Music videos

This post features a variety of music video recommendations, made by teachers and students. These have been compiled to encourage and inspire you to construct your own music video. There is no one right way to make a music video, but it is very easy to make one that does not look like a music video. 

Please note that several of these videos include adult themes. Be careful!

Dio - Holy Diver

JPEGMAFIA - 1539 N. Calvert

Mount Kimbie - Blue Train Lines

IDLES - POP POP POP

Pissed Jeans - Moving On

Aphex Twin - Donkey Rhubarb

The Body - The Myth Arc

Xiu Xiu - Scisssssssors

Perfume - Spending all my time

my bloody valentine – you made me realise

Pulp - Babies

SOFT PLAY - Act Violently

The Chats - Pub Feed

BaBe - 「Get a Chance!」

Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

Pet Shop Boys - Suburbia

Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind

WINK - 淋しい熱帯魚

Bananarama - Love In The First Degree

Rebecca - Vanity Angel

Isabelle Adjani - Pull marine

Isabelle Adjani - D'un taxiphone

Full of Hell - Doors To Mental Agony

Thou - The Changeling Prince

Zoella - how is identity mediated through digitally convergent media in a postmodern world? BONUS - Postmodern sentences

To use theory at the highest level and to achieve the highest marks possible, a student must explore how theories interact and support each other. This post, built from student responses, explores the following theories and how they all synergistically combine. This is top level stuff! however, since postmodern theory is much of a headache to actually talk about, we also came up with a bunch of snappy one-liners to dump in your exam, which you can find at the end of this post. More and more information but less and less meaning?  It's a Baudrillardian nightmare! 

The three theories that this analysis ends up combining are Stuart Hall's theory that representations re-construct realities, John Baudrillard's theory that reality and meaning is fractured, and Gauntlet's theory that we can take these fractured re-presentations to construct our own identity. 

Before jumping in to things, let's start off with a reminder about what representation is: 

Representation is how a person, issue or event is shown again by the producer of a media product. Representations are always constructed through media language to demonstrate the ideology of the producer. Stuart Hall argued that representations are controlled and constructed by those in power, and that representations construct reality. In this essay, I shall argue that Zoella uses her power and privilege to construct a simple and stereotypical representation of women to minimise risk and maximise profit

Mediation - the process of moderation or control. We can also call this negotiation, or simply picking and mixing.

HUGE Summer Primark Haul | Zoella

• The video consists of a single continuous long take that goes on for a full 25 minutes. A single close up represents Sugg to her target audience. This mundane mode of address constructs a relatable ideology for Sugg’s target audience
• Zoella pulls fashion items out of three huge bags, and presents them directly to the camera. Once this thus mundanity serves a function, not only to promote a relatable ideology, but to allow the active target audience to pick and mix their own identity from this video. By buying these consumer products, her audience aspire to be like her…
• The video makes heavy use of commodity fetishism. Constant close ups of products emphasis their price as opposed to their value as a fashion item. This reinforces a consumerist lifestyle 
• Zoella smiles frequently, constructing a stereotypical and hegemonic representation of a young white woman 
• The lighting is artificial yet resembles natural light. In this sense, we see Sugg using the hyperreal MES of artificial light to construct a representation that is more real that reality itself
• The video encourages a passive audience interaction, and may well be watched in the background.
• Sugg is wearing a low cut, tight fitting black top, constructing a modern and straightforward style. Liesbet Van Zoonen argued that women’s bodies function as spectacle for a heterosexual male audience. However, in Sugg’s videos, the intended audience is clearly young, heterosexual women . Here the function of Sugg’s body is aspirational as opposed to erotic 
• The setting also constructs and anchors a stereotypical representation of women. The nig spongey cushions encode a cosy and comfortable ideology, and suggest the ultimate goal for her target audience, is to live a life of comfort.
• This video lacks any notable binary opposition or form of conflict at all. This constructs a stereotypical representation of women as peaceful, without any conflict, and without any noticeable trace of personality. From this video, all we learn is her materialistic ideology, and complete refusal to engage in conflict.
• The format of the video is under stimulating, yet engaging to the target audience. The target audience is encouraged to position themselves with Sugg, yet the audience is also encouraged to passively consume this video, perhaps leaving it on in the background. In this sense, the video functions as escapism for the target audience. However the brand Primark is affordable for much of the producer’s target audience, making this escapist fantasy very realistic and relatable. 
• Sugg is wearing makeup. The makeup is natural, apart from her eyes, which is conventional for Zoella. Her smile is a key part of her ideology, and constructs a hyperreal representation that she is always happy, reinforcing the hegemonic ideological perspective that in order to be desirable, a woman must smile constantly
• Sugg explicitly and actively shows fashion objects to the camera to form an active relationship with her female target audience
• The MES of Sugg’s costume in this video is revealing. However, it can be argued that the address is not for a heterosexual make audience. Here her body is presented as an aspirational mode of address for her target audience. Sugg is clearly very skinny and therefore reinforces hegemonic values of women’s bodies to her target audience
• Sugg is rich and famous, which conflicts notably with her brand identity of her as a relatable and normal woman. 
• Stuart Hall’s theory of representation argues that only the rich and powerful and privileged own the means of representation

