Intertexuality and Representation. Rihanna, Robin Thick and Lily Allen

Lily Allen's song and video is all about the representation of the female gender within media. She shows direct link between Rihanna and Robin Thick throughout the video.

Lyrics

Relation to Blurred Lines

Relation to Pour it up

I suppose I should tell you what this bitch is thinking

You'll find me in the studio and not in the kitchen

Saying how she wont be domesticated.

I won't be bragging 'bout my cars or talking 'bout my chains

Doesn't care about money.

Don't need to shake my ass for you 'cause I've got a brain

She doesn't need to show off her body to get where she wants in life because she is smart.

If I told you 'bout my sex life, you'd call me a slut

Link to the media and how magazines and talks shows make people out to be sluts.

When boys be talking about their bitches, no one's making a fuss

How men can talk about how many women they have been with and get praised but the other way round and women get shamed.

There's a glass ceiling to break, uh-huh, there's money to make

And now it's time to speed it up 'cause I can't move at this pace

[Bridge]

Sometimes it's hard to find the words to say

I'll go ahead and say them anyway

Hard for women to voice there opinions about how they are being portrayed.

Forget your balls and grow a pair of tits

[Chorus]

It's hard, it's hard, it's hard out here for a bitch

It's hard, for a bitch (for a bitch)

For a bitch, it's hard

It's hard out here for a bitch

It's hard, for a bitch (for a bitch)

For a bitch, it's hard

It's hard out here

You're not a size six, and you're not good looking

How media makes it hard for normal sized women to feel good about themselves because of models and celebrities 

Well, you better be rich, or be real good at cooking

Men are only after a house wife or money

You should probably lose some weight

How women are represented within media and the pressure about weight

'Cause we can't see your bones

You should probably fix your face or you'll end up on your own

How lodes of famous people get plastic surgery and how that can make people think thats the only way to be good looking.

Don't you want to have somebody who objectifies you?

Don't want to be treated like an object.

Have you thought about your butt? Who's gonna tear it in two? 

We've never had it so good, uh-huh, we're out of the woods

Saying how even though Feminism has gone a long way it hasn't gone far enough yet.

And if you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood

[Bridge]

[Chorus]

A bitch, a bitch, a bitch, bitch, bitch [x4]

Inequality promises that it's here to stay

Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not going away

Inequality promises that it's here to stay

Always trust the injustice 'cause it's not going away

[Bridge]

[Chorus x2]

Lyrics

Money

Alcohol

Throw it up, throw it up

Watch it all fall out

Pour it up, pour it up

That's how we ball out

Throw it up, throw it up

Watch it all fall out

Pour it up, pour it up

That's how we ball out

Strip clubs and dollar bills

I still got more money

Patron shots can I get a refill?

I still got more money

Strippers goin' up and down that pole

And I still got more money

Four o'clock and we ain't going home

Cause I still got more money

Money make the world go round

I still got more money

Bands make your girl go down

I still got more money

Lot more where that came from

I still got more money

The look in yo eyes I know you want some

I still got more money

Ohhhh

All I see is signs

All I see is dollar signs

Ohhhh

Money on my mind

Money, money on my mind

Throw it, throw it up

Watch it fall off from the sky

Throw it up, throw it up

Watch it all fall out

Pour it up, pour it up

That's how we ball out

Throw it up, throw it up

Watch it all fall out

Pour it up, pour it up

That's how we ball out

That's how we ball out

That's how we ball out

That's how we ball out

Valet cost a hundred bills

I still got more money

Gold all up in my grill

I still got more money

Who cares how you haters feel

And I still got more money

Call Jay up and close a deal

I still got more money

My fragrance on and they love my smell

I still got more money

So who cares about what I spend

I still got more money

My pocket's deep, and they never end

I still got more money

I'm going dumb with all my friends

I still got more money

Ohhhh

All I see is signs

All I see is dollar signs

Ohhhh

Money on my mind

Money, money on my mind

Throw it, throw it up

Watch it fall off from the sky

Throw it up, throw it up

Watch it all fall out

Pour it up, pour it up

That's how we ball out

Throw it up, throw it up

Watch it all fall out

Pour it up, pour it up

That's how we ball out

That's how we ball out

That's how we ball out

That's how we ball out

This song and video is all about sex, money and alcohol.

