Riptide/ Steve Neale Theory

Task 1

Steve Neale’s theory of Repetition and Difference. Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.

Neale states that the film and it’s genre is defined by two things:

How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.

How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes. The film must subvert convention enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.

Task 2

1. MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS The Lumineers- Ho Hey

This music video is primarily performance-based as it features the band playing their instruments together and lip-syncing the lyrics of the song, all in slow motion. Above is an over-the-shoulder shot of the artist playing his guitar, this has been taken at a relatively low angle so the audience can feel the busy party atmosphere. 

• The shot is a close-up as pull focus is used, as the shoulder closest to us is blurred, and the subject playing guitar is in focus. This puts all attention on the artist conveying the message of the song, making the indie/folk genre appear to have a personal connection with their music. This represents the folk/indie genre as fun and carefree as the extras in the video seem to enjoy the music and company in the party. 
• On the right is a wide angle shot of the trio band singing and playing their instruments. They seem to be smiling which is conventional for the pop genre as the song is indie/folk/pop. 
• This shot is tracked backwards with a dolly to give emphasis to the performers, which is a key characteristic for this genre. The artists are represented to be enjoying themselves to make the song more upbeat, allowing the audience to appreciate the song for it’s catchy beat.
• The use of performance in this shot shows the characteristic of stage as a central concept in the production of folk and pop videos.
• There is dim lighting in yellow tones to make it seem realistic, as if they were just walking down a corridor. The use of warm colours in neutral beige, with red curtains gives the viewer a positive feeling. 
• The video has red curtains which is a conventional colour in indie videos, as it represents contrasting emotions of passion/love and anger/frustration. 
• The artists in the band are wearing dark braces, fedora hats and shirts, to signify the country feel of the song as they are using typical instruments to represent this culture. 
• The dark lighting in the wide shot is a convention for indie videos. In the shot below it shows a wide shot of the feet stomping on the floor to the beat of the song. This highlights the beat of the song as being catchy, encouraging the viewer to want to dance. 
• The low key lighting in the shot allows us to see the silhouette of the legs, but the spotlight behind the legs infers they are on a stage as it appears to resemble a spotlight. 
• This performance element is conventional for pop and folk videos as dancing is traditional practice in folk history, whereas in pop videos, it acts as another conventional performance element.

Vance Joy - Riptide

Video also relates to the idea of the male gaze, which was proposed by Laura Mulvey. The male gaze is a concept of second-wave feminism in which the camera (and subsequently, the viewer) are put into the perspective of a heterosexual man, thus allowing for the objectification and the sexualisation of women, as is evident in the Riptide video as one of the actresses fits the stereotypical view of beauty, in the sense that she is tall, slim, tanned and blonde. Additionally, as the lyric "I'm afraid of pretty girls" plays, the actress is depicted undressing.

By artistically depicting the lyrics word for word, the Riptide video is given an interesting twist, as the lyrics are presented in a creative way. The artistic nature of the Riptide video fits in well with the target audience, as the indie-subculture is also characterised as having a strong interest in art, literature and expressive albeit calming and relaxed music. One of the most interesting depictions in the video revolves around the lyrics "And I've got a lump in my throat 'cause you've gone and sang the words wrong". These lines are part of the chorus and thus feature in the song a number of different parts. With each depiction, a woman is shown singing, with subtitles appearing at the bottom of the screen, mimicking how the lyrics would appear on a screen during a karaoke-style video. However, the words do not match with the lyrics of the song, and with every depiction of these lyrics the on-screen words get more and more obscure and further away from the words actually sung. In addition to this, the woman lip-synching does not say the right lyrics, and her makeup gets messier with each depiction.

The Riptide video does not utilise the potential of star imagery, as the artist is not featured in the video. This is uncommon in most indie music videos, as using the artist's image is used as an exploitative method through which the artist becomes more well-known.

In conclusion, the Riptide video uses a range of different techniques in order to develop and capture interest, including exploiting the male gaze at times and creating imagery which correlates with the lyrics of the song.