Riptide Flashcards
Who is the song by and what country is he from?
Vance Joy, Australia
What record company produced this song?
Atlantic records (subsidiary of major label, Warner)
What genre is this song?
Indie folk-pop genre
What did the song ‘Riptide’ become in the USA?
A platinum selling single
Who was the video directed by?
Dimitri Basil and Laura Gorun
How many views did the video get on YouTube?
Nearly 100 million
Did the music video have a low or high budget?
Low
What editing technique is used in this video?
Montage editing
What is montage editing?
Where a wide range of contrasting shots are juxtaposed (through hard jump cuts) to convey a lot of information
When was the musics video released?
2013
Give an example of where the editing of images matches the lyrics
“All my friends are turning green” and the image of a pile of dollar bills
What does the video reject?
A clearly defined narrative
What is surrealism?
A 20th century movement that explored the workings of the mind, the irrational, the poetic and the revolutionary
What does the word surrealist actually mean?
Beyond reality
What does the surrealism movement contain?
Ideas and images from unconscious minds
Dream worlds
Rejection of conventional artistic and moral values
Who, where and when was the surrealist movement founded?
Poet André Breton in Paris in 1924
What is the goal of the surrealist movement?
Liberate thought, language and human experience from the harsh/ oppressive boundaries of rationalism
What is rationalism?
Basing opinions and actions on reason and knowledge rather than on religious beliefs or emotions
What is Avant-Garde in terms of art?
Art that is innovative (original); that introduces/explores new forms or subject matters
When did the Avant-Garde movement begin?
1850s
What is Avant-Garde applicable to?
Art that pushes the boundaries of ideas and creativity or does things that haven’t been done before
Is Riptide a performance, narrative or concept music video?
Concept as it is based around a single idea/ concept that is unusual and obscure ( how to photograph women for example)
What is the term for when the images match the lyrics?
Overt graphical representation
What is the significance of the first shot including what looks like a ‘billing block’, which are used on film posters?
The fact that the video is like a short film
What genres of film and directing does the video often make references to?
Western and thriller genres
Also the directing style of Wes Anderson
What iconography is used?
Horror genre iconography such as girls being dragged off the screen
How is Riptide an unusual video for its genre?
Doesn’t follow a narrative
No special effects
What 2 things could the lyrics “all my friends are turning green” be referring to?
Money or envy
What is an example of polysemic lyrics (have two meanings) and what are the two possible readings of them?
“All my friends are turning green”
Other bands have sold out by giving into money
Friends turning envious of Vance Joy’s success
How can Neale’s genre theory link to this music video?
It repeats generic conventions of indie-folk pop such as niche fashion and the ocean
However goes against conventions of this genre by not following a narrative or having on screen graphics of the musician
What does Scopophilia mean?
Pleasure gained from looking at other people’s bodies as (usually erotic/ sexual) objects
What is an intertextual reference to Riptide?
Buñel and Dali’s ‘Un Chien Andalou’ from 1929
What scene from ‘Un Chien Andalou’ can be linked to one in a Riptide?
Eye cutting scene in ‘Un Chien Andalou’ could be compared to the hand stabbing of the hand scene in Riptide
3 examples of women being presented as an object to be watched:
Back to the camera undressing out of her swimming costume
Bare feet running away
Feminine hands being dragged into the dark
How does the video challenge gender representation?
The woman lip-syncing the words incorrectly at first appears to conform to social norms of beauty but becomes more and more dishevelled (makeup smudges) throughout the video
Examples of violence in the video:
Female hand being stabbed by knife
Gun being pointed off screen
Lip-syncing woman clutches her neck and her hand is bleeding
2 possible readings of the violence in the video:
The many examples of violence could be normalising violence
Or it could be seen to be trivialising it (making violence seem less important than it actually is)
How does bell hooks’ feminist theory link to Riptide?
The video could be read as objectifying women because of the many images that makes them appear like objects of sexual desire (undressing, running from behind)
Therefore the video feeds into the oppression of women in a patriarchal society
Is Riptide a concept or performance music video?
Concept
How does Riptide subvert the conventions of this genres music videos?
No clips of Vance Joy performing
No narrative
