LH -Deconstructing a Music Video

Genre and Narrative

Like many Jamie T music videos Sticks “n” Stones follows a very unconventional path compared to many artists within the same genre for instance Just Jack. Throughout the video a lot of unconventional shots and camera techniques are used to boost the image of Jamie T as these types of shots would be considered abstract, post-modern and interesting something which helps to sell Jamie’s music as it allows his videos to have a unique selling point. These types of shots are very significant as they help to target the need for diversity and change within the music industry-something which Jamie is trying to offer to his listeners. Although these types of camera techniques and shots are unconventional of the genre, it could also be argued that they are now a convention of Jamie T’s music as some shots used are similar to some of his other videos. A particular shot that would be considered as unconventional of not only the indie-rap genre but of most music videos is a shot that focuses on Jamie, the clown and another man whilst they are sitting on a bench. The shot is taken from behind a wall or fence so that you have an obscured and non-central view of the trio.
The video does conform to many conventions of the genre however as the video is both performance based and narrative based, as the lyrics coincide with the visuals and at the same time he is rapping directly into the camera. However they do challenge the perceived conventions of the genre however as throughout the video there is a clown, this has nothing to do with the performance of Jamie nor does it mention in the lyrics about a clown so this aspect could be seen as concept based. In many aspects this video could be considered as art as it is quite unconventional so in that sense it is unique and original. To further that the video can be open to interpretation as to what Jamie is trying to say or prove so it could be seen as quite inspiring so again this may be seen as a form of creative art. Obviously the music video has been made to try and try and sell Jamie’s music as a product but it is also very creative and leaves a lot of questions unanswered as a piece of art work should.

Media Language

Throughout the video there are a lot of varied visual techniques used in relation to camera shots and techniques. The camera techniques often used are panning or following shots that try to add to the narrative and to give the lyrics a more authentic feel, in the sense that it makes you feel as though what Jamie is actually saying is truly happening. A specific example of this is at the beginning when Jamie is chasing after the train and the camera shot is from inside the train so it follows Jamie. This is significant as it makes you feel as though Jamie is personally performing to you and that gives it a more 1st hand feel. This could be seen as an artistic reason or a commercial one as it makes you feel significant in a way so that you are enticed into buying the video or track. The video also uses a lot of unconventional shots to try and make the video seem more creative and less conventional so that it can be viewed as original, post modern and identifiable with Jamie T, as he could be perceived as bringing the music industry something a little bit different.
The editing is quite significant in relation to the Sticks “n” Stones music video as this is what helps to ensure that the lyrics coincide in time with the visuals and ensure that it helps to become a partially narrative based video. For parts of the video jump cuts are used to break up shots that go on for a long time and these add to the sense of postmodernism and diversity that Jamie T is trying to achieve. The mise-en-scene is also quite significant as it allows Jamie T to target his specified audience as in all aspects he has tried to relate it with something that they can identify with, however mise-en-scene is more specifically related to representation of Jamie T, his music, his image and the image and view of his fans. The SFX of the smoke are also hard to understand exactly what the mean as they are similar to the clown, it is there in various parts of the music video but it doesn’t specifically relate to the lyrics or narrative; so this is another reason as to why the video could be also viewed as partly concept based.


Representation

Jamie T portrays himself as a typical boisterous lad throughout this video as in mnay shots in the video he is either smoking or causing trouble in someway. This is very significant in selling himself as a product as he needs to portray himself in a way that other people can identify and associate with. Jamie T often talks about his “roots” with London (specifically South West London) so Sticks “n” Stones helps to backup his “London personality” as during the video it shows him at Hampton Wick train station and Wimbledon train station. London youths are often stereotyped as being rowdy, troublesome and yobbish, so Jamie’s video backs this stereotype up as you see him causing trouble by smashing a window with rocks, drinking in public and generally being quite rowdy. The lyrics are also significant in creating an image that youths, especially from the South of England, can associate with as Jamie says “When there’s no one left to fight, boys like us don’t shine so bright.” This reinforces the stereotype of Jamie T’s “laddish,” law breaking behaviour and further allows fans of Jamie T to have something to identify with if they have been in the same situation as him.
Throughout the video a particular social group is represented fairly negatively for the main part and that group is the late teens to early/mid 20’s. Jamie T himself is 23 so he falls into this social group and therefore makes it easy to represent the group how he wants. This group is represented negatively because in the music video they are seen to be simply “hanging around” and being quite unruly specifically when they are at the location of the warehouse.
In relation to dominant ideologies there are two that are most prominent and that is masculinity and youths. This is because throughout the video males youths are represented throughout. The stereotypical ideology of masculinity is that men are seen to be dominant, boisterous and “looking for a laugh.” So Jamie T reinforces this ideology as during the video he is seen to be the dominant male, causing trouble by smashing windows and drinking in public. When combining the male ideology with the ideology of youths Jamie’s video further reinforces many stereotypical beliefs within society. This is because youths are often seen as troublemakers as they haven’t got anything else to do. More specifically it is male youths that are seen as the troublemakers and not their female counter parts so when you add the ideology of males to the typical youth ideology a very stereotypical view is produced.


Institution and Audience

This music video would be shown on most types of music channels as it is quite a hard genre to categorise but also is a genre that a lot of people can associate and identify with. As Jamie T is an already established artist it is quite likely to appear on music channels that are quite mainstream and show a lot of different types of urban music such as MTV of TMF. Many people would view this through ambient viewing as well as focused viewing. People would view this through focused viewing as it has some quite complicated lyrics and visuals that you can only really understand their true meaning when you have viewed and listened to them several times. However I have also said this can be consumed through ambient viewing as the chorus is quite repetitive but also catchy so this would appeal to the senses of an ambient viewer as it would stick in their head.