Summer Project - "To what extent do music videos encourage violence"

For my summer research project I have decided to focus on " To what extent do music videos encourage violence". I have chosen to focus on the music video released recently by French Montana, a hip pop artist, "Don't panic". This media text portrays a lot of violence and negative stereotypes, which intrigued to investigated if the music video has a direct effect in encouraging it listens to recreate the music video and commit crime. 

Media Representation

Who is being represented (In what way?By whom?)

In the music video "Don't panic" there are a lot of representations of people for example the women at the the start of the music video is tied up by a male in a mask, make up running and crying reinforces the dominate stereotype that women are vulnerable and weaker than men. Another representation that is reinforced is that male are more violent than females as there are predominately males carrying weapons such as knifes and hammers. Additionally, french montana is represented as rich and is in control which is the typical representation of male rappers.

why is the subject being represented in this way?

The music video is explicit which shows the rich and luxuries life of rappers as cars and women are displaced to reinforce the dominated representations that they live a life of fantasy that only some are custom to. I believe that the representation shown in the music video is accurate but on the other side i also think that its not fair. One the main reasons why i believe this is that there are other rappers that don't rap about violence for instance drake sings songs relationship based not violence so i don't this its fair to label every rapper as rapping about and encouraging violence. 

There are a number of opportunities that exist for self representation by the subject for one because its the rappers song and he says "nigga" over 40 times showing that they are superior and above the law as if a "normal" person says anything remotely similar then they would be in trouble. Moreover, the black people in the music video have had the opportunity to represent them selfs positive but they chose to show the dominated representation of people males as violent and criminals.

Media languages and forms 

In the music video there are different locations that are in the music video for example car parks and isolated buildings to reinforce the theme of the music of horror. This enables the audience to relate with the song visually and it would further enhance the understanding of the song to the audience. Additionally, there is a big significance in the costumes and props that are in the music video for example the customers they are wearing are hoodies, jeans and designer shoes which is what most young males wear in the modern ages. Also they costumes are mainly dark colours to connote fear and evil which ties in with the music theme. The props include clown makes which is seen to be creepy and scary and also weapons such as hammers and chain saws which all contribute to the theme of the music video. 

Narrative 

How is the narrative organised and structured?
How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?
How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?
What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?
What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?
What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

Genre 

To what genre does the text belong?

- The music video belongs to the genre if rap and hip pop 

What are the major generic conventions with the text?

- Editing for example collage of different of different settings

- Promoting the artist French montana 

-Camera shots for example low angle shots, close ups, medium shots etc 

- Intro and outro  

What is the generic theme? 

-Violence 

-Wealth

-Power 

-Dominate  

-Control

To what extent are the audiences generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?

- To a large extent the text does fulfil the expectations of the audience as they would expect it to contain a lot of violence, money, girls and cars which are all in the music video. The music video does conform to the characteristics of the rap and hip pop genre as rappers and singers want to show of their wealth and power. 

Does the feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? what meaning and associates do they have? 

-The music video "Don't panic" does feature stars such as french montana who is a big name in the rap and hip pop industry and is associated with other big names such as meek mills, lil wayne, rick ross etc. Another star that was feature in the music video was khloe kardashian who is associated with one of the most famous families in the world the kardashian family. She is associated with a lot of big names such as her sisters and also she is dating french montana. 

Media institutions 

What is the institutional source of text?

French montana is the founder and CEO of cocaine city records (coke boyz). In 2012, he signed a joint venture recording deal with Maybach music group and bad boys records. Additionally, Maybach music group albums are distributed by Warner Bros Records, which took over distribution following the expiration of a deal with Def Jam Records. Who controls the institutions above does matter for a number of reasons for instance as hes CEO of his own record label he can decide when to release songs where as in a joint venture he has to talk to other to see what date to release songs. 

How has the text been distributed? 

The music video is distributed on french montana's official vevo youtube channel where he's other music videos are located. In albums and mixtapes wise warner bros records distributed them and would be available on itunes and etc.

Media values and ideology

There are a number of major values and ideologies that are portrayed throughout' the music video for example of of the values and ideologies is that rappers are rich and superior to other people. Moreover, another dominant ideology is that males are more power than females as only the males are carrying weapons whereas only one female in the video holding a weapon. However, this music video is  basis as it only shows the rich and powerful but hides the problem that they face for example drugs, relationship issues etc. 

Media audiences 

To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)

What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?

What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?

In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?

What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?

What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text? 
What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications?  (Refer to theory).
How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?