The 1975 – Girls

The music video for The 1975’s ‘Girls’ music videos used conventions of the performance style. The music video purposely portrays music genres through the mise en scene which creates a parody of the pop music genre. The 1975 are a indie pop rock band, this music genre is shown clearly through the mise en scene. The video opens with a longshot of the band dressed in all black. This shot is edited into monochrome which emphasises the indie genre. The monochrome effect is used in all of The 1975’s music videos. The band are holding guitars and a drummer can be seen in the background this is also stereotypically linked to the indie genre.

The girls music video parodies the pop music genre, this is clearly shown when Matt Healy says ‘It’s more like a pop video, it’s not really what we’re about’, this emphasises the music genre. Bright colours are brought into the music video after the lead singer says this; bright colours and high key lighting are stereotypically linked to the pop music genre. Stereotypes of girls are also shown through the music video, for example when we see ‘GIRLS’ written on the floor in flowers and a pink border. These things are commonly linked to the female gender. The female characters in the video also wear underwear; this could be seen as sexism in the video. However this could also emphasise the stereotypes of a pop music video as this is often seen in these. The girls mirror the opening scene in the way they are positioned. This could been seen as a parody towards the male band members.

Throughout the first few minutes of the music video the editing cuts between the female actors and The 1975, which are both seen to be ‘performing’ the song. Reflexivity is used at the very beginning of the music video when Matt Healy is talking then a clip board comes into screen. This emphasises the parody of the music video as it is becomes cliché. The next scene cuts to the band and the female characters in outside in a garden. In the mise en scene we see the girls have now changed outfits and are now in swimwear. This conforms to the stereotypes of women and emphasises the stereotypes of women. The girls sway side to side and over exaggerate their body language and facial expressions; this again parodies the pop music genre. When the new scene is introduced immediately the colours and props change. Some of the women are still playing the instruments whilst one of the girls is

cooking on the barbecue. This could be seen as sexist as is could link to the stereotypes of women cooking. The bright colours in the mise en scene in this part contrast with the all black in the band members clothing. This emphesises that the band don’t really fit in with the pop music video or the pop music genre.

Reflexivity is used through the music video several times. The first time we see reflexivity is

at the beginning when the band are speaking about the music video then a clipper board is comes into frame. The second time reflexivity is used subtitles are used. The subtitles do not relate to the song lyrics. The words ‘This is wonderful’ appear onscreen and Matt Healy mimes these words. These are not lyrics in the song, and he says this as the music plays over the top. Subtitles are also used when the girl is shown in the car. However these subtitles are written in French.

The video is a cross between performance and narrative styles. The narrative being the girls have a car crash towards the end of the music video. Intertextuality is used when the car crashes. The style of ‘crash’ is written in the comic style of Roy Lichtenstein, this could also be seen as

pastiche. This is part could been seen as a narrative as the girls are driving and then they crash.

However the video also contains aspects of a conceptual video. This can be seen when one of the actress’ spits pink liquid from her mouth. This could also be portrayed through the lack of narrative style in the whole music video.