Lyrics

Downgrading comment

Objectifying women

Everybody get up

Everybody get up

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

[Verse 1: Robin Thicke]

If you can't hear what I'm trying to say

If you can't read from the same page

Maybe I'm going deaf,

Maybe I'm going blind

Maybe I'm out of my mind

[Pharrell:] Everybody get up

[Pre-chorus: Robin Thicke]

OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you

But you're an animal, baby, it's in your nature

Just let me liberate you

Hey, hey, hey

You don't need no papers

Hey, hey, hey

That man is not your maker

[Chorus: Robin Thicke]

And that's why I'm gon' take a good girl

I know you want it

I know you want it

I know you want it

You're a good girl

Can't let it get past me

You're far from plastic

Talk about getting blasted

I hate these blurred lines

I know you want it

I know you want it

I know you want it

But you're a good girl

The way you grab me

Must wanna get nasty

Go ahead, get at me

[Pharrell:] Everybody get up

[Verse 2: Robin Thicke]

What do they make dreams for

When you got them jeans on

What do we need steam for

You the hottest bitch in this place

I feel so lucky

Hey, hey, hey

You wanna hug me

Hey, hey, hey

What rhymes with hug me?

Hey, hey, hey

[Pre-chorus: Robin Thicke]

OK now he was close, tried to domesticate you

But you're an animal, baby it's in your nature

Just let me liberate you

Hey, hey, hey

You don't need no papers

Hey, hey, hey

That man is not your maker

Hey, hey, hey

[Chorus: Robin Thicke]

And that's why I'm gon' take a good girl

I know you want it

I know you want it

I know you want it

You're a good girl

Can't let it get past me

You're far from plastic

Talk about getting blasted

[Pharrell:] Everybody get up

I hate these blurred lines

I know you want it

I hate them lines

I know you want it

I hate them lines

I know you want it

But you're a good girl

The way you grab me

Must wanna get nasty

Go ahead, get at me

[Verse 3: T.I.]

One thing I ask of you

Let me be the one you back that ass to

Go, from Malibu, to Paris, boo

Yeah, I had a bitch, but she ain't bad as you

So hit me up when you pass through

I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two

Swag on, even when you dress casual

I mean it's almost unbearable

In a hundred years not dare, would I

Pull a Pharside let you pass me by

Nothing like your last guy, he too square for you

He don't smack that ass and pull your hair like that

So I just watch and wait for you to salute

But you didn't pick

Not many women can refuse this pimpin'

I'm a nice guy, but don't get it if you get with me

[Bridge: Robin Thicke]

Shake the vibe, get down, get up

Do it like it hurt, like it hurt

What you don't like work?

[Pre-chorus: Robin Thicke]

Baby can you breathe? I got this from Jamaica

It always works for me, Dakota to Decatur, uh huh

No more pretending

Hey, hey, hey

Cause now you winning

Hey, hey, hey

Here's our beginning

[Chorus: Robin Thicke]

I always wanted a good girl

(Pharrell: Everybody get up)

I know you want it

I know you want it

I know you want it

You're a good girl

Can't let it get past me

You're far from plastic

Talk about getting blasted

I hate these blurred lines

(Pharrell: Everybody get up)

I know you want it

I know you want it

I know you want it

But you're a good girl

The way you grab me

Must wanna get nasty

Go ahead, get at me

[Outro: Pharrell]

Everybody get up

Everybody get up

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

Hey, hey, hey

These lyrics are all very downgrading towards women and especially the video. One girl is shown naked and holding a Lamb, the lamb connotes innocence but its covering her nakedness showing she acts innocent but isn't. This is also shown by all the girls dressed in white.

There is also a shot of a girl on the floor with a car on her back.

Showing her a an object and using male gaze, making the car show off her body shape.

Even though the lyrics say 'Your far from plastic' all the girls within the video are shown wearing plastic. This gives the impression they are wrapped up in plastic as if a toy or object.

Lily Allen compared to Robin Thick

This image shows the relation between the lyrics between each song and video.

Relation between videos

Glorification of smoking in all 3 videos. 

Money and possessions glorified.

Magazine Advert and Digi pack importance.

A Magazine Advert is to help sell the band to their audience. The Advert can help sell tours, merchandise and new albums. Adverts tend to be simple because big chunks of text will put the viewer off. The Advert is simple and to the point, to help the audience to understand the ad on first glance.

