Riptide Music Video

'Riptide' Music Video

Genre and context

The genre is clear almost right from the start and the genre of this music identifies as indie-folk with a pop undertone to it. It can be seen as indie because of the style of the song as well as the music video that accompanies it. The fact that this song is heavily based on the indie genre, it is quite unique as it is music not released from a major label and rather only when Vance Joy gained attention to then be released to Atlantic Records which is a well-known sub-label of Warner Records. This was his first single that he released in USA and became rated platinum. The music video itself appears to have a low budget as there are no big special effects and the visuals are quite basic. The low budget look of the music video leaves the audience wondering why there are no special effects. They could think that either Joy wants a simplistic visual effect to it or it could be because of the low funding. It could also be Joy's decision that since he is only starting to gain popularity, he would only use a larger budget for music videos when he continues gaining popularity. Another theory could be so it stands out to the audience compared to other song music videos and so the audience would see it as unique and this could be a marketing strategy.

Narrative

Whilst many music videos interpret lyrics of the song with the clips on screen in a visual but subtle way, this music video literally shows the images and clips of what is happening as the song progresses and literally shows the lyrics. For example from the first lyric being "I was scared of dentists and the dark", the first shot of the video shows a woman having a 'scared' facial expression whilst she has a metal contraption in her mouth which gives the audience the impression that she is sitting in a dentist's chair whilst there is a swinging beam of light in a dark room. Since the song is fast-paced, these shots are only briefly shown but enough for the audience to make out that the lyrics are literally visualised on the screen. Montage editing is used throughout the video to create this effect and there is no sort of transition such as camera switching and rather just jumps to the new image following the lyrics. For example during the lyric "Oh, all my friends are turning green", it shows a man and woman turning towards the camera and the next shot shows a pile of money. It is done for effect for the audience to add the pieces together and try to figure out the meaning. This scene is also contextually significant as it almost literally shows his 'friends turning green' as they are turning towards the camera followed by the shot of dollar bills. 'Green' in this context refers to dollar bills as they have a green tint to them. He could of mentioned this referring to his friends only caring about him for his money since he is getting fame or it could also possibly be because he might have friends who are also music artists and they are also making money. Although there is no clear narrative, the audience can still make out the message of the video as for many of the scenes involving women.

Representation

Gender seems to be the main focus of the video and it is mainly directed towards women. Joy seems to highlight how the media views women and women are repeatedly shown to be presented as an object. Examples of this are shown throughout the video of women with their backs towards the camera and see women being dragged or running away. One of the shots shows a woman undressing by a beach and the camera films her from behind, giving the essence of her being watched in a sexualised way. One scene which is continuously shown briefly throughout the video is of a woman singing into a microphone in a dark room with makeup on. This could reflect on the social norms of women that are seen in the media of them having to appear in a certain way. As the video progresses, she seems to appear more distressed and her make-up appears smudged. She also seems to literally sing the words of the song itself in the wrong order during the lyric "Cause you're gonna sing the words wrong". Her makeup smudge is positioned in a line giving the feeling that she has been slapped across the face for that to happen. Scenes involving women also feature violence which is present such as a female hand being stabbed and being dragged into darkness. The audience may not know whether this video is normalising domestic violence towards women or instead raising awareness and presenting this as an issue.

Postmodernism

There are various references to feature films of which they reference popular film directors Wes Anderson and David Lynch. The opening shot is of the sky with a billing block at the bottom of the screen which is seen in many movie posters and trailers. By this, it presents the music video as either a music video in style or a short film with the music accompanying it. The video has Western and Thriller tones which shape the style of the music video making it stand out and appeals to Anderson's fans. It also has the consistent horror theme such as the scenes when women are dragged into darkness and people going into dark graveyards. These scenes are only briefly shown on screen and so leaves the audience wondering what happened to them and this raises the theme of mystery. 

The music video is also quite ironic in its nature as the song has a pop tone to it and usually pop sends a quite joyful feeling however the music video contradicts it since it contrasts with a dark-toned video. At the start of the music video, the audience see the sky and beaches by which the colours include blue and yellow which are bright colours and connote light and happiness and the blue gives a neutral feeling. The beaches and sky at first give the impression to the audience that this is a 'warm' and 'upbeat' song on their first impression but as the video progresses, the true meaning of the video is much darker and leaves the audience with the theme of mystery.