Music Videos...yeah they still exist. "Mirrors" by Justin Timberlake

Music Video Style and Narrative - “Mirrors” by Justin Timberlake

            As many argue that music videos are a dying form of entertainment production, their impact on music sales and simultaneous artistic expression cannot be denied.  Contemporary music video production involves peculiar style and editing that is frequently composed differently than those of Hollywood films.  The music video for Justin Timberlake’s track, “Mirrors,” stands exemplar in its use of numerous quick cuts, frequent discontinuity among the narrative, and showcase of the artist.

                  The video for “Mirrors” is perfect to illustrate the standard and common style in editing.  Music videos, according to Vernallis, are intended to get viewers to remember the song and then purchase it.  Rapid cuts between various angles, even within the same physical scene, help to excite and arouse a viewer’s mind.  Constant attention is demanded by the video for “Mirrors” due to the pace of the edits, mostly with the rhythm of the song but not always the same amount of bars within the song.  In one scene, the subjects of the narrative (the couple), are shown in their teen years going through a funhouse.  The cuts between many angles along with the frantic action of the funhouse (confetti, clowns, mirrors) draw viewers in, captivating their attention as if they were watching this date firsthand.  The camera rotating and swaying throughout the video also adds to the visual noise, which reciprocates the rhythm, beat, voice, and sounds of the song.  The editing mentioned not only captures the audience’s attention but contributes the style of the narrative as well.

Image credits to yahoo.music.com

                  Another striking feature of the music video is found in its vast discontinuity.  The video features one couple at three different stages or ages of their lives; teens, twenties, and old age.  However, these stages are not shown in order, as you might have guessed.  The video begins by showing the elderly couple but through a set of mirrors as you see her alone at times but then both of them at others.  Subsequent scenes show how the two met in their teen years and their later dates and relationship glimpses.  Shots of the elderly couple dancing in slow motion are interjected within the other younger scenes to further the artful obscurity.  This chronological mix-up, common to many contemporary music videos, alludes to Hollywood’s use of flashbacks and flash-forwards.  The directors and producers of this music video clearly intended to tell the story of this couple and play off the song’s title, “Mirrors,” throughout the video.  The couple’s relationship is conveyed as passionate, honest, but not always clear.  This is suggestive of how one might view oneself in a set of mirrors as if in a funhouse.  This very idea is used later on in the video as the artist is revealed.

                  An atypical aspect of this production is seen in how the artist, Justin Timberlake, is not displayed until near the end of the video.  This is quite different from many other music videos which show shots of the artist(s) at numerous instances to break up the narrative.  The video for “Mirrors” decides to show the narrative first and the artist second, prioritizing the message of the video over the performance of the song itself.  It is not until five minutes and 44 seconds that Justin Timberlake appears in the video. 

Image credits to eonline.com

He is shown as separate from the narrative of the couple but connected through the use of the falling wedding ring into his outstretched hand.  The video then concludes with some passionate, interesting, and stylish dancing among a mirror maze accompanied by some funhouse actors.  This last scene is included to showcase the star artist, Justin Timberlake, as well as make the emotional connection that the video was about his grandparents as the beginning caption, “to William and Sadie,” suggests.

                  The music video for Justin Timberlake’s song, “Mirrors,” adheres mainly to conventional stylistic standards for the medium.  Its showcase of the artist, use of quick edits, and narrative discontinuity combine to collect viewers’ interest in the video, and thus the song.  One could argue for its artistic presence and intent in the world of sharing and liking online.  However, business is business, and this pop production does business well.

AND.....BRING IT ON DOWN TO LIQUORVILLE!

Image credits to nbc.com

Another look at Breaking Bad - SEX, DRUGS, and VIOLENCE

Gender, Sex, and Violence - Critical TV Watching

Breaking Bad

            AMC’s hit show, Breaking Bad, is an hour-long drama with characters and writing that exemplify extremely stereotypical gender role behaviors.  Overall, the show depicts men as hyper-masculine, aggressive, and cruel while females are shown as dependent, emotional, and weak.  Sex and violence are also featured as the show is about producing drugs and maintaining that business no matter the cost.

Image credits to AMC and salon.com

The main male characters, Walter White, Hank Schrader, Jesse Pinkman, and Gustavo Freng, all contribute to the show’s illustration of male physical dominance.  Walter White, a cancer patient and former chemist, experiences a transformation from a gentle father to a ruthless and greedy killer as he has to compromise his morals for his wallet’s sake.  Hank Schrader, Walter’s brother-in-law DEA agent, is a hard-nosed cop type who only hardens even more after being wounded and rehabilitating to walk again.  Jesse Pinkman, a high school burnout and druggie, is illustrated as a selfish, cocky young male with emotional aggressive habits.  Gustavo Freng, a Colombian drug lord and entrepreneur, is presented to be a harsh, brutal, intimidating person as he is shown murdering and threatening his colleagues and henchmen.  All these main male characters in Breaking Bad contribute to the general tough, physical, and aggressive masculine image the show seems to want to emphasize (for the narrative’s sake).

