Vance Joy - Riptide

Product Context Australian singer-songwriter signed to Atlantic records (a subsidiary of major label, Warner). Genre – folk-pop (similar artists: Beirut, Hozier, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, Of Monsters and Men) Riptide was Vance Joy’s first single to be released in USA following his debut EP ‘God Loves You When You’re Dancing’ (platinum selling single). The video was directed by Dimitri Basil and Laura Gorun and has more than 250 million views on YouTube.

Economic Context Low budget, unique music video style. ‘Georgia’ by Vance Joy uses a larger budget with special effects and elaborate, coherent narratives. Funding in relation to music videos – low budgets are used by up-and- coming bands (in indie scene – the lo-fi quality of certain videos can be a unique selling point).

Intertextual references Donnie Darko – earthquake chandelier shot. Wes Anderson films – anachronistic objects. Montage editing – contrasting shots juxtaposed through hard jump cuts (Eisenstein’s intellectual montage – where new ideas emerge from collision of images and generate new meanings). Reference to 80s actress Michelle Pfeiffer. Surrealist/avant-garde cinema parallels – consider: Luis Bunuel’s Un Chien Andalou and the concept of dissociative imagery – exploring the subconscious (dream-like logic). Opening shot – use of credit block (movie poster conventions). VHS – Velocity. Horror genre iconography – Ouija boards, tarot cards, nightmare shots, hypnotism, graveyard scenes (consider retro: Hammer Horror, Suspiria).

Andrew Goodwin’s Music Video Theory Thought beats - seeing the sound in your mind’s eye Narrative and performance – concept, story or band lip sync? The Star Image – how does the artist craft a persona with representations? Relation of Visuals to song – how is meaning created between the lyricism and the music video imagery? Technical aspects of the music video – mise-en- scene.

Codes and conventions Concept of subversion – overt and deliberate lyrics to visualisation having an ironic tone and satirical intent. Graphical representations of lyrics – jarring. Compare with Vance Joy’s ‘Georgia’ (2015). Target audience – indie subculture. Images of violence – knife, gun, blood on hand. Lip-sync sections – woman sings lyrics into microphone – beautiful glamour smeared in development of chorus, intertitles have incorrect lyrics. Women are repeatedly represented as an object to be watched (scopophilia) - Does the film reinforce a patriarchal worldview or subvert it?

Theories Roland Barthes – Semiotics Steve Neale – Genre Theory Signifier/signified – “all my friends are turning green” (double meaning). Polysemy – implying that friends have ‘sold out’ by giving into money? Envious? Steve Neale – Genre Theory Genres dominated by repetition – marked by difference, variation, change. Riptide subverts and conforms to indie genre conventions in ‘Riptide’ Consider resourcefulness of bands on a budget. David Gauntlett – Identity Diverse representations – pick and mix – range of stimuli in music video rejects singular, straightforward message and encourages a variety of interpretations. bell hooks – Feminist Theory Contradictory messages about gender – objectifying women in an ironic way? Feeding into the oppression of women in a patriarchal society? Feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression – negotiated reading with this text.