Music videos

Question 1

Performative music video:

Answer 1

features the artist performing the song in some way

Question 2

Narrative music video

Answer 2

tells a story, inspired by the codes in the song

Question 3

Concept music video

Answer 3

centres around a visual motif or idea

Question 4

What type of music video is Old Town Road?

Answer 4

both performative and narrative

Question 5

Media Language in Old Town Road

Answer 5

Old western features
Dress codes: cowboy outfits, pink and glam
Contrast: bright colours compared to a bland and dull landscape
Sexual lyrics: ‘bull riding and boobies’ ‘ride til’ I can’t no more’
Narrative: Lil Nas X gaining the respect of those around him, completing a quest (Propp)
Comedic aspects: ‘flabbergasted’ posing for images with old ladies, race scene
Body language: dominant, authoritative, sometimes fearful.
Camera angles: panoramic shot to begin with (western movies), wide shots encompassing many people, some close ups when singing

Question 6

OTR Context: Lil Nas X

Answer 6

came out when Old Town Road was at the height of its popularity
seen as controversial for content with satanic ideas, specifically aimed to provoke Christians

Question 7

OTR Context: yeehaw agenda

Answer 7

started in BHM 2019, to reclaim the cowboy aesthetic, trend with Old Town Road which boosted it to number one on the billboard hot 100

Question 8

OTR Context: country

Answer 8

Billy Ray Cyrus sang on a remix after it was removed from the Billboard country chart

Question 9

OTR genre

Answer 9

uses many of the conventions of old western media, like villain-hero conflict, cowboy aesthetic, wild west aesthetics, sound effects (whiplash), props (money bags), etc

Question 10

Application of Todorov to OTR

Answer 10

Equilibrium - western scene
Disruption - shot at by white man and daughter, run away through hole to 2019
Recognition - reaction from those in town, otherness
Attempt to repair - horse race and outfit change
New equilibrium - friendly in the bingo hall.

Question 11

Application of Gilroy to OTR

Answer 11

Racial otherness - black community vs bingo hall, always othered
Double consciousness- ‘last time i was here’

Question 12

When was Ghost Town released?

Answer 12

1981

Question 13

Media Language in Ghost Town

Answer 13

Dim lighting
Dull colour codes: mostly yellows and blues
Shaky and sweeping camera shots
Empty and derelict streets
Eye contact with the camera
Diegetic sound: sirens

Question 14

Ghost town Context: Thatcherism

Answer 14

Thatcher era Britain: high levels of unemployment, racism was rife

Question 15

Ghost town Context: Two tone

Answer 15

record label, fusing punk and ska, tried to defuse racial tension in Britain, bands were composed of people of many races, unusual at the time.

Question 16

Ghost Town Context: riots

Answer 16

Ghost Town was very popular during the Brixton and Toxteth riots that occurred due to stop and search procedures being biased, high unemployment, police brutality, etc

Question 17

Ghost town: hybrid genre

Answer 17

hybrid of horror and social realism
horror conventions: screaming, dim lighting, dull colour codes, shaky camera
social realism: draws attention to and critiques socio-political conditions of Thatcher England

Question 18

Application of Gilroy to Ghost Town

Answer 18

representations in the music video are racially diverse.
offers evidence of diasporic identity theory: black culture is forged through travel and hybridity, a “liquidity of culture”.

Question 19

Application of Todorov to Ghost Town

Answer 19

Equilibrium - calm shots of buildings/empty streets
Disruption - music and erratic screams in the car while driving
Recognition - ‘cant go on no more, too much fighting on the dance floor’, ‘remember the good old days’
Attempt to repair - throwing stones, rebelling, ‘Why must the youth fight against themselves?’
New equilibrium - sirens at the end, as camera pans out.

Question 20

Application of Neale to Ghost Town

Answer 20

music video was a new media form at the time, so it is difficult to find instances of repetition
may have adapted codes from tv and cinema
horror conventions, alongside social realism: hybridity