camera work.
Finally we see how the role reversal in the music video is significant as the male is now seen as replaced and objectified.
Andrew Goodwin, a director of music, wrote ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ from which his theory of music videos stems. Goodwin’s theory is split into seven points and he believes these are key to making a successful music video. Namely:
There is a key relationship between the music and the visuals
Narrative performance through song
Many close-up shots of the artist (demands of the record label)
Voyeurism
Intertextuality
Technical aspect of the music video
Typical genre conventions
'T-Shirt Weather' by Circa Waves belongs to the same genre of music as Finn Doherty's 'Process'; indie/alternative. 'T-Shirt Weather' was released on the 25th of February 2015, it has had nearly two million views on YouTube proving this single to be very successful. After their first album hit the Top 10 and they featured in Radio 1's A List Singles, they rose to fame, quickly becoming one of the most successful indie bands from the U.K. They were formed in Liverpool in 2013 and have since opened events such as the NME awards tour in March 2014. They have since sold out an entire tour and performed at iconic music festivals like Glastonbury and Leeds. This is a typical music video by Circa Waves, most of their videos have an element of nostalgia, for example in their video for 'Fossils' the entire video portrays a montage of memories through being filmed on an older camera using outdated technology which in turn, enhances this nostalgic video as they look like classic vintage home videos. 'T-Shirt Weather' follows the conventions of an indie music video quite closely, for example the whole video is a low budget music video, it does not feature expensive locations like a palace or wild animals like mainstream pop videos for example Lana Del Ray 'Born Two Die'. Another convention it follows is the setting. It only has one setting which is typical of an indie band because it is common to focus on the performance while keeping other aspects like settings simple. This could be because unlike pop artists which like to feature a sense of theatricality, they would rather keep the audience's focus on the music and not take away from that factor. One genre connection broken is the theme of a strong narrative, 'T-Shirt Weather' does not feature actors playing the roles of characters inspired by their song but instead has videos playing in the background which appear to be fond family memories. 'T-Shirt Weather's' front man of the band; Kieran Shundall say's 'This came from thinking about my childhood and how things seemed so different back then memories almost becoming like a movie and everything seeming more interesting and the grass being much greener. A twisted nostalgia". They are trying to tell their own stories rather than something imagined. Goodwin's theory applies to this music video through the key relationship between the visuals and lyrics. Shundall himself explains that the song and music video is about memories of childhood, therefore there is a direct correlation between the visuals that feature behind the band performing.
Secondly, another point of Goodwin's theory that can be applied to 'T-Shirt Weather' is voyeurism, this is the notion of looking into something like the camera to create the impression that the artists is singling you out and talking directly to you. The direct gaze makes the audience feel important and as though they are in the room with the band.
'Oceans' by Seafret was released on the 1st of February 2015 and has over 32 million views on Youtube, this maybe due in some part to leading actress; Maisie Williams who stars in 'Game Of Thrones'. Seafret are a British duo of Jack Sedman and Harry Draper. They have been together since 2015 and in their two short years together have produced a debut album that featured in the Top 100 Album chart. Their genre is of the same as Circa Waves analysed above; indie/alternative. This music video follows some of the codes and conventions of indie/alternative music videos, for example it has a strong narrative. The narrative of this video features a young teenage girl returning home from school to find a note left from her Mother saying she is working late, we later find out that the young girl has been bullied as she has 'loser' written on the back of her white school shirt, she then goes on to dress up in an old childhood superhero costume that is clearly homemade. This creates a sense of empowerment that is later undermined by the bullies who violently attack her. She then comes home to her Mother whom she falls into her arms. This constructs a sense of reconciliation between the daughter and Mother.
Goodwin's theory can applied here through the key relationship between visuals and lyrics, for example the visuals in this music emphasise the meaning of the lyrics and create a clearer understanding and meaning of the lyrics. They may also hint at what the song could be written about, it could be a personal childhood memory from either of the two band members.
In this screenshot of a wide shot from 0:16 seconds in to the music video, we can see a note on the counter that reads "Working late (again) sorry x Dinner is in the oven", at this point the song begins to play and as she reads the note we hear 'I want you', this connotes that the Mother and daughter do not have a close relationship and the daughter often feels quite forgotten about. The red colour which surrounds the note emphasises the feeling of anger that the young girl feels about being left alone. This also reinforces the sense of disrupted relationship between mother and child. How the diegetic back light from the window shines light on the note could be suggestive of how the teenage daughter being left alone a lot is the problem in their relationship and they lack the close bond that is usual for a Mother and daughter to share.
When this wide shot arrives on screen we hear the lyrics 'To the way that I need you' plays, this image of 'loser' written on the back of the shirt further drives the sense of how alone she feels. It constructs a sense of truly needing her Mother as she stands in her bedroom alone looking at her defaced shirt. This shot highlights how the young teenage is struggling and as she stands there alone it highlights how no one is there to help her. However later on in the song the lyrics ' we hide our emotions' play as the girl is surrounded by bullies.
At 2:21 we get a sense that she has been hiding her emotions about being bullied as the lyrics play and we see her become overwhelmed by the situation. This connotes that due to her relationship with her Mother she has not been able to talk to her about her dreadful situation. However, when she returns home we see this image on screen;
At this point the song is climaxing, it is when she see's her Mother than the song slowly calms down and fades into the background which creates a sense of calm. This may be suggesting that the overwhelming sense of panic she was feeling earlier when surrounded by bullies has disappeared as soon as she see's her Mum. We hear 'it feels like there's oceans, between you and me', we hear the singing voice decline into the background which connotes a sense of reconciliation between Mother and daughter, this ultimately closes the narrative of the music video as between the beginning and the end we have seen a series of events which have led up to the emotional hug that is shared between them.
To conclude, to apply Andrew Goodwin's theory of music videos from 'Dancing in the distraction factory' to our own music video would create a successful music video. Particularly the key relationship between visuals and lyrics, this creates a clear understanding of the song for the audience and also makes it more personal. These are all details that would make our music video ultimately more successful.
as
challenging the stereotypical representations of sexuality in music videos and
the media. The fact that in the music video we see an incredibly emotional side
to the relationships as we see what we can infer as the audience to be the end
of these relationships highlights to the audience that homosexual relationships
are just as human and difficult as any other heterosexual relationship. This is
further heightened by the positioning of the heterosexual couple being place in
the exact same place as the homosexual couple. Thus, we are forced to reflect
on the fact that the gender of the couple does not make a relationship to what
society deems as more normal, either way, homosexual or not, it is still a
loving relationship. 
