deborah holdstein
Post on 17-Aug-2015
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TRANSCRIPT
The ‘3 S
trik
ing
Qualiti
es’
of
a S
tar
in M
usi
c V
ideos
1. The star as a fantasy
‘seer’ or prophet
2. The star as a political
commentator or narrator3. The star as a mediator
or point of resolution for
social conflict
Hold
stein
- M
usi
c
Vid
eo: M
ess
ages
and
Str
uct
ure
s
“Videos seem to divide into two
categories: Those with allegedly explicit
‘political’ themes, and those which revive
the traditional U.S. film musical.”
The fantasy video is based entirely on
performance. This format puts “the group
or star in a mythical, medieval, exotic or
surrealistic series of images and
locations.”“Videos make the artist more accessible
to the fans. When they come to a
performance, then they bring or wear
things they've seen in the video.”
“In the past, artists portrayal will only be
left to the viewers imagination or how
they are seen in concert, the record
album cover pose, photographs and
interviews in Rolling Stone, Time.”
But nowadays, “the video image is
quicker and more powerful.”
Hold
stein
- M
ichael
Jack
son -
‘Beat
It’
Holdstein: “Is Jackson portrayed as a
‘fantasy’, a ‘political commentator’, or
as a ‘mediator of social conflict’.”
The song does address ‘racism’ and
‘social class’ : “They told him don't you
ever come around here, don't wanna
see your face, you better disappear.”
It doesn't need words, it has faces,
gestures, emphasis, and a narrative
one could easily follow without ‘Beat It’
on the soundtrack. Jackson, the mediator, has become a
surreal ‘fantasy’ figure, involved yet
detached from the action he seems to
resolve.
With a vivid start to the scene's, we see several
men, who we will learn are members of a gang
about to meet their rivals for a ‘rumble.’
Political Commentator: “We come upon Jackson
in his apartment, lying on his bed. Somehow he
instinctively knows there will be trouble.”
Crosscutting continues from Jackson to the
gangs, alternating between one gang piling on
a truck, presumably to the rumble's location,
and the other gang, walking.
The suspense of ‘who'll get there first,’ and
‘what'll happen when they get there’ is
heightened by a question: Where's Michael
Jackson, and what role will he play in all of this?
The traditional U.S. film musical: WEST SIDE
STORY is revisited. Both gang leaders line up
against each other, jabbing knife shots.
But the scene is portrayed as a ‘fantasy’
through dance. Jackson enters to stop the fight
(‘mediator of social conflict’) before all
characters dance behind him in one large
choreographed routine.
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