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Riptide - Coggle Diagram
Riptide
THEORIES
Todorov... (narrative theorist)"all narratives move from one state of equilibrium to another"
- equilibrium --> disruption --> new equilibrium
1- comfort in destructive dynamic
2- singer's make-up + singing gets worse, she's wounded then suddenly healed, cowboy breakdown masculine control, "they come unstuck" she's breaking free from restraint
3- stops before riptide = female freedom + empowerment (2:54/3:24)
Levi-Strauss... (which one is promoted??)"meaning is understood through oppositions/binaries"
- oppression Vs freedom
- masculinity Vs femininity
- rebellion Vs authority
- belonging Vs isolation
Barthes...
- ocean = time + sense of comfort
- dollar bill/colour green = jealousy
- women = femininity + weakness (naturalisation)
Goffman...
- woman on balcony looking down, camera that is at a low angle
- woman is more observant as she looks through binoculars, therefore going against Goffman's 5th portrayal of women in the media
Steve Neale..."genres may be dominated by repetition but are also marked by difference, variation and change'
- indie-folk music video genre is dominated by repetition (low-fi videos with bands playing instruments) YET Riptide offers variations
- is Riptide offering variation for artistic reasons or to generate interest in the band to make profit?
MOTIFS
singing lady...
- begins with perfect makeup, singing in the spotlight
- within a minute, her makeup is smudged and the spotlight has moved down and words are subtitled wrong
- she can never win --> whether she is conforming or rebelling she is in pain
- her word's are being twisted by the subtitles showing that men don't have faith in women
men enforcing their insecurity on women
riptide...
- a smaller wave being overcome by a bigger wave
- represents men overpowering women
- 2 clashing waves show competing genders and turbulent progress of social change
- reoccurring return to the riptide shows the comfort she finds in the familiarity of the dynamic (masculine dominance against feminine subservience) despite knowing it's destructive
running lady...
- faceless --> stripped of identity
- idealised representation of femininity from male perspective
LYRICS
- "all my friends are turning green" --> jealousy
- "this cowboy's running from himself, and she's been living on the highest shelf" --> another level of beauty + eg of Rebellion Vs Authority
- "cause you're gonna sing the words wrong" --> w/ subtitles 'sank the words wolf' pushes male insecurities onto women, forcing them to make mistakes
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REPRESENTATION
women are repeatedly represented as an object to be watched ('scopophilia')
- disembodied, isolated instances of women's bodies (e.g. - bare feet, hands being dragged out of frame, woman undressing out of swimming costume with back to camera)
- these images don't inherently show women being sexualised however, I would argue that they are still being taken advantage of
- several scenes of violence against women --> stabbed hand, wound/blood on neck either trivialising or normalising violence towards women
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establishing shots...1 - long pan of sky --> calm, tranquil, freedom, peace
2 - straight cut to close-up woman in mouth brace --> entrapment, distressthe contrast between the 2 establishing shots shows the division between what is known/visible and what is so deeply rooted in society that a blind eye is turned:
- men controlling women, here specifically restricting her speech (silencing)
cowboys are figure of white masculine control, music video mocks this by using an extreme long shot at high angle --> reduces size, showing his true vulnerability
montage editing alongside literal interpretations of lyrics
- range of contrasting shots juxtaposed through hard jump cuts ('intellectual montage' - Eisenstein)
- seemingly disparate images edited consecutively gives audience opportunity to interpret new ideas that emerge from the collision of images that create NEW MEANINGS
- E.G. --> man and woman turn heads to look off-screen + next shot shows pile of dollar bills ("all my friends are turning green")
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overt graphic representation of lyrics is an example of the conventions of music videos being subverted, or could be seen as a way to make fun of the conventions
references to feature films...
- opening shot --> cinematic style credits with graphic similar to a billing block which frames the video in a short film form
- nods to western/thriller genres and particularly use of horror genre iconography --> women repeatedly dragged off screen by unseen forces and one going missing in a dark graveyard
offers the audience with an implied artistic value that transcends the music video form
(therefore why he takes the mick out of music video conventions with excessively literal depictions of lyrics)
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