Underdog - Alicia Keys Flashcards
Alicia Keys - context
Was born in Hell’s Kitchen, a deprived area of Midtown Manhattan.
Keys has been awarded a raft of awards during her career.
She has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the world’s best selling music artists.
She was named by Billboard as the R&B / Hip-Hop Artist of the Decade (2000s).
She placed tenth on their list of Top 50 R&B / Hip-Hop Artists of the past 25 years.
Visual codes - examples
Character positioning.
Colour.
Actions.
Object / props.
Setting.
Lighting.
Costumes.
Texts.
Expressions.
Iconography.
Gestures
Technical codes - examples
Shot types.
Camera positioning.
Editing.
Audio codes - examples
Diegetic sounds:
Background sounds.
Dialogues.
Non-diegetic sounds:
Music.
Sound effects.
Iconography
The patterns of signs we associate with a particular genre.
Intertextual references
The relationship between media products where one text references another text by reusing some its ideas and meaning.
Iconography and intertextual references - examples
Clothes - “typical” clothes, streetwear.
Clothes reflect the working class background.
“Real” places; - food shelter / community hall, car park, home, taxi.
“Typical” lives - jobs, real people with real careers and real families.
Socially and culturally relevant.
Not a singular narrative.
Range of ethnic backgrounds.
Underdog - title
Title of song “underdog” suggests audience should see these people as struggling and disadvantaged but good and deserving.
Visual codes - Underdog
Positive facial expressions.
Natural lighting.
Bright colours.
Streetwear.
Focuses on many people - multiple types of characters.
Lyrics match characters “stories”.
Visual codes - Underdog (setting)
The music video is filmed in real locations to create a sense of realism.
Locations include urban street scenes, domestic situations, and the market.
This establishes a sense of actuality.
Visual codes - Underdog (colours)
The desaturated, earthy colour palette reinforces the sense that real life is happening, and this is juxtaposed with the bright, vibrant colours of the larger-than-life street dancer character.
Visual codes - Underdog (expressions and gestures)
Individual stories are constructed through expressions and gestures.
For example -
The exchange between the young woman and the street seller is inaudible, but the meaning is effectively conveyed through the lyrics, gestures and expressions.
The upbeat atmosphere of the music video is reinforced by waving, smiling, and clapping, which are recognisable signifiers of positivity.
Visual codes - Underdog (narrative)
The narrative focuses on the central premise that those that are underestimated in life can defy the odds and “rise up”.
The story is essentially positive and celebratory and refines the idea of the “underdog”.
The narrative shows that chance encounters with strangers can have an impact on your life and draws attention to different groups in society that may often be overlooked.
Technical codes - Underdog
Close-up.
Extreme close-up.
POV shot.
Wide angle.
Establishing shot.
Panning.
Low angle.
Fast-paced editing.
Technical codes - Underdog (close-up shot)
The use of close-up shots of the characters in the music video and their positive expressions creates an upbeat feeling and an engagement with the audience.
Technical codes - Underdog (Low angle shot)
Looking at the sky through hands is repeated and is a visual representation of the lyrics “rise up”, connoting aspiration.
Technical codes - Underdog (Establishing shot)
The shots of the urban milieu anchor of the narrative in a realistic setting, representing real life and experiences.
Technical codes - Underdog (tracking shots)
Follows the characters in their everyday lives (the main on the pavement and the young woman on the bus), which involves the audience in their narrative.
Technical codes - Underdog (slow motion)
The use of slow motion is a reminder that this is a stylised construction.
The editing cuts between the individual stories and the performance of the artist, establishing a clear link between the two; the young mother spinning with the child in her arms and the street dancer spinning on the table reinforce a sense of community through visual signifiers.
Audio codes - Underdog
Repetition of lyrics - “rise up”.
Audio codes - Underdog (lyrics)
The repetitive lyrics of the chorus reinforce the narrative.
The images are highly illustrative and often feature a literal interpretation of the lyrics.
Ideology gained from her own experience that everyone deserves a chance regardless of who they are or what their circumstances are.
Meaning - Underdog
She wants to represent a community.
Many of the images illustrate the lyrics but connote deeper layers of meaning in relation to the more abstract notion of working to achieve success and “rise up”.
The use of iconography has become a symbol of social status.
Performance music videos
Features a solo artist or a band performing to a camera.
The aim is to focus on the artists and convey them in a particular way to the viewing audience.
Narrative music videos
Tells a story, logically or sequentially through a chain of events that are put together to run parallel to each other.
Performance and narrative music videos - Underdog
This music video employs the codes and conventions of the narrative/performance form, cutting between the constructed narrative and the performance of the artist.
Representation - Underdog
Constructs a version of reality using real locations and believable characters.
As a result, the representations are positive, challenging audience perceptions of the homeless and other struggling societal groups who need support and recognition.
Keys challenges the audience’s perception of particular social groups.
This music video deliberately avoids stereotypical representations and presenting marginalised groups as “others” and leads to more of a positive interpretation.
Keys has created a political music video which positions the audience to engage with the discourse around representation of gender, ethnicity and identity.
Representation - Underdog (values)
The representations of ethnicity are also positive with the inclusion of cultural iconography and the blending of cultures into a cohesive whole through music and dance.
Positive messages and values are embedded in the representations and the director has created a world that positions the audience to view “underdogs” differently.
Montage
Editing a concentrated sequence using short cuts or techniques such as dissolves to summarize a particular experience or event.
Montage - Underdog
Allows the audience to see multiple perspectives on the same issue.
Links the characters stories.
Blends cultures.
To use time wisely.
Director - Underdog
The video for Underdog was directed by Wendy Morgan, a Canadian Film Director.
Morgan said her aim in creating the music video to create, “a space grounded in reality…a joyful nature world for the video to live in.”
