Audience Theories + Analysis - Robbie William’s ‘Candy’ Music Video

This is the opening shot of ‘Candy’. This shot tells the audience a lot about the character as he is looking away he creates a sense of mystery about himself to make audiences figure out who he is and about his personality, where he is looking to or who he is looking at. The mystery evaporates when his name and the song title appear in the background in front of him, so audiences who are familiar with Robbie Williams will recognise the name. This could also be interpreted to mean the start of something new. As this is the first song from his new album this first image could be looked upon as the start of a new journey into the rest of the album, or a change for Robbie Williams. Star image is therefore represented. A final thing about the opening of the video is you clearly see him dressed in a pink suit. Pink being the most common colour of candy, this crates a link between the song title and costumes , that the video is going to be upbeat, colourful and fun. The audience theory here would be The Power Elite – C Wright Mills (1965) The main function is Identity, because when we first see R. Williams we only see the back of him and half his back wearing a pink suit, this could show we can assume any identity we want.

This scene confirms that Candice needs a guardian angel/protector as she just about misses getting hit by a car but the man who does is distracted due to his focus is on admiring her. Showing another link between lyrics and visuals by ‘she was educated but couldn't count to ten’, she is book smart but lacks common sense to look where she is going as she is walking in the middle of a road. The establishing shot is a good way to capture the scene as it encases the surroundings well. It shows Candice turning to look at the man who got hit by the car, it shows where the car came from and it shows where she is going. It also gives audiences the idea that the man who got hit by the car also lacked common sense, if he was crossing the road he was to distracted by Candice to look properly. The audience theory in this scene is Richard Dyers utopian Theory because in “Real Life” Candice would have got run over as she was carelessly walking on the road, but in a made up “Utopian” world someone who was admiring her took the hit for her, as she ignorantly walked off. The man also was in a daze about Candice, he may have been imagining a life with her or what he could do to talk to her instead of him paying attention to the road.

This shot where Candice is walking on the street without paying any attention to the fact that she might bump into an elderly couple, so Williams pushes the gentleman out the way and punches his wife to the ground to make way for Candice which she doesn't’t even say thanks let alone notices. We can see here that he would literally ‘kill’ for the girl and doesn't’t care about anyone else yet she doesn't’t see him in the same way or even acknowledges that he feels this way. The audience theory in this scene is The Hypodermic Needle Theory as this video is “injecting” the fact that whatever you do for someone is okay even hitting other people and getting run over. It is a false representation of what should happen in reality. The passive audience would believe what he is doing is good and okay however in reality it is pointless and he didn’t need to go through all the pain and suffering to get her attention.

In this shot we can see from here that he is trying to connect audiences to Candice by pointing at her and making her feel centre like the of attention, which she isn't bothered about. There is another link between lyrics and visuals through out this scene, as when Williams stops singing about Candice’s past the beat then changes and the camera focus’s on Candice and reverts from the establishing shot we see here to that one, creating a link between the music and visuals as the shots are cut in time to the beat. Characterisation also occurs when he is singing along with Candice and she doesn't pay him any attention he begins to ignore her and find other things to do, and when he sings the line ‘what are you doing it for?’ his facial expression is shown in a close up showing the audience he isn't happy and he is getting impatient with her. The audience theory in this scene is Uses and Gratifications Theory as he is drawing the attention of the audience away from his own life and confidently redirecting it towards Candice who barely notices it.

This shot is vital as it is shown when Williams is dreaming about being her guardian angel. The establishing shot type is effective at creating a real life situation. The shot is also combined with shots of Williams on the ground from the other scene showing that he is definitely day dreaming about this. It shows that he thinks he should be attired more dramatically and portrayed as a knight so that danger will get out their way so he doesn't have to get injured by anything anymore. The shot is shown throughout the repetition of the line ‘what are you doing it for’ and often creates a link between music and visuals by the cuts and pace and types of shots that are used. The most common cut would be at the end of ‘what are you’ the shot type changes on ‘doing it for’. Many shot types were used such as birds eye view shots of Williams on the ground, low level close ups of Candice making her seem powerful that she has a knight to protect her, close ups of Williams on the horse which emphasise the smug look on his face. This show also shows the power balance has been restored as Williams is bigger than Candice and rides a horse and wears armour to show his authority and dominance. The audience theory in this scene is Richard Dyre’s Utopian Theory as Williams is dreaming about his “Utopia” where he gets to be Candice’s Knight and shining armour but then relaises it wont happen he gets back to reality. This gives the audience the impression that “fairy tales” only occur in movies and no one could achieve a happy story unless they are dreaming.

The scene in which this shot is taken from is the final chorus scene, and again it is filmed in one continuous shot incorporating lots of different shot types and accidents making the last part of the video that bit more dramatic.. There is a link between music and visuals as the beat increases in tempo and the song increases in pace, the action increases in pact too and the accidents become more reckless like he is trying to portray himself as a more dominant figure such as the self he envisaged while he was daydreaming about what he wanted to be dressed like. He also becomes more aggressive which develops on the already link between music and visuals as the beat is increasing in power so does his aggressiveness and behaviour. For example when he catches fire, its the first time that something that dramatic has happened in the video so far when he has been protecting Candice from danger. For example a piano has also landed on him, he has smashed through glass and been hit by a bike. The audience theory in this scene is Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs as he wants to be at the love and belonging level however he is stick at the entry level of “Psychological needs” as he is in pain from being set on fire and hit by cars, pianos falling on him and even being stabbed. So he cannot reach the love and belonging level until he fulfills the first two levels. This music video make give the audience the wrong impression of what needs to prioritise as in this video R Williams is literally dying for her without looking at his own needs whereas she only cares about hers.