music video mise-en-scene

The camera work and Mise-En-Scene represents the target audience (15-30 year old, straight, African-American/Caucasian C1 - E men) in Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' song "Uptown Funk". The stereotype of women being "erotic objects of desire to represent males in the narrative and audience" (Mulvey 1975) numerous times in the song, for example at the start of the song, there is a low close up shot of a woman's legs and then pedestal up to their face. A few shots later the males in the song are checking out the woman as they walk by, this is an example of the stereotype and attracts the males in the audience due to the sexuality of the males. 

Another stereotype which is represented in the visuals of the song is the stereotype of men being "sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image,"(Mackillon, 2002) in the shots where Bruno and Mark are in a hair salon, showing they care about their image and how they look. The clothing used for the characters in the video also represent and attract the target audience as the men are all wearing fashionable blazers and hats, Bruno wears a pink blazer, showing they care about how they look and supporting Mackillon's theory that men are stereotyped as "sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image,". This represents and attracts men as they would be drawn to fashion and would most likely want to be wearing those outfits as they make whomever wears them look quite wealthy.

The outfits worn by women also represent the target audience as the women are seen as "erotic objects of desire  to represent males in the narrative and audience," (Mulvey 1975) and the outfits are a bit revealing this represents and attracts the target audience of heterosexual males as They're attracted to women and would be drawn to them as they're purposely being used as "erotic objects" for the purpose of attracting or satisfying the males in the target audience.

Dick Hebdige's Arguments of metaphors of "youth as fun" and "youth as trouble maker" is also shown in this music video as the young characters are constantly smiling and being happy but also in the shot after Bruno says "Julio get the stretch" there's a scene in which a car is slowly being driven down the street whilst the cast dances around it which would cause traffic and therefore supports the theory that "youth as trouble maker." (Hebdige 1979), not only that but as the scene progresses a young man is introduced and seen as dancing and smiling, supporting the argument that "youth as fun," (Hebdige 1979).

denotation- describing the  explicit.
connotation- describing the implicit.

In Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy" Many stereotypes and theories are met such as the theory that black people are stereotyped as "the social problem" (S.Hall 1981) and this is shown in the scene as the only arrest made by the police in the video is of a black man, supporting the theory that blacks are the "social problem". However this could also be flipped as the main characters are black and aren't at all being a problem.

Another theory supported in the music video is the theory that women are stereotyped as "erotic objects of desire for the males on screen and in the audience" (mulvey 1975) and this is shown in multiple scenes such as the scene where Beyoncé's character is arresting a male and is leaning over a car. During this scene, the camera pedestals down to Beyoncé's legs and the camera tilts upwards to show a low medium close up shot at a low angle showing her and her partner as her partner stares at her seductively. This clearly represents males in the target audience as they're not only being drawn to the females in the video but also being targeted with the specific shot to represent those in the audience. Another shot which represents this theory and the males in the audience is  the where where Beyoncé is changing clothes and is only wearing a bra at one point which clearly represents this theory and the audience of males as this scene is only meant to stereotype men and attract the males in the target audience with Beyoncé being used as an erotic object.

Gauntlett has argued that males in the media still follow traditional stereotypes as they're shown as "alpha males who control the action with violence." and this is shown a little bit in the scene where Beyoncé and her partner are practicing using guns and she gets close to him to help him shoot, it may seem as though the woman is the one to control the violence as she is helping the male but in the song that is just theoretical and in reality she's just in the same place as her husband so in reality the male would be helping the female and therefore would be controlling the action with violence, this represents the males in the audience as the males would be drawn to action but it also represents the females as the female seems to be in charge in the video which women would agree with.

More Stereotypes

Youth Stereotypes.

In the media, youth have been stereotyped as 'uncontrollable', being more violent and extreme, needing excitement to satisfy themselves, "youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in: sex, drink or drugs." - Stanley Hall (1904). Evidence of this is rap and hip hop magazines which show rebellious behaviour such as drugs and half-naked women symbolising sex to appeal to youth.

Another stereotype of Youth is being in a constant mood of depression, examples of this in media is 'Emo' bands such as Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy which is popular with youth. The 'Emo' bands typically are Indie or Punk or Rock.

An example of depression in youth is Amy Winehouse who died at the age of 27 due to alcohol abuse.

Dick Hebdige (1986) argued youths are stereotyped as mixed metaphors of: "youth as fun" and "youth as trouble maker". For example Youths being too happy that it's unnatural like the Kidzbop Kids.

Old Age/Disability.

EVANS (1998) said “Disabled people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling – a threat to rigid ego boundaries." meaning they're looked down upon in the media. Evidence for this is that there aren't really many disabled celebrities. This also goes for the older generation, seen as senile in the media, an example of this is Grandpa Simpson in the Simpsons.

Class.

Richard Butsch (1992) says working class males are stereotyped as "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed, some more than others." an example of this is is Homer Simpson.

Keith Gandals (2007) stated that target audiences are drawn to the"Sentimental rags-to-riches story" such as Ed Sheeran's rise to fame from being a working class male to upper class. Target audiences are drawn to this because it's relatable and they think they have the chance to achieve fame just like him.

Regional/National Identity.

Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes; “Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalized inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space – this can be a particular nation or region.” examples of this is magazines which have colours of the union Flag on their covers.