Textual analysis of not giving in- rudimental
- 1. R U D I M E N TA L - ‘ N O T G I V I N G I N ’ - J O H N N E W M A N & A L E X C L A R E G O O D W I N : 7 K E Y I D E AS TO I D E N T I F Y
- 2. GENRE CHARACTERISTICS I believe the video does demonstrate some dance video characteristics, one being the fact the video is based around some's life, and events in their life. This is a very common characteristic for a dance video, and is seen in this one as we track an follow the two boys stories from the start of the video to the end. However, normally a house video would be showing someone having fun and doing what they are passionate about, and we see this in the second half of the video, but in the first part of the video the two boys are seen doing all they can to survive. A common dance video would show people having fun and doing what they love, this would often be a rave or party, or showing of their skills in their specific trade. So in the second half of the video we see this as one of the boys is training in what he is passionate about, this training is leading up to a big performance at he end of he video, in his case it is a break dance contest.
- 3. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS I believe there is a some link between the songs lyrics an he songs visuals. For example at the same time as John Newman sang the lyrics "lost my mind and lost my goal", the visuals the audience could see was a wide panning shot of one of the boys looking out of his window. The boys facial expression seems like he has lost something in his life and is searching to get it back. As well as that it also acts as an establishing shot. Below you can see a screenshot from the video as the lyric is heard (0:59) Another example of the lyrics linking with the videos visuals is when the lyrics sung are "waste my time witch makes thing worse", the visuals are a mid-shot of one of the boys being abandoned by his friend for a group of 'gangsters'. This relationship between this lyric and visuals are so strong because the lyric is representing the boy being lefts thoughts towards the other boy, he feels as the by has wasted his time and he should have just left him to start with. This is the screen shot of the two boys going their two different directions for the first time in the video. (2:04) Finally my last example of lyrics and visuals having a relationship is when Newman sings "lets start the show for one last time", this lyric is heard as the visual of the boy who got abandoned meet his dance instructor for the first time. This shows the instructor is willing to take the boy 'under his wing' and sees potential in him and believes he will be the head of the "show" one day. Here is the screen shot from the video as the lyric is heard. (2:21)
- 4. DEMAND OF RECORD LABEL The demands of the record label will include the need for the artist(s) to be seen through lots of close ups; Part of Goodwin's theory is the artists that made the song will be featured quite a lot in the videos, specifically by close ups. However, in the dance genre specifically it is quite rare for the artists to make an appearance in their music videos. This might for a number of reasons, one being that dance music videos are normally telling a story, or showing off someone's talent and the video is more effective if the get actors to star in the video rather than star themselves.
- 5. NOTION OF LOOKING The video starts if with an old flickering TV screen, this has a strong notion of looking because some connotations of TV are just sitting a looking at the screen and not interacting with anything. After that the in the video we see the boy stand up and look out of the window, because of his terrible surrounding the viewer could believe he is looking for hope or a way to escape his situation. My final point on 'the notion of looking' is found when the boy is struggling with a dance move and his instructor gestures to him not to hang his head but look t him and coy what he does. This suggests the boy is looking to his for guidance.
- 6. REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN In the music video for 'Not Giving In' the focus of the story is about two young boys, therefore women are rarely featured at all. This in its self if making men to be seen above women as a women is barely seen in the video at all. However at the very start of the video, before the music has actually started, we see a woman. A women come home, too a poor house with two young boys and a man who has been smoking in front of them. As she walks past the man he grabs her by the arm and she tried to pull her arm back, he then stands up and squares up to her, at this point there is an over the shoulder shot of her looking up towards him. He then hits her in the face, she tries to fight back but he grabs her and strikes her head of the wall. This is put at the start of the video to show the audience the background the two boys are coming from. However it is a lot more important than that at is is basically the only way women are represented in the whole video. So although women are not being seen as sex objects, they are still being seen as physically week, as having to look up to men and are made to make people feel pity for them.
- 7. PROPP'S THEORY OF CHARACTERS Propp's theory states that in all media texts will have some specific character roles being plaid out. One of the characters found in Propp's theory is the villain. In this video I believe there is a clear villain from the start, this is found in the Father of the two boys. Propp's theory says that the villain, who is normally a man, is the cause of the destruction, he is a threat and causes danger to the hero and the heroine. From the opening of the video we can see that he is the villain as he doesn't care about his children, so he's putting them in danger. As well as that we see him physically attack the hero's mother, who can be seen as the heroine. Another character seen in Propp's theory is the hero. From the opening sequence we can see that the two brothers are acting as the hero. According to Propp's theory the hero normally a male protagonist who's role is to try and keep peace and protect other characters throughout, by doing this the audience are made to like the hero character. In the opening the hero's are seen together, but when their mother is attacked only one of the boys tries to intervene and protect her, this is the first indication that one of the boys is more of a hero than the other. Later on in the video it is revealed to us that the boys isn't a hero like we first thought, as we see him abandon his brother for a group of gangsters. This makes him a false hero. Meaning the boy who got left in his own is the hero. False hero is a character who seems to be on the side of the hero but turns against him, and this is clearly represented through the boy who leaves his brother for a life of crime. Finally we have the heroine, the heroine is usually a passive and vulnerable character who is treated by the villain and has to be saved by the hero. This is clearly seen in the opening scene as the villain, the father, attacks the mother, the heroine and the boy, the hero, tries to defend her.
- 8. STRAUSS’ BINARY OPPOSITE THEORY There are very clear binary opposites in the music videos between both of the protagonists. The brothers initially start off in poverty together however one brother takes a different life path to the other. One of Levi Strauss’ main binary opposites is good VS bad. This is clear in this video as the one brother takes up dancing and stays away from drugs after watching a dance off, where as the other gets himself associated with gangs and drugs. The moral of the music video is that even if your in poverty and struggle to live, it is you as an individual that chooses a lifestyle and you can create opportunities for yourself.
- 9. TODOROVS THEORY PROTAGONIST 1 EQUILIBRIUM- Protagonist living in poor conditions, looking up to his brother and following his example by stealing DISRUPTION- He watches a dance off and gets separated from his brother. RECOGNITION- His recognition is when he practices his dancing and realises that he is a good dancer. REPAIR-The protagonist repairing his life and becoming a better human. NEW EQUILIBRIUM- He becomes a dancer and enters competitions. PROTAGONIST 2 EQUILIBRIUM- Protagonist living in poor conditions with his brother, reinforcing bad behaviour like stealing. DISRUPTION- He finds a group of people who seem like they are in a gang. RECOGNITION- He doesn’t recognise the negativity associated with drugs and gangs, meaning he becomes a member. REPAIR- He does not repair his lifestyle as he lives with his gang. NEW EQUILIBIUM- He doesn’t recognise or attempt to repair his disruption, meaning he dies.