Voyeurism in music videos

The meaning of the word voyeurism is to watch a person preform sexual behaviors such as undressing, dancing provocatively or intercourse to gain pleasure. Usually the person preforming these behaviors is a women and she is unable to see the viewers watching her, usually males. Some music videos are good examples of sexually objectifying women through the camera angles, shots and editing. Voyeurism is used to help sell products as it creates an interest for the audience, male viewers are amazed by the women shown keeping them hooked and female viewers look up to the women shown, almost aspiring to be like them.

Examples of voyeurism, the music video by Eric Prydz - Call on me, uses a significant number close up shots on the women who are wearing very revealing latex body suits to enhance their bodies. The whole music video is of a group of women dancing to the song in an aerobics lesson, we see a lot of low angle shots looking up at the women in very provocative mannerisms. Sexual objectification is present as there is only one male shown through out the video and he is shown to be dancing with the women who have positioned themselves around him as he is the dominant character even if there is only one of him. This music video will have created a lot of satisfaction for the male viewers watching.

Voyeurism is used a predominately in genres like Hip Hop, R and B and Rap that it has become a typical feature of the video.  Voyeurism is mainly used in theses genres when the artist is male and he is referring to the women in his video, they can be shown in explicit mannerisms and have little clothing to reveal their bodies.
We are thinking to work with the genre of Hip Hop for our music video, for this genre we will need to consider the fact that it is stereotypical to involve voyeurism and without it in the video it will not be a recognisable Hip Hop video. We will look to involve a number of females in our video that are attractive and can show off their bodies in tight or revealing clothing.

Here are some examples of voyeurism in Hip Hop music videos:

The silhouette is seen as a sexy outline of the womans curvy body.

The positing and dancing of the women is erotic but helps to attract a male audience

Conclusion of music video analysis

What are the key ingredients for a successful music video?

-Good location

A good location will compliment the video making it look interesting this will help to keep the audience hooked as they are watching the singer and the location the whole time.

The bright colours in this location can make fans excited to
watch as the location is surreal and new to them. It also helps
to compliment the artist herself.

-Strong performance 

For any successful video to succeed it will need to have performers who look the part, they must be in time, sharp and powerful so that it looks professional. 

A well choreographed dance makes a video look professional
and is something audiences love to watch as there is
something always going on.

-Range of shots

Different shots such as close up, extreme close up, medium and long shots will help to make the video seem worth watching, it will allow the audience to feel involved and keep them hooked. Likewise it will give us a the ability to view the location from a variety of ways.

These shots gives the viewers the chance to see the artist in
several angles but from the same frame. It helps to excite
what is going on in the clip.

Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools

The opening of the video begins with a panning down of Kendrick it is then followed by a him falling back into darkness this works well as the background is one color really highlighting him. The quick changing between the shots of the women and the bottle look interesting and have a good effect on the video as the props match the lyrics. Another good feature is the reverse playback of the bottle smashing upside down, this creates a trippy effect for the audience keeping them mesmerized. As the visuals match the lyrics such as when the bottle drops on the word "drank" it follows Goodwins theory.

Displaying the artists name at the start of the video against a black background gives and effective look.

The beat changes from the female to the smashed bottle shown below to match the lyrics of the song.

This smashes as soon as the lyrics say "drank".

The same black background is used again later in the video which looks appealing.

Pusha T - Numbers on the boards

The key successful element to this video is the constant eye contact and looking at the camera from the singer, this keeps the audience interested and creates a bond between him and us, like he is singing personally to us. The jump cuts from the artist to the outside location and the movement of the feet follows the rules of Vernali's theory, likewise with the use of the slow motion effect.The use of the grey, vast landscapes creates a sense of space behind him and this is made to look interesting with the contrasting extreme close up of Pusha T. 

Lana Del Rey - Summertime sadness

The use of the old style effect put over the film making it look grainy and shaky matches the props and location really well giving it a olden days feel. The unusual moving backgrounds shown behind Lana complement the weirdness of the video keeping the audience hooked to the end, likewise the emotions shown on the actors faces are very bleak and sad this creates feelings and emotional attachments towards the song from the viewers.

The grainy effect used in the video makes in seem like it is aged.

This shot only reveals the silhouette of the artist herself, the contrast of the light background and yellow glow around the face works well to make it stand out.

This shot is 80% the sky and 20% the artist the unusual shots works well in this video as the colour is in keeping with the rest of the video and creates a sense of space.

Jay-Z - Izzo

The music videos opens with a pan shooting from outside the shop then to the inside where we see a child lip-singing the lyrics, this looks interesting. As there is no continuity editing the it follows Vernali's theory, this is used the keep the audience hooked and decipher the difference between a music video and a film. The majority of the video shows clips of different scenarios such as dancing and meeting fans, each shot has a different background and the camera is placed at a different distance to keep the viewer enticed. Lastly the slowed down effect used on the people highlights the emotions of the fans. 

Ariana Grande- The way

The style of this music video is extremely happy to match the beat and the lyrics, the colors used throughout the video are very bright and cheery, the use of the colorful shadow/film effect projected on the singers looks interesting and as a viewer it gives us more to look at. The camera seems to maintain the same distance from the singers throughout the video, almost like we are in the audience. 

Beyonce- Countdown

The music is most effective as it uses close up shots of Beyonce's face at the start, it then moves on to medium and long shots of her, these flash on the screen quickly, in time to the music and beat. The colors and duplicated screens of her match the pace and fit in to the idea of a "countdown" which cleverly ties into the name of the song.