How is Zoella a hyperreal simulacrum of a woman? What aspects of media language re-present her? How is her face, body, hair etc utilised as part of her brand identity?

This is not Zoe Sugg. This is a representation of Zoe Sugg...

Note - in this exercise, we analysed Zoe Sugg's body itself. Which is a little strange. However, Zoe Sugg's appearance is a key facet of her brand identity, and is clearly instrumental in her massive success as a vlogger. 

• Sugg is clearly very hegemonically attractive. Her face and her body are particularly appealing to her increasingly older female target audience. 
• Her features are soft and appealing. Her voice is generally soft and stereotypically feminine which reinforces a hegemonic stereotype of women in general 
• Sugg generally wears a significant amount of makeup. The makeup itself is somewhat natural yet clearly visible, which would appeal to her younger audience demographic. This provides audiences with the aspirational opportunity to emulate her makeup and be like their idol
• Her style at public events is casual and stereotypically feminine. Adopting a conservative style, Sugg is likely to appeal to a conservative and less adventurous target audience (Sugg typically avoids political discussion to avoid alienating her audience)
• Sugg is noticeably very skinny, and therefore potentially is not relatable to her target audience, although she does construct a representation of hegemonic beauty standards. 
• Finally, Sugg constructs a hyperreal representation of white hegemonic beauty and lifestyle standards. She presents a singular and straightforward representation to her predominantly white target audience
• Zoella is famous. She is notable among a certain group of people 
• The MES of Sugg’s hair is straightforward, relatable and yet attainable for her target audience. This is a key aspect of her brand identity 
• Her style is casual ,straightforward and yet classically feminine, and suggests a relatable and conservative mode of address.
• The gesture code of the way in which she stands at official event is confident and assertive. Yet she lacks the sophistication and aggressive assertiveness of certain celebrities. The MES of her smile is welcoming and practiced. This conflict between the fakeness of her smile and the connotations of relatability is highly hyperreal 
• Her appearance is completely lacking in any risk or friction, constructing a highly stereotypical representation of young women 
• Sugg is clearly highly hegemonically attractive. She has long hair and wears make up, yet her smile, which involves her eyes becoming smaller and dimples forming at the side of her mouth constructs a classic, traditional and straightforward femininity 

Nice

Postmodern phrases to drop in to exam responses 

• In a postmodern world, nothing is real, but everything is a representation of reality
• Hyperreality is representation is more real than the real itself 
• We live in a postmodern world, that means that meaning has collapsed
• Watching Zoella’s videos only breeds discontent and reminds us we can never live up to her hyperreal standard. This is a symptom of the postmodern condition
• “Online media has completely shifted our perception of what is real and what is not…”
• “The videos of Zoe Sugg reflect the postmodern condition…”
• “Jean Baudrillard argued that we are exposed to more and more information, yet now have less and less meaning….”
• “With the postmodern condition, we lose our sense of authenticity….”
• In a postmodern world, the idea of reality has been replaced with the hyperreal…”
• “Zoe Sugg’s perfectly imperfect house is a hyperreal construction…”

Slavoj Žižek, fetishistic disavowal and the irrevocable perpetuity of capitalism

Slavoj Žižek is a fascinating and controversial theorist. As close to a celebrity on the media studies and philosophy circuit as you are likely to get, he is notorious for the difficulty of his prose, and his tendency to use hardcore psychoanalytical theory to analyse popular culture. At times, it can seem that Žižek is being controversial for the sake of it (he's a radical Marxist who has come out in support of Trump...). He has also been accused of being difficult on purpose. But there are a few concepts that Žižek discusses that are particularly useful in media studies. 