A Digi pack is a way for the fans to get a little bit extra other then the CD. It gives them a more collectors addition of the album. This helps the band sell more albums to their bigger fans. It also includes more pictures and a lyric book. Some even include an extra disc CD or DVD.

Digipack of chosen Genre

Slipknot Digipack

 

Open

 Front

Back

 

This Digipack has 6 panels and the track list is on the back. The main colour scheme is red and black, this fits with the genre because is dark. On the front is a picture of the whole band in there stage costumes, this lets you know who the band is and its easy for the fans to recognise. The band name Slipknot is in their iconic font making it recognisable. There is a lyric book which has various pictures of bands which have relations to lyrics.



Poster idea 1

Following the same theme as the Digi pack idea, but with the added colour of green. This is because a poster has to be eye catching and cant really be to dark. I thought green would be a good colour because the lead singer in one of their photo shoots had bright green hair and we are thinking of having him with green again because it looked really good on camera and also if would add to the whole outcast look we are going for. To link with the Digi pack i thought of having the same blood hand print again and follow with the same font. We want to include the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account names on the poster to help advertise the band and give the viewer somewhere to look the band up.

Digi Pack Idea 1

This is my first idea for what our Digi pack might look like. We decided we would have 6 sections. I went with the colour scheme of Red, black and white because i feel this is a popular scheme of our genre and the red links to the fake blood we plan on using in the video. The video itself plans on being quiet dark and colourless, other then the blood, so this colour scheme fits in well.

Here is the Digi pack fully opened out from the back.

This is the Digi pack fully opened from the inside.

This is the front of the Digi pack. I chose to have Connar, the lead singer, at the front because he is our main focus for the video so it links to the video better. I plan on having it completely black and white with his eyes and the blood on his mouth the only thing with colour. The actual photo for this would be taken on the day of the shoot so that there is a direct link. 

This is what you would see as you open it. I chose to have this combination of section because they link together. You have the lyric book next to the track list. The font will be the same the whole way through.

This is a photo we plan on taking when we shoot. For our opening shot of our video we plan on walking down an empty white corridor so i thought this would look good as just a picture on the section.

This where the disc would be. I thought of having a blood hand print on a wall. This would also be taken on the shoot. This will link to the video because our main character sings about feeling trapped and out of control and this is what i pictured.

For this i plan on editing the background black and having blood foot prints along the bottom.

Here would be a photo of the whole band. In their costumes from the video.

Idea based on Lyrics

Im A Freak
Verse 1:
It's these voices in my head
They tell me what to do
It's this other side of me
that I can't control
It's a place inside my mind
That i can't set free
It is undeniable
It's taking over my life
Chorus X2:
I'm disordered
I'm weak
I am ruined
And I'm a freak
Verse 2
It's my brain it doesn't work
I get confused
It's a dark type of me
That can't be killed
It stops me being alone
When things get wierd
Its unpredictable
It feels so alive
Chorus X2:
I'm Disordered
I'm weak
I am ruined
And I'm a freak
What am i?
I'm a..
What am I?
I'm a..
What am I?
I'm a..
What am i?
I'm a freak

The lyrics "It's the other side of me" Gives us the idea of splitting the layers of a clip apart and then move then back together. This is a direct relation between visuals and lyrics. Also shows connotations of a bipolar disorder which fits in with having our painted as someone with a mental disorder. To show this we are planning on buying a realistic looking straight jacket or hospital gown for him to wear. The whole song talks about the main character feeling like an outcast and isolated so we plan on only showing him in full and only showing parts of the band members to connotate his isolation. This idea links to a video of the same genre;

and The narrative fits with;


We are planning on having our main character have 'I'm a Freak' show up writing on his sink to show his sanity slowly draining as this thought of being an outcast takes over him. Throughout the whole song we are planning on showing him sat in the corner of a room making him look small and insignificant.
For the lyrics 'It's my brain, it doesn't work.' we are planning on using a jumpy edited clip of him pulling at his hair showing his frustration.
For 'It's a dark type of me' we would like to have some sort of flicking lights or some editing which make it look like lights flicker.
For 'stops me being alone' we thought of cleverly editing two more faces to appear next to our main character of him with different make up. To connotate schizophrenia and bipolar.
For the last bit of the song we want to do a stop motion head roll to show the has lost his mind.

