Music Video: Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean blog tasks
1) What was the budget for Billie Jean? How did this compare with later Michael Jackson videos
$50,000 was the budget for the Billie jean music video
this budget was significantly lower than the later music videos in his career
2) Why was the video rejected by MTV?
They argued that the music video / music didn't fit the middle American auidience
3) Applying Goodwin's theory of music video, how does Billie Jean reflect the genre characteristics of pop music video?
Billie Jean reflects the genre characteristics of a pop music video as the music video contains lip syncing , performance such as dance routines aswell as an included narrative.
4) How do the visuals reflect the lyrics in Billie Jean?
The lyrics reflect the visuals as the song is supposed to reflect Michael jack sons and the Jackson 5's experience with fan girls aswell as a supposed missing person he read about
The phrase billie Jean is a female song so the song must also link to some sort of relationship that Michael is associated with even though the audience aren't told directly who billie Jean the video uses images of women etc.. To further empathise the link.
5) Why does the video feature fewer close-up shots than in most pop videos?
The video has little to no close ups of Michael himself as his main focal / selling point is his unique dancing therefore more emphasis is put on getting shots of his dancing.
6) What intertextual references can be found in the video?
Spy film genre , musicals such as singin in the rain and lala land , as well as film noir and crime fiction
7) How does the video use the notion of looking as a recurring motif?
The notion of looking is used in this video through the perspective of the detective who is always looking at Michael as a kind of surveillance camera shot aswell as the editing that reflects that of a tv screen
8) What representations can be found in the video?
Michael Jackson is presented as a miracle / godlike figure ; almost like Jesus in this video as anything he seems to come into contact with lights up aswell as when the homeless man transforms once Michael Jackson throws a penny into the homeless mans cup
Close-textual analysis of the music video
1) How is mise-en-scene used to create intertextuality - reference to other media products or genres? E.g. colour/black and white; light/lighting.
-spy/film noir genre
-musical : singin in the rain , la la land
-lighting floor : setting ,lighting,1970's disco
-urban setting
-dance and singing
-Hollywood sound stage -1940s Hollywood musicals
-shadows that reflect film noir
-detective costume -trench coat , hat , glasses
-Polaroid cameras : bricolage
-freeze frame
2) How does the video use narrative theory of equilibrium?
-narrative structure : villian on the loose , villian gets caught, peace ( todorovs theory of equilibrium )
-characters of a hero and villian
-enigma and action codes : what is the villian after? What is the purpose of tiger skin ?
3) How are characters used to create narrative through binary opposition?
use of binary opposition to create a generic hero vs villian narrative
4) What is the significance of the freeze-frames and split-screen visual effects?
They add an element of modern editing as well as the pace of the song that matches the editing
5) What meanings could the recurring motif of 'pictures-within-pictures' create for the audience?
the meaning of the recurring motif "pictures within pictures" creates a film noir effect aswell as the idea that there is a copy of reality within every media text
6) Does the video reinforce or subvert theories of race and ethnicity - such as Gilroy's diaspora or Hall's black characterisations in American media?
I think that the video subverts the theories of race and ethnicity as the videos focuses mainly on how Michael Jackson is a black artist and is seen as a godlike figure that helps other people's life and lights up everywhere around him there is also no point in which the video is seen as looking down on Michael . However he does seem quite solemn and upset in the video which could reflect the idea of diaspora that Michael doesn't really belong.
7) Does this video reflect Steve Neale's genre theory of 'repetition and difference'? Does it reflect other music videos or does it innovate?
The video was One of the first of it kind and paved the way for other music videos later in the industry so I think it innovated the generic characteristics you would see in a general music video with lipsyncing , performance etc...
8) Analyse the video using postmodern theory (e.g. Baudrillard's hyper-reality; Strinati's five definitions of postmodernism). How does the 'picture-in-picture' recurring motif create a postmodern reading?
The picture in picture creates a postmodern reading as it reflects the idea of hyper reality (bauilldriard) that suggested that auidiences view the 'copy' of reality in the media as more real than the original and this is evident in the music video through the the Polaroid pictures and the editing that makes it seem as if we are looking through the screen at Michael . Further more , each time the detective goes to take a picture of Michael each photo doesn't have Michael appear in it as if he wasn't even there which leads the auidience to think that Michael is a figure of the detective characters imagination and he doesn't realises what is real and what isn't.