Fetishistic disavowal 

Fetishistic disavowal is a term first used by Sigmund Freud. To understand fetishistic disavowal, we must first understand fetishism. Fetishism is an intense and all consuming interesting in a niche and specific element. Fetishes are often sexual in nature, but they are also often related to products. Commodity fetishism is

“...the process of ascribing magic “phantom-like” qualities to an object, whereby the human labour required to make that object is lost once the object is associated with a monetary value for exchange.”  (Patricia Louie)

So basically, it is the brand, the money that's the most important aspect of the product, and not the product itself. A good example of this is Christian Louboutin shoes. These eye-wateringly expensive shoes are differentiated with red soles: an impractical and trademarked feature that essentially indicates to passers by that yes, you are rich, and yes, you live a carefree life of luxury...

For Žižek, Fetishistic disavowal refers to the mental gymnastics that we must engage in every time we engage in capitalistic exchange. New phones are a desirable luxury that have been recontextualised as a necessity. Yet buying a new phone involves a subjugation and exploitation of countless people. From the exploited Chinese assembly line workers who put iPhones together to the numerous human rights abuses in and around coltan mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, even buying a phone makes us complicit in murder, torture and exploitation. What is more fascinating is that we know this, and we do this anyway. How does this happen? For Žižek, the commodity fetish is simply so powerful that we are able to shrug it off. 

Slavoj Zizek eating two hotdogs at once while walking down the street

The perpetuity of capitalism 

Žižek argues that it is easier to envisage the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism. A really good example of this can be seen in mainstream, Hollywood cinema. A quick google gets me this:

And this is just the beginning. You want videogame apocalypse? Play Fallout. Arthouse apocalypse? Watch The Time Of The Wolf. Literary apocalypse? Read The Road. Manga apocalypse? Read Fist Of The North Star. Soviet era Polish apocalypse? Check out O-BI O-BA: The End Of Civilisation. Even my three year old daughter's favourite videogame, Kirby and the Forgotten Land is set in a (very cute) post-apocalyptic world. You could spend years consuming nothing but apocalypse media and still get a reasonably diverse experience. 

But to imagine the end of capitalism is far more difficult. Can we think of media that convincingly describes a world without the exchange of capital? Lots of post-apocalyptic films see impoverished people barter with rocks, bottlecaps and chickens. But this is just capitalism under a different brand. Some people, crust punks for example may drop out of society and live in squats, but even then they survive through bin diving and donations and so on, essentially living off of the detritus of capitalism. Even radical Marxists seek to recontextualise and reshape capitalism rather than abolish it altogether. 

Christian Louboutin presents Loubiairways - considering brand identity, ideology and the mechanisms of fetishistic disavowal in high end fashion advertising

The above advert is typically of how high end fashion advertising 'smooths over' the issues and problems that exist with the purchase and promotion of luxury goods in an unequal planet. In short, this advert constructs a cheeky and playful world where issues such as homophobia, exploitation and global collapse in the face of an upcoming climate catastrophe simply do not exist, as long as you have the money and lifestyle to purchase luxury products!

