Media Studies Induction

Vance Joy, through his brilliant use of literary devices and fragmented narrative, creates a compelling music video that captures the interest of the intended audience. Firstly, ‘Riptide’ uses disjuncture (Goodwin) in order to create a narrative that isn’t very obvious to its audience. The video may therefore be looking for an active audience who will try to decode the hidden meanings in the video. Audiences may not feel a sense of escapism (uses and gratification) or a disjointed emotional connection with the star text due to the use of disjuncture. Despite the underlying meanings in the song, the shots in the video match the lyrics. Additionally, Joy’s use of metaphors establishes an enthralling narrative once they are understood. The video is, in a sense, an allegory of Joy’s relationship to a woman. He describes the positive and negative aspects to this relationship subtly through the lyrics. The title of the song ‘Riptide’ may refer to the gradual destruction of his partne...

Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’, released on February 6 th 2016, established major controversial discussions regarding ethnicity and gender. The video explores notions of gender and race with references to Beyoncé’s cultural identity and celebrity status. There is also reference to historical and contemporary oppression of the black community as well as criticism of a patriarchal society. Formation belongs to Beyoncé’s album Lemonade and was released a day prior to the Super Bowl. It was directed by Melina Matasoukas contradicting the wide population of male directors. The video has won various awards including a Clio award for innovation and Creative Excellence in music at the 2016 Music Video awards. Furthermore, the historical context of the video creates a compelling narrative. There is obvious reference to hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast, where many black individuals struggled due to the loss of their homes and other forms of property. The black community were repor...