1) What was the budget for Billie Jean? How did this compare with later Michael Jackson videos
$50,000 was the budget for the Billie jean music video
this budget was significantly lower than the later music videos in his career
2) Why was the video rejected by MTV?
They argued that the music video / music didn't fit the middle American auidience
3) Applying Goodwin's theory of music video, how does Billie Jean reflect the genre characteristics of pop music video?
Billie Jean reflects the genre characteristics of a pop music video as the music video contains lip syncing , performance such as dance routines aswell as an included narrative.
4) How do the visuals reflect the lyrics in Billie Jean?
The lyrics reflect the visuals as the song is supposed to reflect Michael jack sons and the Jackson 5's experience with fan girls aswell as a supposed missing person he read about
The phrase billie Jean is a female song so the song must also link to some sort of relationship that Michael is associated with even though the audience aren't told directly who billie Jean the video uses images of women etc.. To further empathise the link.
5) Why does the video feature fewer close-up shots than in most pop videos?
The video has little to no close ups of Michael himself as his main focal / selling point is his unique dancing therefore more emphasis is put on getting shots of his dancing.
6) What intertextual references can be found in the video?
Spy film genre , musicals such as singin in the rain and lala land , as well as film noir and crime fiction
7) How does the video use the notion of looking as a recurring motif?
The notion of looking is used in this video through the perspective of the detective who is always looking at Michael as a kind of surveillance camera shot aswell as the editing that reflects that of a tv screen
8) What representations can be found in the video?
Michael Jackson is presented as a miracle / godlike figure ; almost like Jesus in this video as anything he seems to come into contact with lights up aswell as when the homeless man transforms once Michael Jackson throws a penny into the homeless mans cup
Close-textual analysis of the music video
1) How is mise-en-scene used to create intertextuality - reference to other media products or genres? E.g. colour/black and white; light/lighting.
-spy/film noir genre
-musical : singin in the rain , la la land
-lighting floor : setting ,lighting,1970's disco
-urban setting
-dance and singing
-Hollywood sound stage -1940s Hollywood musicals
-shadows that reflect film noir
-detective costume -trench coat , hat , glasses
-Polaroid cameras : bricolage
-freeze frame
2) How does the video use narrative theory of equilibrium?
-narrative structure : villian on the loose , villian gets caught, peace ( todorovs theory of equilibrium )
-characters of a hero and villian
-enigma and action codes : what is the villian after? What is the purpose of tiger skin ?
3) How are characters used to create narrative through binary opposition?
use of binary opposition to create a generic hero vs villian narrative
4) What is the significance of the freeze-frames and split-screen visual effects?
They add an element of modern editing as well as the pace of the song that matches the editing
5) What meanings could the recurring motif of 'pictures-within-pictures' create for the audience?
the meaning of the recurring motif "pictures within pictures" creates a film noir effect aswell as the idea that there is a copy of reality within every media text
6) Does the video reinforce or subvert theories of race and ethnicity - such as Gilroy's diaspora or Hall's black characterisations in American media?
I think that the video subverts the theories of race and ethnicity as the videos focuses mainly on how Michael Jackson is a black artist and is seen as a godlike figure that helps other people's life and lights up everywhere around him there is also no point in which the video is seen as looking down on Michael . However he does seem quite solemn and upset in the video which could reflect the idea of diaspora that Michael doesn't really belong.
7) Does this video reflect Steve Neale's genre theory of 'repetition and difference'? Does it reflect other music videos or does it innovate?
The video was One of the first of it kind and paved the way for other music videos later in the industry so I think it innovated the generic characteristics you would see in a general music video with lipsyncing , performance etc...
8) Analyse the video using postmodern theory (e.g. Baudrillard's hyper-reality; Strinati's five definitions of postmodernism). How does the 'picture-in-picture' recurring motif create a postmodern reading?
The picture in picture creates a postmodern reading as it reflects the idea of hyper reality (bauilldriard) that suggested that auidiences view the 'copy' of reality in the media as more real than the original and this is evident in the music video through the the Polaroid pictures and the editing that makes it seem as if we are looking through the screen at Michael . Further more , each time the detective goes to take a picture of Michael each photo doesn't have Michael appear in it as if he wasn't even there which leads the auidience to think that Michael is a figure of the detective characters imagination and he doesn't realises what is real and what isn't.
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