Cultural Effects Model.

(Drip Effect)
Developed by George Gerbner
If the same media messages are repeated often enough they will be accepted as fact, but audience members can resist these messages.

The Cultivation Effect model also suggests the audience are active and can 'decode' messages in media texts in a number of ways. People's responses are affected by their social background.

There are different types of readings:

• Dominant- An intended reading e.g. Male singer attracting heterosexual women.
• Oppositional- Not intended reading e.g. Male singer attracting homosexual men.

This relates to music video because lots of music videos have very repetative messages and images. Such as nudity;

Some people if they see this repeated throughout the music videos they watch they may think that behaviour like that is aceptable. Even messages like drugs and violence. Repeated and shown enough some poeple may start to think is okay.

Lip Syncing and its importance.

Lip Sync
Its the technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.

If a video has really bad lip sync you find you get distracted whilst watching the video. You spend more time watching the lip movements then the video itself.

When considering lip sync in or music video we will need to consider,

• Make sure actors/band members know the lyrics.
• Look like the singer is actually singing. Do this by using a phone to play the song quietly and actor/band member sings along. Then when editing mute the clip.
• Make sure the actor/singer pronounces their words.
• Temp/ Rhythm. Edit the clip so that the syncing fits with the tempo of the music.

Panic! At The Disco: Girls/Girls/Boys

I put in this video because it has lip sync though out the whole video and has no cuts to anything other then him singing. The good thing about this is that he looks like he is singing with his body movements and facial expressions.

Andrew Goodwins Theory

Goodwin speaks about key aspects of music videos that we, the audience, should look for in a good music video.

• Star Image
• Intertextuality
• Sound and Vision
• Notions of looking
• Genre

Star Image

Artists use videos as a way of promoting themselves. So often you see a lot of close ups. For example Chris Motionless in Devils Night

Intertextuality

This is when there is a reference to a TV program or film. This is so that the viewer can make the connection as well as it might help with the understanding of the narrative.

like in Naughty Boy - La La La ft. Sam Smith referencing The Wizard of Oz,

Sound and Visuals

This is when there is a clear connection between the video and the lyrics in the song. With this there are 4 other things to be considered

• Disjuncture: No relation between lyrics and visuals.
• Contradict: When the lyrics and visuals contradict each other.
• Illustrate: When the visuals have a literal relation to the lyrics.
• Amplify: When the key meaning is manipulated to effect the audience. Relation between visuals and lyrics may be exaggerated.

Notions of looking

'Voyerism' When things such as male gaze is used so that the viewer is watching for his or her own pleasure. This is often seen when dance routines of women in videos and use of clothing.

Another element is when the video has mirrors or tvs incorporated within the video giving the direct feel of watching something.

Genre

The video should fit certain genre characteristics e.g. Rock - Live performance, darker and more Gothic visuals. 

Initial Thoughts on Own Music Video

We decided  on Kill The Freak as the band for our video because we thought due to the up tempo of the music genre and its clear beat we thought we would be able to make a fast paced and different theme to a music video. The theme of there songs really got us going with ideas for ways we can show the lyrics in a new way. 

Song Lyrics

I’m A Freak

Verse 1:

 It’s these voices in my head

They tell me what to do

 It’s this other side of me

 That I can’t control 

It’s a place inside my mind

 That I can’t set free

 It is undeniable

 It’s taking over my life

Chorus:

I’m disordered

I’m weak

 I am ruined

 And I’m a freak

 Verse 2:

 It’s my brain

 it doesn’t work

I get confused

 It’s a dark type of me

 That can’t be killed

 It stops me being alone

 When things get weird

 It is unpredictable

It feels so alive

 Chorus:

I’m disordered

 I’m weak

 I am ruined

 And I’m a freak

Interlude:

 What am I? I’m a..

 What am I? I’m a..

What am I? I’m a..

What am I? I’m a Freak!

Magazine Advertisements

I chose this advert because I like how simple it is but it still gets it message across. It has the Bands name at the top with its trademark font so any fan would instantly know it. It has the album name under the band name with date of release. The picture is the album artwork. This is simple but effective. Its eye catching due to the artwork and its informative by the text. Any more writing and this ad would be too cluttered. The young boy in the picture is shown to be holding the bands logo on a piece of string which is also a clear indicator of the band and clever thinking of the artist. The colours in the picture are dull back, grey and white but it works because its eye catching. This picture in bright colours for one aesthetically wouldn't look right and at the same time it would fit the Rock genre of the band.