            The only two female characters are depicted as the stereotypical female one might imagine in media.  Marie Schrader, Hank’s wife, is an overly-talkative know-it-all who gossips frequently and is weak emotionally.  She is dependent on her relationship with Hank and results to kleptomaniac habits.  Skyler White, Walter’s shocked wife, is also a very emotional person who crumbles upon discovering her husband’s discrepancies and lies.  Skyler reacts in a more aggressive manner toward Walter while maintaining that feminine, subordinate role.  Skyler, like her sister Marie, is flighty and seems to change her attitude about Walter as they are having sex one minute and screaming at each other the next. 

Image credits to AMCTV.com and AMC

            Sex is truly not a large part of Breaking Bad.  Sexual relationships are limited to Skyler and Walter, and Jesse and his girlfriend.  These are merely to advance the personal storylines within the narrative.  However, one could say that the use and act of sex as a positive reaction to happy relations cheapens it to something one does for fun.  Violence, unlike sex, is a HUGE theme in Breaking Bad.  People are killed almost every episode of the drama.  In my two hours of viewing, 5 to 8 people were killed.  These people were not main characters and were either Mexican cartel henchmen or Gustavo Freng’s men.  These people are viewed as disposable and violence, as it becomes more common throughout the series, is casual and the norm.

            Breaking Bad employs the stereotypical male and female roles and behaviors found in many traditional media productions.  The men are hyper-masculine, greedy, blood-shedders while the women are feminine, extremely dependent, emotional, and flighty in nature.  The ever-present violence amidst the men and their jobs and businesses are a running theme throughout the show.   The fickle relationships of these archetypal couples are emphasized by the casual view of sex by the show.  Breaking Bad’s use of sex, stereotypical gender roles, and violence could contribute to our previously mentioned lecture point, “Mean World Syndrome” as the audience is normalized and numbed to these.

Breaking Bad - Now this is quality tv, y'all. 

Photo/graphic credits to  AMC Network Entertainment LLC

I'm no expert but when it comes to this show, I like to pretend like I am.  I'm only through the 4th season and am currently working on the 5th.  But.. ME LIKEY.  Here's my take on the show, what I have seen so far, from a stylistic standpoint.  AMC, I like what you're doing. I like it a lot..

Mapping Quality Style - Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad, one of AMC’s hit dramas since 2008, is an island in the “vast wasteland” of contemporary American television today.  This single-camera drama stands out not only in its creative writing, but in numerous stylistic choices as well.  Breaking Bad establishes itself as a quality production in its use of flashbacks, montages, high contrast lighting, bold and intense colors, and music.

            The chronology of the narrative in Breaking Bad is truly the most effective stylistic choice of its production.  As viewers begin each episode they are shown a segment that is often a later result revealed in that episode or a reaction from a prior episode.  Walter White, an aging chemist and teacher turned methamphetamine cook, is often shown before the title sequence as stuck in a rough situation with threatening parties to intrigue the viewer and retain interest.  Other characters as well as small but crucial details to the storyline make appearances in this successful and repeated hook strategy at the beginning of each episode.  Flashbacks and montages, also in this realm of time management, are employed frequently.  Jesse Pinkman and Walter White are shown “cooking” meth over in montages many times, often set to music, to emphasize the passage of time to the viewer.  Their tasks assumedly take hours as they don yellow protective suits and masks, pour chemicals into vats, weigh the product, and scrub the equipment.  Similar to this, flashbacks of past events are shown occasionally as appropriate to the storyline.

            The visual appearance of the shots used also has a dramatic affect on compelled viewers of the series as well.  The lighting and coloring are always key to the shot as the setting ranges from the bright and washed out sunny New Mexico desert day to the dark and cold scene of Jesse’s house or an artificially lit laboratory.  As the show includes violence, blood is shed and shown numerous instances.  In one scene the boss of the operation, Gustavo Freng, slits a man’s throat in the lab.  As he dies his plentiful, dark, deep red blood is shown running to the drains on the floor of the laboratory.  This is a juxtaposition of the coloration shown in Jesse Pinkman’s dull and dingy stoner abodes, apartment and house later on, where colors are of low saturation as curtains and blinds block natural light from the scene.  A drastic change in lighting occurs when Walter is kidnapped, bagged (very dark lighting), and then unbagged in the middle of the desert (very bright and washed out lighting). The broad variance of bright and dark lighting as well as bold and dull coloring make this series visually appealing to viewers as the narrative unfolds.

            The last element that truly distinguishes Breaking Bad as a high-quality one-camera production is the music used.  Throughout most of the show, the dialogue and sounds of the scene carry the narrative enough as music is unnecessary.  However, in key points of the show where the narrative takes a drastic change, music is employed to assist in establishing tone in scene.  In season four, Walter frantically searches for money at his family’s home to the sound of fast-paced music similar to tracks in action movies.  In the same season’s finale, calmer music is used as Walter delivers the news to his wife over the phone that the battle with Gus Freng is over as he simply states,“I won.”  In addition, the same blues/outlaw guitar track is used in the title sequence to establish continuity and familiarity with the audience.

Emmy-nominated Breaking Bad is by far one of the prime productions on television today.  Overall the single-camera drama is extremely cinematographic in nature with interrupting videographic elements in regards to the flashbacks, montages, and title sequence.  The use of varying lighting and coloration, flashbacks and montages, and situational and title music combine with the writing and narrative to make this series a work of art.