Application of media concepts

Pop Music video- Fifth Harmony Work from home: Objectification

Both males and females are objectified in this video.

Females:

• Sexual dance moves are the main feature in this video which is very conventional for the pop genre. These are frequently used to appeal to a male target audience, regardless of extent of objectivity to the female characters.
• The clothing choices are also particularly revealing with an emphasis on provocative body parts adding to the sexualisation and objectification present in this video.
• Shot types also influence the extent of objectification in this video. There are many close ups that emphasise and highlight sexualised and provocative body parts.

Males:

• The males in this music video are represented as being very stereotypically masculine and strong. They are objectified by being portrayed as only muscly and working beings. This is shown through the shot types used with lots of close ups focussing on provocative body parts such as abs. There is some slow-motion that is focussed on provocative body parts which is highly objectifying.
• Also many of the males aren't seen as wearing many clothes with some even going topless further objectifying them for sexual purposes. This could be used to try attract female viewers which is highly conventional for videos in the pop genre.

Functions of a music video

Functions/ roles of music videos:

• Promotion-
  the publicizing of a product, organization, or venture so as to increase sales or public awareness.
• Creating a persona for the artist- image/ look 
• Raising the artists profile- through the use of promotion.
• Creates a fan base- can be considered as a distinct social grouping.
• Strengthening connection with fans- eg, through social media 
• See different side to the artist- this can be emotional eg, vulnerability. Usually when an artist is trying to change their image.
• Creating an image- similar to persona 
• Representation (artist & culture)- the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way.
• Increasing sales; album/ concerts- additional products
• Expanding media platform- eg. social media 
• Engaging an active audience
• Visual representation of the lyrics- image matches lyric message.
• Synergy- the interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.
• Entertainment for the audience-
• Confirms the genre- reinforces the video message
• More money overall- so the artist gets more profit

History of music videos

1950's/60's short films:

• These were scene as more short stories or films that were based along a strict plot that accompanied the song.
• The song would usually be performed during the song with the narrative being before or after the song as the equipment wasn't available to put different picture over the song.
• The purpose of these were to entertain and were often more time consuming to view than music videos these days.

1970's Top of the pops:

• The first major television program dedicated to showing music videos widely available on a mass scale.
• However many of these were more performance based than narrative or concept as they were shown on live television.

1980's MTV:

• A major platform where all music videos in the 'charts' would be shown to the audience.
• Many of these were more modern videos with little live performance and generally narrative based story lines.
• However, this was still a television program people had to specifically tune into watch.

2005 YouTube:

• Modern technology has allowed the online platform where people can watch any music video posted at anytime they wish creating greater convenience and greater audience consumption of music videos.
• This has also allowed the artist to get more views on videos and promote themselves further. Also a greater number of videos can be produced by each artist because it is so much cheaper and easier than the older methods.