Past Student Music Video

The video in itself looks very professional. The first ten seconds of the video I would say are the most professional looking. The opening shot is well lit and is very steady, it sets the scene and looks very professional.












The pan of them fighting is a really good combination of shots and is very smooth. Then the close up, cross processed, shot of the males face fits in very well. The close up of his eyes is a very shaky shot and is off centred. It’s a creative shot but could have been smoother.

Quite a few of the shots could have been smoother and the framing could have been better as well. Weirdly enough on the lip syncing shots the shaky and off framing kind of works and fits with the song. The close up of the writing at first is in focus and then goes off and on again. This could have been intentional to fit the beat but it looks off. The close up of him writing is very good though and a good angle. The lip sync its self is very good. There isn’t much of it but it works and fits with the narrative. The narrative at first didn’t seem to work because the music is slow and the couple where fighting. The slow motion helped but I felt that they should have showed something calmer. The use of lighting is done very well especially in the cross processed shots. The location was well thought out and fit well with the narrative. To improve the video i would have paid more attention to the framing and focus of the camera more and maybe had the fighting build with the the tempo of the music giving it a better effect.

Purpose of a music video

The Purpose of a music video is to;

• Sell the song. By making you remember the music.
• Give the narrative of the song a clear meaning.
• To be entertaining. It has to be entertaining or no one would watch it.
• To expand and expose the artists fan base.

In the end a music video is a promotional tool for the artist. Its all about CD or song downloads. The best way to get a hype about a song is to give it a massive video which gets everyone's attention.
There are certain genres that make their videos appeal more to their target audeince. e.g. rock have live performance,

Pop have male gaze, when the camera is in the view point of a man, for example focusing on bits that men like most about women.

Music Video History

A music video known as a short film or just a video  to promote an artist. It is usually the length or longer than the actual song, if longer the video is known as a short film.
The video has to be visually memorable and have specific conventions to be effective to the audience.

The said to be the first music video was 'St Louis Blues - Bessie Smith' in 1929. This was shown in theatres until 1932.


Some people don't count this as the first 'Music Video' because it doesn't follow Andrew Goodwins Seven Conventions. The video is just her singing the song looking drunk.

In 1940, Walt Disney released fantasia. This was the first video/film which was made to fit with music. The animation was made around the music to portray the story the sound is making.




In the 1950-60's Disney and looney toons started to make cartoons to music. But the main thing was Cab Calloway who introduced live action videos with famous artists.


Also Scopitone Jukeboxes where introduced. These where jukeboxes that also showed the music video to the song on a screen. These where popular but rarely seen due to them being really expensive.

Beetles - Strawberry Fields Forever + Penny Lane was their first attempt of a music video.
This is really simple due to its time, it doesn't have any narrative but it has relations between music and visuals and some to lyrics but not much.

In 1966 Bob Dylan released the video to 'Subteranean Homesick Blues' This is a simple lyric video.
You can tell this was don't with one continuous shot because of the mistakes made by the man holding the signs. This was a clever attempt of a unique video which has now been copied many times.

As time went on better quality videos and colour was introduced as well as 35mm castes.
In 1975 Queen Released Bohemian Rhapsody. This is considered the first proper music video.
You can tell this was purposely filmed to the music and to promote the song and band. They use a few of the conventions as well making this one of the first proper videos.

Top of the pops and the top 40s was then introduced making videos really important. But when top of the pops couldn't get a band or the video they had dancers which was filmed dancing to the songs. This attracted a male audience to something which would be classed as more of a female programme.

In 1981 MTV, the first 24hour music video channel, was introduced. This made having good videos really important to get airtime to promote themselves. There where more sophisticated effects and transitions added and videos got better stories and plots.
Buggles released Video Killed the Radio Star.
Which had more of a plot to the video even though its a little abstract and surreal.

Michael Jackson then introduced the first short film videos such as Beat it and Thriller. Thriller is the best example.


This cost $500,000 which at its time was expensive. This is classed as a short film because it had characteristics like a film such as: a voice over, a strong narrative, closing credits, quote at the beginning and the song was cut up with acting and speaking. This became an iconic video which was copied and reproduced many times.

