Vance Joy - Riptide (Music video analysis)

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Differences between film and music video:

  • Minimum run-time for a music video is 3 minutes.
  • Minimum run-time for a full-length feature film is 90 minutes.
  • Music videos arent held with the expectation of a fully fledged narrative.
  • Film is usually auteur'ed by a director, who isnt likely to star in their own picture, but music videos are often created by an external film maker than the artist of the song itself usually as an advertisement for an album and featuring the artist- but some, more akin to the 'Riptide' music video are more abstract in their structuring. (More akin to a short film than simply a  recorded performance or a promotion.)

VANCE JOY - RIPTIDE MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS.
  • Some context about the video...
    The video, directed by Dimitri Basil and co-directed by Laura Gorun, artistically depicts the song word for word.
  • How are women represented in this video?
    Women within the video are majorly represented as hegemonically attractive, various tall blonde women being included within it. 
  • What is the symbolism of the mise en scene of the rope and the dental brace?
    The association with braces implies the need for alignment, or fixing something, so by extension the visuals imply the woman on screen should be treated as such, in need of fixing. - It could also be an allusion towards the hegemonic standard of men holding a tight reign upon women, the same of which can be said for the usage of a rope later in the video; of which also layers on an implied capture of the women featured, with all of this being forced upon them rather than by their own free will and choice. 
    • In addition, I'd like to mention this idea of the riptide. Quite literally its something that we're told about from when we're very young to keep our eyes upon so that we arent physically dragged away by it into the sea. Within the context of this music video, potentially the riptide could be representative of an escape for all of the women constructed in the clips. It emphasises their desperation in rather wanting to be whisked out to sea than to deal with the hassles of the tight clutches of men as we see through out the video.
  • In what ways are we positioned as an audience?
    Within the music video we're put in the position of a heterosexual man, as per the reasoning behind the women within the sequences and their constant objectification and over-sexualisation at some moments. 
  • What links all the women in this video?
    From what I've been able to piece together, the majority of the women within the video are either attempting to escape from their current situation (the girl in rope, the woman with the torch,etc.), are being forced into staying somewhere by the men around them (The Singer, Actress, hypnosis girl.) or are finally assumingly being taken away by force elsewhere. (The woman being dragged under a closet.)
  • What message about women is constructed in this video, and what hegemonic expectations does this reinforce?
    There are many shots within the music video that portray women in various uncomfortable, and at times horrifying forced situations where they are incapable of making their own decisions. - This could be speaking as to the hegemonic norm as per women being passive, appearing while men act as they like.

Genre conventions


The similarities between the music video for Riptide and from what I've seen within the trailer for Suspiria(1977) is on a narrative level their shared usage of putting women into deadly, horrific scenarios. - Even more so are the aesthetic similarities between the two. 
Image result for suspiria 1977 

If you'd not seen Riptide's music video, you might have been mistaken in believing both of these images were from the same film. - But the one on the lower left is from Suspiria. - Emphasising the music video's heavy influence from the psychological horror genre of the late 70s and early 80s. From the placement of women in inexplicable horrorfying predicaments to the mise-en-scene of the smeared make-up. 


Postmodernism

What is 'Postmodernism' theory?:
  • "A late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories."
  • Broadly, a postmodern text can characterised by wilfully breaking the rules and conventions of media texts.

Criticism of metanarratives in the video:

Metanarrative - Also known as a grand narrative, this refers to an overarching narrative or system of beliefs that helps us to make sense of the world.


The music video doesnt incorporate the idea of celebrity within it, with the artist of the song, Vance Joy, not even making an appearance in it. - Albeit the standard hegemonic music video usually paying heavy focus to the musician. 

Rejection of high culture:
I'd argue within the production value of the music video, it doenst stray from being aesthetically pleasing. Though albeit being a little bit everywhere in terms of such, which speaks more to style over substance.
Breaking rules:
We see breaking of the rules when the fourth wall is broken within the latter two appearances of the singer- in which the subtitles (which arent optional) spell out 'You gone and sunk the worlds wolf' over the line that is actually sung which is 'You gone and sang the words wrong' - With this paired to the character's slowly degrading make-up we can get a sense of how hard the construct is trying to escape from the situation to the point where its having an effect on the music video itself. - It's also notable that this is the scene that gets cut back to within the music video the most number of times with the largest cohesive linear narrative surrounding it in comparison to many of the other scenes we see.
Intertextuality:
"I swear she's destined for the screen
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you've ever seen."
Image result for michelle pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer - An American actress and producer, becoming active within the industry around 1978, with her first lead role coming with the sequel to the musical Greese in 1982, Greese 2.(which I dont commend watching over the original.) Anyways, from that point on Pfeiffer began being typecast as 'the token pretty girl'. However, from then after, Pfeiffer began to actively pursue a career that broke away from her typecasting, getting her breakthrough as a gangster in the crime film Scarface the very next year.

 Now, I'm sure anyone can see the blatant irony of the intertextual reference of Michelle Pfeiffer within a music video that is overtly speaking as to the objectification of women. - Seeing as Pfeiffer in particular, as I mentioned, wanted anything but to be seen just for her looks.

Style Over Substance:
I'd argue the music video leans into the direction of style over substance to some degree due to it's excessive usage of varying aesthetics without any clear rhyme or reason. A good example is some scenes being filled with bright neon colours while others will rather simply be shot in natural daylight. It looks visually pleasing, but theres no profound reasoning  behind it's inclusion.


This image could be seen as taken as theorist Laura Mulvey would call 'The Male Gaze with the woman being blatantly objectified/ sexualised as she undoes her swimming costume. - It could be safe to assume we view this moment through the perspective of the stereotypical heterosexual man. 

Interestingly, the music video never directly addresses the viewer or attempts at breaking the fourth wall, even within this shot being the closest to such, the actors let their line of sight fall elsewhere. - It creates an aspect of the viewer being on the outside looking in, and not having an inclusion within the non-linear narrative being told.





We literally and metaphorically see the woman here 'running for her heels' 




Tarot cards are symbolic as towards a sealed fate for the person they are being dealt to.


The notion of swaying a clock by someone's face acts as an intertextual reference towards the concept of hypnotism, and mind controlling someone into following orders. - With the context of the music video, one could make the assumption this would be the heterosexual man I mentioned earlier, potentially.


Visual references to the occult horror genre with the usage of the iconic 'Ouija board' that holds close association to such.







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