• The use of the colour read is highly symbolic of luxury, love, romance, confidence
• An upper middle class and aspirational audience is targeted through the MES of the luxurious and stylish outfits 
• The advert is set in the departure lounge of a stylish international airport. Utterly perfect and spotless…
• And this is anchored through the casting of beautiful, stylish, hegemonically attractive models walking with confidence and purpose, strutting through the concourse
• The handbags are ostentatious and loud. They are not subtle, emphasising the themes of confidence. 
• The purpose of an advert is to sell a lifestyle. Louboutin is a luxurious, confident ad sexy lifestyle 
• A big emphasis on sexuality, with a symbolic and fetishistic focus
• A character is stereotypically camp and queer coded, suggesting that to be gay is completely fine 
• Louboutin shoes have red soles, a unique selling point that is fiercely protected through copyright law. Louboutin shoes are obscenely expensive. Furthermore, the red soles will be worn down quickly, making this product even more fleeting. It is a declaration of wealth and status, and a perfect example of commodity fetishism
• A carless, selfish lifestyle is constructed where the carefree models strut glamorously through the departure lounge of an international airport
• An upbeat and luxurious address is constructed through the confident body language and the soundtrack, a fast, futuristic high BPM pop song. The language is French , which has connotations of love, romance, art and intelligence 
• The advert is dominated through the colour red, connoting romance, passion, lust…
• The advert takes a highly voyeuristic and fetishistic mode of address, constructing a sense of sexuality and sex implicitly 
• A heavily queer coded representation of a gay man constructs a world where gay people are accepted and seen as positive 

Adbusters 125: initial discussion and front cover analysis

Adbusters 125 initial discussion

• Image of Elon Musk clearly makes fun of him. Other public figures, e.g. Donald Trump are also criticised 
• Highly critical and highly controversial 
• Highly anti-capitalist mode of address and ideology. However, the magazine itself is a consumer product… pretty ironic!!
• Covers a range of non-typical topics 
• Highly artistic with a big focus on images. Not much copy
• Complete disrespect to certain people and to societal values
• Features adverts, but no paid for adverts … so high cover price

Brand identity - how a brand presents itself to the consumer

• Minimalist design 
• Bold design and high contrast
• Inconsistent design 
• Masthead changes every issue - challenges the potential for a consistent reader base, challenges capitalist ideologies by refusing to have a brand identity 
• …however, the brand identity is clearly that Adbusters is NOT consistent..
• Highly political, clearly left wing, socialist and anti-capitalist 
• Blunt, to the point, telling it like it is
• Discussion of issues and current events around the world
• Graphic and unpleasant images and concepts
• Unconventional layouts
• A complete lack of adverts… or at least paid adverts!
• Dubious legality, highly controversial 
• Graphic and postmodern
• Graphic arts and design
• Super pessimistic, existential, and nihilistic 
• Each issue has a COMPLETELY style and aesthetic. Typically magazines will repeat certain aesthetic elements to construct a brand identity. Yet Adbusters uses a completely different masthead for each edition, subverting the idea of commercialism and brand identity. 
• BUT… is Adbusters brand identity a LACK of brand identity????

Genre 

• Unclear!
• Alternative (not conventional) 
• Political 
• Activism 
• Abstract
• Art and design 
• Anti-consumerist ideology, critique of how we use fast food to satisfy our desires
• A consumer product… that challenges consumerism???
• Extreme and controversial, likens Donald Trump to Hitler 
• Genre: politics. Yet completely unfiltered and even aggressive 
• Extreme left wing 

Adbusters 125 - ‘Post -West aka The Year of living Dangerously part 2’ front cover analysis 2025

