Music Video Analysis- 'Louder'- DJ Fresh ft. Sian Evans

The music video I will be analysing is for the song 'Louder'- by DJ Fresh ft. Sian Evans. DJ Fresh is an English DJ who is also one of the Principals of the drum and bass group Bad Company. The song is within the genre of dubstep and reached number one in the UK Singles Charts. DJ Fresh was the founder of BC Recordings and Breakbeat Punk. The song I am editing is being used as part of a Lucozade Lite advertising campaign the UK and Ireland. The video is conceptual and holds minor elements of narrative. I will be analysing the video using Goodwin's Six Point Analysis. Below are his points:

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

There is often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc).

In terms of lyrics and visuals, there is not a strong connection. The audience are shown people on rollerblades and skateboards riding around the streets, whilst the lyrics are 'it's gonna get louder'. Also when the beat drops, you would expect the visuals to be made up of quick cuts and fast paced images, however in the video the director, Ben Newman, decided to show the effect of slow motion. This was probably a way of in a way confusing the audience as what happens is unexpected, also he is going against the typical generics of this type of video.

There is a mild element of the audience having to view the video from a hetrosexual male's point of view. This point is from Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'Male Gaze'. She believes that in the majority of music videos women are shown as objects, and the only point of view the audience are shown, is from a male. This doesn't apply for the whole of this music video, however there are certain aspects, for example like the image above. We are shown the thighs and backsides of females whilst men gaze on from the background. Also the use of rollerblades highlights the objectivity of the females, as the rollerblades holds references to bars like Hooters in which the females wear revealing outfits and serve their customers on rollerblades. This is a perfect example of Goodwin's point of intertextuality as there are references to another source.

This is a perfect example of the male gaze as the females are being looked up and down to obviously show off their bodies.

The video contradicts certain components of Andrew Goodwins book on the analysis of video, such as how the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists. In this particular video the artists are not shown once and there are just dancers and actors in the shots. This is because the song is created by a DJ and the singer is not that well known so it is not necessary for them to be shown in the video. Despite this there are elements of the six points that are used in the video like the voyeuristic treatment of females which I have previous mentioned and the genre characteristic are in some ways similar like the groups of people coming together and having a good time which is also in the video that we are editing for our final piece. 

When the beat drops the group of males enter into the shot. This illustrates stature, how the males have power and presence, maybe even more so than the females. This is also illustrated through the way there is a large group of males however there is only two females. They dominate through both quantity and the way in which they move. The boys dark costumes and plain costumes contrast with the females bright costumes and excited facial expressions which help to add to the excitement and summery beat of the song. 

There is a lot of shots in the video that involve big groups of people. The song is based in the genre of dubstep which is all about people coming together at clubs and various other functions so the director, Ben Newman, has clearly tried to bring this element into the video. The video was brought out May 23, 2011 and was brought out for the younger generation with it's fast paced beats and is about partying which is the audience that we will be aiming for with our personal music video.