For this task i have been asked to analyse a video of my choice focusing on the four key concepts of narrative, genre, media language and representation.
I have chosen to discuss Amy Winehouse song , Rehab . Amy's song was released on the 23rd of october 2006 and the genre of her song would be soul and jazz. Soul and jazz songs involve instruments such as trumpets , guitars and drums that is why these iconic symbols were used in this video to establish the genre of the song. It was was a good that idea that she had her band playing the instruments in her video because the audience will be able to get a feel of the music and will be able to connect more to the song whereas if she would not have included them the song would not have the same effect.
In terms of setting and location , Amy's video seems to be set in Rehab which is filmed in different rooms such as an office , bedrooms an a bathroom. This was so it could link to the name and the narrative of the song ' Rehab '. The narrative structure of this song is linear as there is no disruption ; Amy's central position in the narrative is participant as she is singing through out the whole song talking about she doesn't need to go to rehab , this says a lot about the artist because it shows that she has been through problems and the best way to talk about them is by singing about them that is why i think that most of her songs would appeal to women.
The lighting used in this video reinforces the genre of the song as it helps to create a sense of blues. Amy's costume also links to the video , she wears a dressing gown and white vest top which insinuates that she has stayed the night at rehab , in other scenes of the video she wears a black leather jacket and she has thick eyeliner and pink lip gloss which makes her look like she has a lot of attitude and is rebellious , this is reinforced when she sings ' if my daddy thinks I'm fine , hes tried to make me go to rehab but i said no, no . no' . Laura Mulvey's quote about women being seen as sexual objects by men does not apply to Amy because although she is represented as being vulnerable in this video she is not being seen as a fantasy because she is not wearing revealing clothing , she doesn't have a provocative image because she is not seeking for that type of attention.
In this video the use of editing was limited , the only editing technique used was the traditional cutting from scene to scene ,although this was the only technique i could see it worked really well with the genre of the song because it made the song seem more personal and it created a sense of reality so it could appeal to her audience. I do think that the editing is conventional to this genre because as it has been demonstrated with this song , its about problems and mainly life situations so the less editing involved the more real the video will seem .
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