• The front cover lacks any form of anchorage or context, which potentially makes audiences confused and upset. Highly atypical and controversial 
• The bold, sans-serif, capitalised typography connotes a strongly impactful tone that is direct and visible. The producers are demanding that we take action, although the action that we should take is not immediately clear
• The MES of the grainy, messy, muddy print partly obscures the masthead, covering the brand identity, and potentially limiting readers and therefore profit. This connotes that not only is Adbusters non-conventional , they also do not care about brand identity or profit
• The apparently badly printed cover looks not only grainy, reflecting connotations of battle and war, it also has notably low production values… or appears to have low production values. It looks bad on purpose!!
• Non-profit - no money made as a private company with all profit instead used to pay employees. For profit companies are measured through their surplus revenue, that is usually used to pay inflated CEO salaries and shareholders
• The model’s army vest is connotative of way and the military. However, his costume suggests an independent fighter, a mercenary or a paramilitary force
• The model stereotypically resembles a terrorist. The middle eastern ethnicity, the beard, the scream, the camo all construct a typical representation of a hyperbolic terrorist. Reaching this conclusion makes the target audience uncomfortable, as we are forced to stereotype through lack of anchorage.
• The clenched fist functions as an action code, connoting violence, scaring and upsetting target audiences. Compared to Woman magazine, which has a calm and friendly mode of address, this magazine is clearly adopting a different strategy
• Post - West - after west. The term west refers to a few choice countries, for example the UK, the US and Europe. There is an assumption that Western countries are dominant, in terms of cultural hegemonic dominance. Hollywood movies have more global cultural resonance than Bollywood or Nollywood films have. Additionally, there is an assumption that the western world is more developed, suggesting that some countries are more developed, wealthier and desirable. The idea that success can be measured through GDP is a highly western ,capitalistic ideology. The lexis ‘post west’ suggests that ‘western’ values have collapsed into war and instability. 
• The masthead is run down, gritty, with the MES of the grit connoting a warzone. However, the ‘mud’ is actually ink. The image seems badly printed, like the printer itself has run out of ink. Poorly constructed and with low production values, the magazine subverts converts conventions of mainstream magazines, challenging the idea that magazines a a luxury product, challenging a consumerist lifestyle. 
• The model’s fist is a symbolic code, connoting anger. This anger is anchored through the facial expression of the model, with furrowed eyebrows and a screaming mouth. A warlike address is connoted through the military costume. With the symbolism of the camo print representing violence. He represents the opposing side of the ‘western world’ 
• The model resembles a stereotypical terrorist. His beard, his middle eastern ethnicity, the camo print and the aggressive facial expression all construct a highly stereotypical mode of address. By presenting us with this unanchored stereotype, the audience are forced to feel uncomfortable. This cover is a complete binary opposition to the front cover of Woman magazine. 
• However, Adbusters lacks context and anchorage. Some audiences may be intrigued and may wish to find out more, yet other audiences may be shocked by the implicit violence, or simply confused!
• The lexis of the coverline, POST - WEST is highly enigmatic. On speculating, we may deduce that WEST is connotative of Western culture and capitalism and this is a challenge to this. However, this ideological perspective is vague. It could be nihilistic, it could be balanced and political, yet without anchorage, we simply do not know! Yet the audience are assumed to have a certain amount of contextual knowledge, that West is symbolic of countries like the UK, America, Europe.
• The Year Of Living Dangerously Pt 2 - suggests that the potential audience is already missing a range of information that was included in part one. This dangerous living could connote a dangerous
• Adbusters suggests that the world in which we live in is dangerous, violent and unstable. We are at a point of collapse. The idea that the Western world is better, more developed and with a better economy cultivates a capitalist ideology. Does Adbusters challenge this? His magazine clearly assumes a high level of political understanding. 

How does Zoella utilise vlog conventions to ensure minimum risk and maximum profit?

Engagement - The ways in which an audience interacts with an online media product. Engagement can be quantified through view counts, likes, and most importantly, total time spent watching or viewing something 

Engagement, as in encouraging the audience to watch the entire video, is maximised through:

