Riptide music video set text - initial analysis

Riptide is an indie pop song written and performed by Australian artist Vance Joy, and was released in 2013.

 Textual analysis
Codes and Conventions:

  • The video subverts to the normal music video conventions in a lot of ways however one convention that is followed is there are strong relatives between the visuals and the lyrics. 
  • Subversive elements include a complete lack of performance, and deliberately poor lip syncing. 


 Camera Work and Editing:

  • Rapid shots and fast past with hard jump cuts 
  • High camera angle to victimize the women in this video even more and make them look vulnerable along with their scared facial expressions which anchouges this message of objectifying and victimizing woman
  • Some of the changes of shots are beat matched but a lot of them are not 
  • The shot of the woman singing is a much longer shot than a lot of the others this is suggesting they are leaving us as the audience to see her up close for a long time.
  • Repetition of this shot 
  • Lots of close up shots 

Elements of continuity/montage: 
  • It is telling a story throughout but lacks continuity between shots. they are quite random but are trying to fit what the lyrics are saying. This means it could still be considered as a narrative music video.

How does the video interpret the music and/or lyrics?:

  • The video interprets the lyrics very literally. When they are singing about a cowboy, a cowboy appears on screen. this is similar to alot of the other shots 

Intertextuality:
  • There is heavy use of intertextual references to horror films 
  • There are shots o the woman being tortured which creates fear
  • draws our attention to the parallels between this video and perhaps the way woman are represented in horror and torture films  




Sound:


  • This song comes under the more indie or alternative genre
  • The main melody its repetitive and sounds cheerful and quite happy but this contradicts to what we seen on screen of some scenes of violence.


Mise-en-scene – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up:

  • Low lighting adds to the representation of woman as fearful
  • Many different locations some bright colorful outside shots of the beach etc... but also some contradicting dark gloomy shots inside 
  • Pretty normal dress, casual looks throughout a lot of the video
  • But the woman who is singing is different; she has a glamorous costume on, the spotlight is on her and she has make up on.
  • Throughout the video it keeps cutting back to this shot of her singing and her make up starts to run down her face and its clear she has been crying, blood rolling down her face as if she has been attacked. This would shock the audience and creates a tense atmosphere and make us feel scared for her. 
  • Some shots are objectifiying woman again like when we only see their legs; shots like these that only show parts of a woman body help 'dehumanise' them and make them seen as objects to be admired 
  • Woman are also sexualized for example the woman in the swimming suit is pulling it down slowly.

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