The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up

 History:The song 'Smack My Bitch Up', by The Prodigy was released on the 17th November 1997, around the same time that the third-wave feminism began in the United States

Context:This video was highly controversial for many different reasons. It was banned by the BBC and only a lyric-free version was played on Radio 1. It was also either referred to as 'Smack' or the name was not displayed, and only 'The Prodigy' would be shown. The video received much criticism, epically from feminist groups such as the US National Organization for Women, claiming that it encouraged violence against women. However, many admired the video as it challenged stereotypes of of domestic violence, in that women can be abusers too

Artist:The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990.The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. They have sold over 25 million records worldwide. The group's brand of music makes use of various styles ranging from rave, hardcore techno, industrial, and breakbeat in the early 1990s to big beat and electronic rock with punk vocal elements in later times.

Concept:The main concept for this video is abuse and domestic violence, and generally doing illegal/morally wrong things, for example, the use of heroin

Location:The video uses many different locations, including their home, streets, a bar, a nightclub, a strip club

Representation:The main stetrotype that is challeneg in this video is that, men are usually abusive/aggressive towards females. However, in this video it makes a point that women can also be abusers, to both men and women

History of the Music Video

A music video is a  filmed or videotaped rendition of a recorded song, often portraying musicians performing the song or including visual images interpreting the lyrics. There are many different genres of music video including animation, story based, performance based and so on. The emergence of different genres of music videos is also largely related to the different genre of music. For example, techno music videos  may primarily use animation for their music videos. Boybands, may primarily use performance based music videos, to attract their target audience.
MTV is an American television channel whose original purpose was to play music videos. In its early years MTV's main target demographic were young adults, but today MTV broadcasts are primarily targeted at adolescents and teenagers. The first music video aired on MTV was 'Video Killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTV

What is the Male Gaze

 The concept of 'gaze' refers to how an audience views the people presented. Laura Mulvey coined the term 'Male Gaze' in 1975 in an essay called ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, which suggests that film audiences have to views characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.Men watch; women are watched.

From a feminist perspective , the ‘Male Gaze’ can be reduced to:

• How men look at women
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women.

Features of the ’ Male Gaze’

• Voyeuristic – pleasure in ‘watching’. The camera lingers on the curves of the female body. Events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events.
• Relegates women to the status of objects.
• Male active / female passive: the female viewer experiences the narrative secondarily, by identification with the male.

Marjorie Ferguson explored four female looks:

Chocolate Box: This is a look where a female model shows a slight smile, showing as minimal amount of teeth as possible, the lips tend to be closed and the face is not shown full on face forward. This gives the impression that they female is warm and friendly, as her features are subtle and kind.

Taylor Swift - Love Story

Invitational : This look which focuses mainly upon the eyes, and mouth which will be closed although the model will be smiling with her head to one side, as if to be looking down upon the invitee. This creates a sense of mystery, to intrigue the male.

Tame Impala - Mind Mischief

Super Smiler: When a model is showing this look she will show her full face with a full teeth smile with either her head tilted forwards or backwards. This shows that the female wants to attract the male and gives off a friendly and approachable vibe.

Iggy Azalea - Bounce

Romantic or Sexual: This look includes both a female and a male in the picture, it will seem as if it is a dream and will represent desire and sexuality.

 Justin Timberlake - Cry Me A River

 All of these looks are used largely in music videos. They are usually used in male artist's videos which will feature attractive women whom they desire. They are also used a lot in female artist's videos in order to appeal to a male audience