• Zoella has a pre-existing target audience that she has cultivated over 16 years
• Sugg’s persona is natural, relatable and highly compelling to her target audience of younger women. She is an aspirational role model
• Uses commercially available equipment to produce her video. High production values are not a prerequisite of the lifestyle vlog, and additionally, this keeps her production cost
• Zoella intentionally cuts out aspects of the video which may harm or limit her earnings, for example copyrighted music. The music used in her vlogs is typically copyright free…
• Engaging with the video, as in watching at least minutes results in money for the producer. Adverts too. Affiliate links, sponsorship and associated adverts all provide a range of revenue streams. 
• Discussion of stereotypical aspects such as housekeeping, homeware and looking after children 
• Sugg’s costume engages the audience through its aesthetically pleasing and relatable qualities for a younger female audience. However, using digitally convergent technologies, we are encouraged to explore and even purchase items of her clothing, allowing the target audience to truly aspire to be her. This voyeuristic mode of address relies on digitally convergent technology 
• Direct address is maintained almost throughout the video, encouraging to audience to continue engaging with the video
• A relationship, to be precise a one-sided, parasocial relationship is formed between the youtuber and the target audience. This helps audience engagement and future 
• Audiences can comment on the video, directly interacting with Zoella 
• “Long time watcher here! It is so crazy to see you just casually taking the train to London and spending a day out there, something which would have been so difficult for you anxiety-wise not so long ago! Just in case you have anxiety wobbles and need a reminder of how far you’ve come, we’re all so proud of you!” - Zoella’s videos are constructed in such a way to encourage positive and supportive comments. This in turn encourages audience response and engagement. 
• Relatable topics for a middle class, homeowner target audience, or an aspirational working class target audience
• Video is passive and ‘cold’, encouraging audiences to engage with it in a variety of different ways, for example, playing the video in the background while doing work
• Use of brand deals and advertising. Utilising digitally convergent media, this video uses hyperlinks to gain paid revenue from other products. Utilising affiliate links allows Sugg to sell fashion and lifestyle products to her target audience, and allow them to aspire to her lifestyle. However, for each click through or verified purchase, Sugg and her team would receive some revenue. 
• The discussion of relatable content, for example the highly heteronormative ideology that one’s function is to produce children and raise them in a nuclear family, is highly relatable to other mothers, and those who relate to Sugg herself
• The use of repetitive conventions constructs a deliberate brand identity for her target audience
• Sugg’s number of subscribers (5.1 million!) suggests high audience engagement
• Sugg directly the addresses the audience and provides updates on her life, providing further engagement
• “You guys know that I really love Christmas” - a direct address, a nostalgic mode of address that targets her long term fans that forms a complex and engrossing parasocial relationship. A parasocial relationship is one sided and deeply emotional. This may provide for an unhealthy outlet. We as an audience let ourselves believe that we have this relationship. This allows for an escapist mode of address. Audiences suspend their disbelief 
• Audiences must also suspend their disbelief and accept that Sugg is not perfect but has constructed a hyperreal world that is more real than reality
• Audiences may use Sugg for escapist purposes, and may also negotiate this product as a comfy and relaxing experience. 

The introduction - What is ‘online media’?

Online media refers to the distribution, production and post production of media using the internet and digitally convergent media. The internet is a series of interconnected computers, servers, and other ways of storing data. 

ANOTHER GROUP'S TAKE

Online media refers to media that can be accessed using the digitally convergent medium of the internet. The internet is a series of networked computers which allow for the intense exchange of data across the world. Hosted on a variety of networks, server farms and other hosting solutions, the internet is everywhere.

What is a ‘vlog’? What are the conventions of the ‘vlog’?

A vlog is a video blog. It can take many forms, but 

Blog is short for web log

A blog is a series of posts on the same topic, taking a variety of different forms.

• Often fairly long, for example longer than half an hour
• Low production values
• Direct mode of address, talking to the camera
• Shakycam
• A ‘normal’, relatable, realistic setting…
• Unscripted, authenticity
• Lack of professionally hired actors
• A fun, funny or noteworthy persona
• Regional accents 
• Limited editing
• ‘A day in the life’, a voyeuristic mode of address
• An attractive thumbnail image
• An authentic, relatable host
• A direct mode of address
• Highly personable, for example through the use of regional accents
• Unscripted and chaotic, provides a sense of authenticity
• Encourages audience participation through hypermodality

What advantages does digitally convergent technology provide its audiences and producers?

• Convenience  - we can access digitally technology from anywhere, with no issues with geography
• Anyone can be a producer (Clay Shirky’s end of audience theory). . Using minimal equipment, audiences can produce their own work, and digitally distribute it as well.
• Cost - there are fewer financial barriers to entry. Distribution of media is now essentially free, as long as we are willing to abide by terms of service
• Possibility to reach a MUCH wider audience…
• ….but simultaneously a niche audience. Models of broadcasting have been replaced by narrowcasting, appealing to hyper specific audiences 
• Mass information. All human knowledge can now be accessed…
• Audiences can now engage with producers directly with producers using comments, allowing for positive interactions
• Ease of access for producers. There is no barrier of entry 
• Audiences are able to access a vast amount of information 
• Allows for many niche audiences to be targeted (narrowcasting)
• Producers have few restrictions 
• Cost effective - production and distribution all unified under one product 
• Hyper specific audience targeting utilising algorithms, Google adwords and other specific practices 
• Greater access to a wider variety of audiences 
• Audience interaction and participation: audiences can leave reviews, mean comments…
• Replying to comments