In 1985 more music channels where introduced such as VH1 for softer music and the Chart show in 1986.

Dire Straits-Money for Nothing was the first computer animated video.


This compared to now obviously is really poor quality but it introduced something that many hadn’t thought of doing and is now used all the time.

In 1986 Peter Gabriels video Sledge Hammer, filmed with stop motion and special effects, got 9 MTV awards.



This was a really creative way of making a video which promoted them well.

Bands started to purposely produce controversial videos to gain more publicity this caused issues due to Top of the Pops being aired before the water shed.

Duran Duran's 'Girl on Film'

Frankie Goes To Hollywood 'Relax'

and Grandmaster Flash 'White Lines' where all band and over cleaner videos where created.

Martin Scorsese directed 'Bad' by Michael Jackson.



And Duran Duran's 'Wild Boys' cost 4 million due to them having to build the set.


In 1992 the directors of videos started to credited on MTV.

Michael Jacksons Video 'Scream' is still the most expensive video of all time. This cost 7 million to make and was directed by Romanek in 1995.




MTV started to go worldwide over the 90's and MTV2 came out in 1996.

in 2002 Madonna's song Die Another Day cost 6 million.



After 2005 Napster allowed you to show video files to people making music videos more accessible and MTV and other music channels stopped showing so many music videos.
YouTube also came along in 2005 and artists started to get fame through it. Ok Go for example with 'A Million Ways' in 2005 and then 'Here It Goes Again' in 2006.


In 2007 RIAA issued cease-and-desist loyalty and copy right came about on YouTube. This is why there are adverts at the beginning of music videos to pay record labels.

ITunes came about making CDs slowing stop being as important and being able to download music videos online.

MTV dropped their music TV tag line.

Top 3 music videos of 2012 according to MTV UK

3.
2.
1.

Stone Sour - Bother

The first shot is a close up of Corey Taylor's hand with rings, one of them being a spider-man ring which is a reference to the song being featured on the soundtrack of the film. The eight ring is his number in the band slipknot, this shows he is playing himself in the video not a character.
The video consists of Corey Taylor singing the song to himself. One copy rapidly growing old throughout the video and ends up dying and turning to dust at the end, only leaving bones and the spider-man ring.
The lyrics can be interpreted in many ways, for example:
'Never had a voice to protest,
So you fed me **** to digest.
I wish I had a reason, my flaws are open season.
For this, I gave up trying,
One good turn deserves my dying'
This connotes to religion and how he never had a voice because of always striving to be good all the time. His flaws became so apparent due to trying to change them all the time and can made him not want to try anymore.
Also the verse 'Stones to throw at my creator' and about how he keeps slipping further is about how his own morality, or past teachings of how he should behave in gods favor. He sing: 'You don't need to bother, i don't need to be, I'll keep slipping further' it sounds like he's saying he can't keep his ways clean so god doesn't need to bother keeping him going, he doesn't need to be cause he'll keep slipping further, further away from god or how he was taught he was supposed to be.
Or this song could be about depression and the video seems to get along these lines to.
'Wish I was to dead to cry'
Striving to not feel emotion so he can move on with his life and not feel the pain.
'My self affliction fades'
How his self harm/abuse fades as they heal.
'Stones to throw at my creator'
Throwing the blame onto someone else either god or his parents. Trying to find someone to blame for his misery.
'Masochists to which i cater'
Masochist means the gratification from being physically or emotionally abused, so self harm supposedly makes him feel better.
'You don't need to bother, I don't need to be'
Telling people not to bother to try and help and that he doesn't feel he needs to be here, He wants to leave.
'I'll keep slipping further, but once I hold on I won't let go till it bleeds'
He will keep slipping towards the edge, but if there's any hope to hold onto he will hold on tillhe can't anymore.
'Wish I was to dead to care, if indeed I cared at all'
He wishes he didn't have to act like he cared about himself and others because he never cared in the first place
'Never had a voice to protest, so you fed me **** to digest'
He never had a chance to voice his problems so they just kept building up making it harder.
'I wish i had a reason, my flaws are open season'
He feels his flaws are easy to see so he always feel self conscious and depressed about something.
'For this I gave up trying, one good turn deserves my dying'
He pretends to be someone he isn't to try and hide who he really is but wishes he just died instead.
'Shell forgotten with it's memories, diaries left with cryptic entries'
He feels if he kills himself or dies he will be forgotten. I think he uses the word shell because he feels there is nothing left of himself. The diaries would be his suicide note that he feels no one but him will truly understand.
'Once I hold on I'll never live down my deceit'
Once he finds something to hold onto and keep him living, he will never forgot how he felt and he will always be burdened by the memories.
The video shows this by showing him singing to his dying self, it's like he is singing to the part of himself that can't cope. So when he dies and the other him puts the ring on it connotes that even though that part of himself is over he will always have a reminder of it.
The black and white of the video shows the contrast of light and dark really well. So when there is a close up of Corey's face the background looks really dark showing how he is in a dark place within himself.
The setting itself seems to be a large empty ware house, this could connote the emptiness he is feeling and he only has him and himself. Until the rest of the band comes in at the end, this shows how he isn't really alone.
The way that the camera pans around the two Corey's as he sings shows how they are fighting for power. When the camera is behind the younger and stronger Corey, he looks bigger then the older dying side of himself. But at times it's the other way round connoting the shift in power.
At the start. as the camera tilts up from his hand to a close up of his face, his eyes are focused away from the camera but as he starts singing his eyes lock straight onto the camera. This gives the impression he is singing the song to you, instantly catching your attention and engaging you into the video.
The editing is low paced and the transitions are all either fades or cuts. This makes the video smooth and fit the tempo of the song.
The zoom in through the bands members eye connotes how the band see him as the stronger Corey not the one who is struggling and dying.
Throughout the video the lighting is quiet dark and only really highlighting on faces but at the end after the double dies the shots brighten with the close up of the rings rolling on the white floor and the bright contrast of his hand against this black coat. It connotes how things are now better and brighter now that that side of himself is gone.
The line 'Masochist to which I cater' both Corey's sing showing how he is hurting himself.

