Wednesday 29 January 2014

Ill Manors song exam question

How is gender/ethnicity/age represented in the video?

Gender ethnicity and age are represented in the video in many ways and through theories too. First of all from the gender we do not see many females in the video, but when we do see them we see them causing chaos like all the males are. This could show that women are the more clever race in that they do not want to get involved in the craziness in which is going on or to a more stereotypical point of view in that men are the more superior race and goes onto the quote of Berger in that ‘men act women appear’. In that men have all the power and that in most music videos women are objectified and are sort of like one of the props and don’t really have a say. But at the same time relating it back to Plan B’s video it could also show that males are the more stupid race and crazy race as they are causing all this harm and chaos around the cities and that they are in gangs. There are different ethnicities involved within the video but the main are black and white people. Which brings me on to my next point of Medhurst theory in that stereotyping is shorthand for to identify something and more than likely is a negative point. Such as young teenagers who wear hoodies are in gangs and have nothing in life going for them which is highlighted in the music video in that everything bad is their fault and in the video sort of helps the stereotype go along but the lyrics differ to what the stereotype is of them. Cohen’s theory is also represented within the video in that these youths and people in so called gangs are folk devils in that they are good for nothing and that they more than likely cause chaos, in which Plan B tries to show, is not true. Finally the theory of Dyer shows to us that stereotypes can be exaggerated and target those with the least power and you could say that these people do have the least power due to the fact they are always picked on and are so called chavs.

In what way is the video typical of music videos and what values does it promote?

From the video you can see dominant features of music videos. You can see a dominant feature of a music video straight away in that a setting is introduced, but this could also be an alternative view in that the setting is not a good looking setting but a setting which is sort of like an estate and somewhere which wouldn’t appeal to many viewers. Another feature in where we can see that it is typical of music videos is that the editing is fast paced and switches from shot to shot a lot of times. There is no really narrative being shown within the video in which you would normally associate with music videos. It is a montage of editing due to this. Also like all videos the video as a meaning and a purpose behind it, like most videos it would be to entertain but in this video I also believe it is to inform people. I say this because I believe Plan B wants to inform the viewers of the stereotype these people come under and how hard it is for them to live under these stereotypes and not getting a chance like others would but also at the same time we can see that Plan B and the people within the video are sort of like celebrating the riots in some sort of sarcastic way. From the video you could say that it promotes negativity and violence due to the way the people are acting within the video but if you listen to the lyrics it is sort of contrapuntal to what we are watching apart from the main chorus in which I believe is parallel to the music. The contrapuntal sound is the lyrics in where Plan B raps about other stuff apart from negativity and saying how hard it is for them to be accepted by society.

Who does this text/artist appeal to and why?

I believe the text and video could appeal to a much wider target audience than many would believe. I believe the demographic group it would appeal to would be C1, C2, D, E as the D and E group could relate to this type of music video as it may be the life they are living so they can associate themselves with this type of video. However it also may look at groups such as B, C1 and C2 as it could show these viewers about their side (Plan B’s) of the story and how hard it is for them to actually live. By getting the viewpoint of someone like Plan B’s the viewers would believe he is trustworthy as Plan B is a music artist and has sold many singles and has a group of fans that are there for him. So obviously with Plan B being a big name artist people would want to watch his video and see what he has to say on this topic and how hard it is for them to live in these areas. Another reason would be that Plan B would show his side of the so called riots and stuff and not the views of newspapers that would make them to be seen as the so called folk devils and show a biased account of what has been happening. The psychographic group I believe the video would target are explorers, reformers and aspirers. I say explorers as they seek discovery and what an instant affect and this video would give you that as it is sort of like in your face especially the main lyrics with words such as ‘oi’ being said. They are also a more typically younger audience. I also say reformers as I believe they could relate to the video and the situations happening inside of it as they seek enlightenment. I would also say aspirers as they are materialistic and would like to see something different and this video shows that and again a more typically younger group. I also believe the video is an alternative to normal music videos in that is not glamorous and how normal videos would be set out.


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