In this essay I will be analysing how the male gaze theory is created through mis-en-scene, in the video for Work From Home by Fifth Harmony, director by Director X.
In terms of Goodwin’s theory, this video is an illustration
video, as the images shown are relating to the name of the song and then the chorus of the song.
The setting for this video is a building site, which is stereotypically
a male place of work. However, the girl band Fifth Harmony are dancing around
in the building site, alongside topless hunky male builders. This shows the
gaze theory associating both male and female. The first character we meet is a muscular
male builder. Through a tracking shot we then meet one of the girl band, who is
wearing a hard-hat representing the building site. This breaks a stereotype as
the building trade is typically associated with males. It is seen as a not very
glamourous job and linked to the working class. However, this isn’t the case in
the video, as good-looking, well-built men portray the builders, and complete
there work in a sexualized way. This can also be related to the girl band, who
are seen completing standard building tasks, like pouring cement, but
completing them using sexualised dance moves. This can be seen within the first
20 seconds, showing that the male gaze theory will most likely be used
throughout.
When we are introduced to the second member of the girl-band,
her costume is also a seductive take on builder’s wear. All of their costumes
amplify the building setting, whilst accentuating their femininity. When
looking at Mulvey’s theory, and the virgin/whore dichotomy, this video relates
to the ‘whore’ idea. It can be seen as a pop genre characteristic for females
to wear revealing outfits, and in this video all of their outfits are quite
skimpy, which would be associated with male attention and therefore the male
gaze theory.
In terms of props, building trade items have been used, such
as tractors, drills and spanners. This further implies the setting and the form
of ‘work’ being sung about it building, which you would not know from the
lyrics on their own.
The positioning of the members of Fifth Harmony depends on
what part is being sung. The video is a performance based video, so the main
part consists of the member’s lip syncing and dancing. When there is a chorus
and all members sing, they are all shown. As there is 5 of them, they have been
positioned so that there are 3 girls on a rasied platform and 2 on the ground.
This allows them all to be seen, whilst being interesting for the viewer to
watch. Different camera angles and shots are also used, with the scene of all
the girls being cut into with different ‘builders’ around the site, further
creating more interesting visuals for the audience to watch.
The girls further
complete sultry dance moves to the camera, which proves the male gaze theory. The
close up shots used when viewing the girl bands members bum’s/breast’s will
attract the attention of male viewers. In the second chorus a more interesting location
is used. New locations are introduced to ensure viewers don’t feel like the
same images are being repeated and that there is a reason to carry on watching.
A wide shot is used to display all the members of the Fifth Harmony, and close
up shots are used to watch them dance around men.
Initially, the lighting of the music video is high key, with
the idea of the sunshine being the main light source, beaming down on the
workers on a hot summers day, therefore causing the males to be hot and sweaty
and take their top off, leading to the gaze theory. The high key lighting and
use of bright colours allow the pop genre to be easily identified. In terms of
male gaze, it allows the audience to easily be able to see Fifth Harmony and
their provocative dance moves. Nearer to the end of the video, the lighting
changes to lower key, with the idea that night time has emerged. And lights
from the building site are the main source of light. At the end of the video a
montage of shots featuring all of the members is re shown, which along with the
night time effect lighting, gives the impression that a wholes day work has
been completed.
The band are dancing throughout the video, so when looking
at body language we can look at how their dance moves apply to the male gaze
theory. Close up shots are used of the girls pouting their lips, flicking their
hair and fluttering their eyelashes. All of these create the image of a flirty
girl, stereotyping women as even on a building site they are seen as flirts. As
previously mentioned, the choreography of the video consists of the girls
dancing sexually, using their body’s to gain attention from the male builders,
who they end up dancing closly with in the end. This creates the idea that the
girls are objects and even though they are on a building site, still only want
to impress men. All of these dance moves and facial expressions gain male
attention, proving that the male gaze theory has been used in the video.
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