Gwen Stafani - HollaBack Girl

Gwen Stafani

This music video follows a todorov theory whereby the equilibrium at the start is when she is having fun taking photographs at the beginning with her girlfriends. The vocals start to kick in and this is when both the disruptiona nd the realisation of the disruption kicks in. The lyrics go on to tell a story of how a girl has made up a rumour about Gwen and therefore they are on they're way to sort this out. Although you are unable to see what happens within the conflict in which they are having, the lyrics portray that Gwen won the fight and therefore the new equilibrium has been reinstated.

The target audience for this music video is obviously targeted towards younger generations, preferrably those who are still in education. Evidence of this is when a scene occurs at a high school on the playing field. Older generations can also relate to this as rumours can be spread no matter what age, although it is mainly objective to teenagers. Another reason i think this is because of the costumes in which Gwen wheres throughout her videos which will be explained in detail later.

Camera shots/Movement

Establishing shot is a close up of Gwen taking a photograph, it creates an enigma for the audience as we are unsure what she is looking at. The Next shot is an over shoulder shot of her actually taking the photograph of her girl friends, again this is easy to relate to from any age or gender. Then we see a medium shot of Gwen sitting in a car with all her friends singing along to her song, this creates a happy and energetic atmoshpere for the audience as she is appears to be having fun with her friends and they are enjoying listening to her song. In a sense it sends a subconscious message to her fans saying that this could be them with their friends enjoying my song also. The same camera shot is used but while they are on their travels, in the background you can see little boys on their bikes following her car, this suggests that her music appeals to both male and female audiences and that she is a popular artist. It then straight cuts to a long shot of four girls who are dancing hip hop style which inevitably makes the audience want to dance also as the mood and atmosphere is upbeat. Her gestures and body language within this frame portrays her to have an attitude and hard exterior but playful side as well. This is a conventional stereotype of a teenager. A medium shot of her holding her mouth when the lyric involves a swearword is playful and proposes that she knows it is a bad word and it sends the message that it is wrong to say it which has likely been used for the purpose of young viewers. Again she does this when she places her finger against her mouth symbolising to be quiet as it should not be said. Another long shot of a random group of youths running accross the frame links in with the lyric, 'getting everybody fired up.' this camera shot helps the audience to understand the story line of her song more clearly. An extreme long shot of the car pulling up to a school setting again reinforces my idea that she is targeting this song to younger audiences. Many tracking shots from the front, side and behind, follows Gwen as she walks with attitude, she is also being followed by many other teenagers behind her which in reality is the usual ordeal when a fight occurs. In the background you can see the 'extras' getting excited about this fight, this conveys the hype atmosphere and facial expressions are all happy which shows that they feel confident about Gwen. A medium shot of Gwen in a jump suit unzipped revealing her bra appears as flirtacious and sexy, behind her she has many dancing cheerleaders, which in chick flicks are normally used to portray the popular pretty girls, this has been used to engage with her male audience. Again a tracking shot of her walking towards the camera with a steel brass band behind her allows the audience to see the type of environment she is in.

Long shots of the brass band playing music blends in perfectly, it suggests they are adding to the atmosphere also this is used appropriately as the sound of this song includes instruments such as horns and drums which generally is a brass bands main instruments.

A low angle shot is used on Gwen walking in front of a car which shows she is important and has power over the audience in this shot and the fact she walks infront of the car tells us as an audience everybody follows/copies her in what she does.

Close up of Gwen's face with eye contact with the camera engages the audience to her facial expression which appears to be hard-looking and up for a fight.

A high angle shot is now used showing Gwen standing up and the dancers are all kneeled down facing the floor this again gives off a sense of heirachy. Heirachy is also displayed when two dancers push Gwen around in a shopping trolly in a supermarket, a medium shot is used for this with Gwen centre frame. Ive noticed this occurs many times such as when a long shot is taken of Gwen dancing with two other girls, she is allways postioned in the middle and nearer to camera to make sure audiences know she is the important one. Close ups of horns are used when the the non-diegetic soundtrack starts to play again as it sounds like a horn, viewers can associate it then with brass bands in high school. Finally, the final shot is a medium shot of Gwen with her arms in the air looking down her nose at the camera, showing attitude and hierachy.

Costume

Gwen changes her outfit quite a few times during this music video. The first outfit appears very conventional for a pop/rock artist, she is wearing baggy trousers, a black skater hat and a short white crop top. This shows her tom boy side to Gwen which she does not normally promote about herself. A contrast in colours white and black could connote both a dark and innocent side to her as an artist in this music video especially. Her second outfit i mentioned earlier is a jumpsuit which is low zipped anabling the audience to see her bra, again this promotes a sporty yet sexy side to her. She also wears a blue and gold smart outfit as you would if you played in the Brass band however with her own unique style to it when she only wears gold pants on the lower half. She wore a cheerleading outfit at one point to show that she is part of every group and she has an influence on all the social groups. E.g Brass Band/Cheerleaders/rockers.

She also wore a red leotard which is quite revealing of her lower region, again this is to engage with her male audience.

Lighting

Majority of the lighting is natural light, mid-day time. When she dances with others in what appears to be a gym room, the key light is coming from behind and above shinning on them downwards however fill lights would have been added in front of her face to highlight her facial expressions for the camera and audience. When she walks on the playing field the natural light is yellow which tells me that the time of day is near sunset.