Representation In Music Videos

Music videos don't present a story, performance or a combination of both just for the sake of entertainment. A lot of the time they are trying to represent a particular group of people, which is usually a social group commonly associated with the genre of  the music.

For exapmle, the music video for 'Somebody To You' by The Vamps features many conventional stereotypes of teenage love/affection. This is an interesting video, as it moves almost chronologically from day in the beginning to night right at the end. Perhaps highlighting the typically 'all day, all night' thoughts teenagers are commonly associated with having towards love interests. While this is a subtle point, there are much more obvious ones that feature in the video.

There are several scenes that highlight teenage stereotypes. When the group of girls are walking and together on the beach, the female protagonist makes eye contact with the lead singer (and
male protagonist of the video), causing one of the other girls to turn her attention to the main female protagonist, appearing to playfully tease her. This is a stereotypical moment that many teenage girl would be able to relate to, therefore it makes for effective representation.

Another scene I found interesting was when the group of boys, with the male protagonist among them, are watching the female protagonist and another girl play tennis. This was a very short scene but the representation used was very obvious. The boys definitely appeared to be admiring the girls as they played which is more commonly referred to as 'checking out' again, something that the teenage viewer would relate with, which means they have been successfully represented.

As for our video, representation is a little more challenging to achieve. There are not many stereotypes associated with depression and running away apart from looking 'down in the dumps'. For our representation we will try to use a clear narrative that highlights what the protagonist is going through, as well as several scenes which show his isolation from the world. This will enable the audience to relate to our video