Estelle Naughton Tuesday 23rd September 2014Due on Thursday 2nd October 2014

Media Homework – Music Video Analysis

Screen grabs and comparisons

I’ve previously analysed the music video for ‘Fancy’ by Iggy Azalea featuring Charlie XCX using Lacey’s repertoire of elements to study the genre elements of the video. As the video to ‘Fancy’ is a clear cut replica of the 90’s film ‘Clueless’, I’m going to show the similarities between the music video and the film.

CHARACTERSThe characters within the video are more or less identical to the characters within the original film, with hardly any alterations.

Iggy Azalea/Cher:

The outfits are similar as in the original film, Cher is wearing the same outfit except she has removed her tartan jacket in this scene, but is wearing the same outfit. The scene is duplicated as in the film, this screen grab is taken from a scene in which Cher and another character called Amber are debating, which is recreated in the ‘Fancy’ music video with the podium, body language and the board behind Iggy, however the board behind Iggy is more updated as it is a whiteboard with the names of rappers whereas in the film it is a black board with political issues displayed which the debate is about. The scene had been adapted since the film was made due to the school being in use therefore having a newer version of a blackboard but the school used for the music video is the same school which was used for the film, which allows most scenes to be mirrored in the video. Even the layout of the classroom and the attitude of the students are of a similar nature, due to the teacher being on the left in the video and film and the students being reluctant to learning by throwing things and not paying much attention in both the music video and film.

Due to copyright, the screen grab (and the link below) from the original film is reversed but in the original film the positioning of the characters are the same as the characters in the music video, which has taken clear inspiration from the film. Amber’s character in the music video is represented in the same way in which she is represented in the film, with red bobbed hair, furry jacket or coat and the same sort of attitude. Also, the character’s mannerisms are the same, for example in the same scene an actress who is trying to play the character of Amber from the original film gestures a ‘W’ with her hands which Amber does in the original scene and throughout the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w ‘Fancy’ 0.27 secondshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf7MT1p1VNI ‘Clueless’ 1.34 seconds

Charlie XCX/Tai:

Dee:

As you can see, there are clear similarities with the characters in the music video and in the film. The most obvious copy is Tai’s character played by Charlie XCX, this representation was emphasised more than any others due to the fact people may not understand which character she is playing because Tai in the film takes a back seat whereas Cher and Dee are the main characters. The representation of Tai’s character is shown by Charlie XCX wearing similar clothing of the same colour so the audience will understand who’s role in ‘Clueless’ she is playing. Within this scene of the video, Dee and her boyfriend Murray are represented by the actors to the left of Charlie XCX.

Due to copyright, the image from the original film has been flipped but the placements of the characters are the same if the original image was available.

The most obvious representation of a character apart from Cher’s character is Dee’s character perpetrated by an actress in the music video who looks similar to Dee’s character, by having a black actress play Dee’s character. Additionally having a similar hair style with the braids or cornrows, it allows the actress to portray the same image as Dee’s character, as well as wear similar clothing as Dee and also Cher’s character with the checked skirts, blazers but in alternate colours.

Murray:

Again the representation of Murray’s character in the music video is aided by the black actor playing his character as it may have impacted the way the music video had an effect on the audience if the actor wasn’t black, despite the scene displayed above being iconic, they audience may have been unaware of who the actor was trying to represent. To also represent Murray’s character, the actor in the video has had braces put on to emphasise the character he will be playing as shown above. This is the main scene in the music video in which Murray’s character is represented apart and his character is also shown in the lunch table scene shown previously, but the main focus wasn’t on him at that time. The original scene in the film features a close up of Murray’s face when a lorry is behind the car on the motorway showing the fear in his face, which is duplicated in the music video both the scene and facial expression on the actor’s face. Additionally, the actor is wearing similar head wear to the original character but isn’t wearing similar clothing as the actor is wearing a tracksuit which could be conforming to a black male stereotype.

Christian:

Christian’s character from the film is represented by being seated behind Iggy like he is in the film. Also, by wearing similar clothing and sunglasses it suggests Christian’s character as he wears sunglasses in other scenes within the film. Other characters are being represented in this scene, such as Cher, Tai and Amber. However Tai isn’t featured in this scene in the film.

NARRATIVE EVENTSAs mentioned earlier, someone on the internet has picked the same scenes shown in the ‘Fancy’ video from the original film and has put them in a similar order as the music video and has played ‘Fancy’ over the clips, indicating the similarities between the two. There isn’t much variation between the two which points out the clear influence from ‘Clueless’ and interpreted in the ‘Fancy’ music video, which could be seen as a pastiche to the film and how it’s a 90’s classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-zpOMYRi0w ‘Fancy’ music videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjocVP88nMk ‘Clueless’ scenes with ‘Fancy’

ICONOGRAPHY

The clothing and props are iconic to the 90’s as they are the style what would have been used in that era. The clothing is iconic to the 90’s because tartan is what the people of the 90’s would have worn, demonstrated by the pictures shown previously in the music video and the film. Props such as the large phone is iconic to the 90’s because again, people of the 90’s would have used it which allowed the original film to use them and then they were used in a similar way within the same scene in the music video.

This type of layout is iconic to the film ‘Clueless’ and the 90’s as the film was brought out in the 90’s and there’s a clear influence between the two opening scenes shown.

SETTINGSome settings through the music video relate to those in the original film, such as the scene in the teenage girl’s bedroom, classroom scenes, hall scenes and party scene is similar but not exactly the same.

All scenes filmed at the school, are identical to the scenes within the original film, due to the way they are directed but also because the school used for the music video is the exact same school used for the film.

The original scene is a classic scene known as ‘rolling with the homies’ scene, but as you can see in the ‘Fancy’ video, it isn’t duplicated in a way in which is identical but having a party scene is replicated. The characters are continued throughout the whole video, so the characters are continuous but this scene isn’t as similar to the scenes in ‘Clueless’

Iggy promotes her collection at ‘REVOLVE’ clothing by looking on that site and having it displayed on the screen on her iPad when choosing clothes in the style in which Cher does in the film. Also, there are blocks behind her head in the picture above which say ‘REVOLVE’, again promoting her clothing line.

TECHNICAL & AUDIO CODESThe audio for the music video is within the non diagetic sound and that is the only sound within the music video, there is no diagetic sound such as speech. Tracking is used throughout the music video to follow the characters and the events of which are happening, close up are used often especially within the first few scenes.

http://38.media.tumblr.com/2428e1846ed2da86c8f94cd7451ed616/tumblr_n4bfp59G0G1t0jev2o1_400.gif Tracking when walking down the hall in ‘Fancy’ music video

The arrow indicates which way the camera is tracking, the same camera technique is used in another hall scene where the characters are walking, but I was unable to find a picture of it.