Analysis of a Music Video: Representation of gender and stereotypes.

Gabrielle Aplin: Home
Genre: Acoustic
Origin: England
Similarities to The Oh Hellos: The genre and 'female voice'.

Gabrielle Aplin's music video represents the female gender in less of a voyeuristic manner, but more of an delicate but empowering representation.

The music video begins with a shot of a female's shoes. This shot initially establishes a somewhat of a stereotypical, feminine portrayal through the high heels, combined with the soft, peach colour (shades of pink being symbolic of females, and blues symbolic of males). The camera then slowly pans up the body (of the artist). This movement could be argued as slightly voyeuristic as the pace of movement is particularly slow, suggesting a sense of looking or 'staring' which is focused upon the body. This could therefore suggest a male gaze, because we are looking at the artist through a (stereotypical) male perspective.

Although the shoes are high heels, which stereotypically connote femininity, lust and visual/sexual appeal, they are worn with socks, somewhat subverting this 'lustful' representation and instead, connoting a sense of care-free and 'quirk' within her style. The socks could also imply concealment and privacy, representing the female gender as private, 'beautifully' concealed and enigmatic.

However, the most striking aspect of the mise-en-scene is the artist's choice in clothing, particularly the silken bomber jacket. The material of silk represents the artist as extremely delicate and natural, as silk is a natural material. However, silk can be damaged very easily, therefore implying that the female is also very vulnerable (subsequently, putting 'everything' emotionally, into the song). Despite genres such as rap and R&B, the artist is 'well presented' in terms bearing skin; she is dressed rather casually. Whilst representing her as 'down to earth', approachable and 'familiar' to the audience ( her clothes are that of a similar, day-to-day style of the audience's therefore subverting any form of 'status' between the audience and the artist), the outfit is not overtly feminine or 'floaty'; acoustic females are often dressed in soft, light dresses or shirts to highlight that they are every bit of a 'natural beauty'.

The fact that the artist is 'covered up' supports our 'intrigue' of her and her enigmatic persona. Arguably, the choice in clothing (especially the exterior bomber jacket) could be portrayed as quite conservative (supporting her shyness and vulnerability) and/or dignified. This potentially implies that the artist does not need to be marketed in a voyeuristic manner in order to sell her music. As touched upon before within my research, stereotypically, within acoustic music videos, the music itself is of the up-most importance, and not so much the artist's 'image'. This is further supported later on, by the artist wearing a rather masculine work cap, with her hair tied back, subverting the stereotypical, aesthetically, 'ornamental', feminine representation of women within acoustic music videos.

After the panning shot of the artist, there is a close up shot of her face. Within this, the artist is represented as very 'naturally pretty', as she is wearing subtle make-up, implying that she is a 'natural beauty'. However, the artist does not look directly into the lens, possibly avoiding personal and emotional contact with the audience. This could also support her already delicate and shy persona; the fact that the artist won't react with the audience is because her first contact with other people within the video itself was when she was getting mugged at the start. Therefore, we as an audience potentially sympathise with the artist as she her vulnerability is represented as verging on weak. This is supported by shot-reverse shots at 1.47 which indicate that she is an unsure, careful women. But despite this, the shots still establish the artist's natural brown hair, in which the fringe highlights her large eyes; combined with her fair complexion undoubtedly connote innocence, a stereotype within acoustic music (their 'image' is as wholesome as their music). However, the stealing scene contradicts this theory, in which the subversion is emphasised by the close, obscure shot, connoting secrecy and possibly revelation/shock.  

Throughout, the artist is shot at different angles, capturing various female profiles. Combined with a mixture of shots ranging from close up, to obscure, to extreme long, this represents her versatility and 'scope' as a young female artist, which is somewhat empowering. The artist is also constantly walking, indicating some sort of journey. This represents the artist as very progressive (mentally and musically; the movement moves the music structurally, forward), although she was quite weak and passive at the start. 

This representation of progression is emphasised by the cut transitions between when the artist has her jacket on, to when she doesn't. This change is in correlation to the structural progression within the music; the music begins artist is just in her t-shirt. This is because she is more vulnerable as a result of the mugging, and is therefore 'opening up' to the audience through her song and lyrics, revealing the 'true her' which was hiding under the jacket. This in turn creates a sense of  personal identity, trust and intimacy with the audience. 

The material of silk, and its connotations are continued throughout with the second outfit; the artist is seen on a motel bed wearing her silk, summer pyjamas. Supported by the use of both soft artificial and natural lighting, the artist within these particular shots is represented as very exposed, fragile but more over, angelic due to the use of lighting. Also, throughout the end scenes, the artist has supposedly 'transformed', now wearing a floaty, shimmery dress. Visually, it could be argued that she is represented as 'more beautiful' and happier than at the start (shown through her smiling facial expressions); a cliché 'emotional and physical transformation'. This is supported by the use of quick and simple cuts between her frantically and hopelessly running, and her happily singing, highlighting the change and progression within the artist from the start of the music video, to the end.  The pace of this editing is a lot faster than before, implying that the artist has gained confidence, subverting here initial vulnerable 'look'. 

Also, by singing on a pool table with her legs crossed, represents the female as very casual but musically driven, re-enforcing this 'organic' theme that is stereotypically seen within acoustic music videos. This is because the artist is seen with a musical instrument, also suggesting that this is a musical journey as well as an emotional one for the artist. This importance and musical drive is further supported by the artist willingly selling her possessions  implying that she is not materialistic; all she 'needs' is her music.