Riptide Music Video (R) Flashcards
Who directed the Riptide music video?
Dimitri Basil and Laura Gorun
What genre is the Riptide video in reference to?
Surrealism
How does the Riptide video subvert typical music video conventions?
It is typical for song lyrics to be interpreted on screen but this video does in a more overt and deliberate way.
How does the Riptide video explicitly reference feature films?
- The opening shot features a billing block
- There are frequent references to Western, Thriller and Horror genres
- It could be argued that this is not a music video but a short film
(Riptide) Montage Editing
The contrasting images invites audience interpretation.
Eisenstien’s (soviet director) concept of “intellectual montage” where new ideas emerge from the collision of images and generate new meanings that might not otherwise exist e.g. man and woman turn their heads to look at something off screen and the next shot shows an unrelated pile of dollar bills.
Examples of the victimisation of women in the Riptide MV
- tied to a tree
- dragged under bed
- tortured (dentist)
- covered in bruises and blood
How are women objectified in the Riptide MV?
- only get to see part of their bodies/ their bodies but not their faces
- dehumanises women (objects to be admired)
- male target audience? or is supposed to be to challenge stereotypical representations of women?
- someone staring at woman from bushes below (voyuerism - object to watch)
How are beauty expectations for women shown in the Riptide MV?
woman singing is stereotypically beautiful e.g. hair and makeup done - expectation of women to look perfect
- powerful
- highlights her sexualised image and traditional ideas about beauty (there to admire her looks)
- makeup starts to slide around face throughout (enigma codes, feel sympathy scary atmosphere)
How is violence against women in the Riptide MV?
Gun being pointed & hand being stabbed - may reflect increase in the rates of violence against women
- may have had the opposite effect of trivializing violence against women
bell hooks on the Riptide MV
Feminism is the struggle to end patriarchal oppression
- is this video ‘feminist’ and trying to support women in discussing violence against them and presenting them in a powerful way?
- or is the video offering women up for male entertainment and trivializing violence against women?
Representation of men in the Riptide MV
Voyeurs - watching women/spying on them (director/in bushes)
- powerful positions (typical patriarchal views in society)
- male gaze
Social and Cultural context of Riptide
Un Chien Andelou (1829) - surrealist film that explores violence and desire.
The infamous eye cutting scene could be compared to the hand cutting scene in Riptide.
What techniques have been used to show the victimisation of women in the Riptide MV?
- fast paced (increases tension and fear, references how women are represented in horror films)
- high camera angles - make women look smaller
- terrified facial expressions & low key lighting - add to the representation of women as fearful (stereotypical)
- long takes of the woman singing (can see her and her injuries up close, makes audience uncomfortable, enigma)
- eyes glance off to the side as though she is watching someone (scared)
- eyes become more vacant
- deliberately sings the words wrong signifying that she is emotional and panicked (feeling of being watched)
How are women represented as powerful within the Riptide MV?
The woman who escapes from the ropes shows that she is her own hero and she doesn’t need someone to help her (e.g. a man).
Goes against patriarchal views.