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Textual Analysis of Angel Eyes by New Years Day feat. Chris Motionless

New Years Day are a female fronted rock band. This video and song has the lead singer of the heavy metal band Motionless in White performing withing it.
The video is both performance and narrative, it fits with the conventions of a rock video due to the live performance by the band.
It has a typical narrative that is seen in a lot of female front bands which is boy meets girl but boy doesn't turn out how they wanted him to. This is twisted to be more gore and horrific to fit with the persona of the band and the style of music they produce.
There are direct links between lyrics and visual when she is singing about descises and hiding and they are at a mascaraed party with them all wearing masks. This has connotations that you don't know whats on the inside everyone is hidden my the mask they wear.
When the singer sings reach inside my chest there is a close of of a woman's chest. This is a clear show of male gaze. This also shown at the beginning when she is getting ready in a bath room standing in just her underwear. Being a female fronted rock band it is hard to get a strong male audience so by having alot of male gaze in videos it means they can try and build that following by having half naked attractive girls in the videos. Meaning it gets more views and downloads on the Internet.

Also the last time she sings 'Reach inside my chest, you can have whatevers left, cause baby I'm possessed' Chris Motionless reaches into her chest and pulls out her heart. Once he leaves she looks up and her eyes are blacked out showing she is possessed this is a direct relation to lyrics. It is con-notating that he took what he wanted and had her hook straight away. Showing men are manipulating to get that they want. 

At the beginning there are a lot of Dutch angles which connote its not quiet real. These angles are mostly used to show a character is drunk or drugged, making them seem confused and disorientated. But in this video the characters are shown to be sober, the use of the angle gives it a unreal and otherworldly feel.

The camera angles between the female and male characters are pretty level through out never really giving anyone dominance till the end. This connotes that you never know the balance in a relationship till one does something to prove for tilt it. In this there is only one very quick low angle on Chris which gives it away other then that it is pretty balanced throughout.

The editing starts off being rather slow a the beginning but speeds up with the tempo of the music. As the song gets faster and louder the editing gets quicker. This really helps the narrative because the story get more intense when the music does, making the whole piece flow together nicely.

There is pretty even amounts of air time between Chris and Ashley. Obviously with Ashley being the lead vocalist of the band she has more singing time and slightly more air time but Motionless in White are a bigger and more well know band meaning he will gain them views by being in the video. Due to this he has a large part in the video.