'Work from home' a song recorded by the American pop girl group,
'Fifth Harmony', features rapper and singer
Ty Dolla Sign. Released on the bands single second studio album;
7/27 (2016), directed by
director X the music video for the song was debuted on their Vevo youtube channel on, February 26, 2016. The girl group made up of five girls,
Camila Cabello, Lauren Jauregui, Normani Hamiton, Dinah Jane Hansen and
Ally Broke, earned their third Vevo Certification for reaching over 100 million views on March 31, 2016.
You can view the video for free here;
Fifth Harmony; Work from Home
Mise-en-scene:
The mise-en-scene is defined as everything we see on screen, this can vary from lighting to costumes or props. shirtless and sweaty men are denoted throughout the majority of the music video, this conforms
Laura Mulvey's theory of female glaze, where females are given voyeuristic pleasure in watching males. This subverts the hegemonic reading of females in pop music videos, this creates a counter-type by switching the gender roles. For majority of the music video the artists' are denoted around a construction site- this subverts the common stereotype of females being a housewife and instead signifies them as hard working in manual labour. However it's also connoted and oppositional view that the artists' (symbolising females in general) aren't strong enough to achieve manual labour as they aren't denoted sweating or taking part in the work as the males are doing. This conforms and emphases the common stereotypical gender roles between males and females. Unlike the males the females aren't wearing the right attire to be working there, therefore it signifies and connotes how staged the narrative and location of the music video is. The high key lighting, is denoted as vibrant connoting a sense of unrealism, this conforms to the sense of the narrative of the music video being staged, this also conforms to the gender roles stereotypes against females and connotes how the females are out of place in a the field of manual labour. The girls throughout the music video, at various parts, are dancing seductively to the camera and in front of the male characters/actors this conforms the
Laura Mulvey theory of the male glaze as the males are getting vouyeristic pleasure in watching them 'perform'. The twerking actions and the ideology of touching of their bodies brings attention to the features they are touching, signifying that the artists' want the people to give them attention-connoting how women are performers rather than to be taken seriously. The mise-en-scene from beginning to end shows a linear narrative, where the lighting and location of the music video connotes day to night signifying the previous connotations as reality, or even a symbolism for a 9-5 job.
Camera:
The males are denoted in almost every scene, this connotes as downgrading to the women as they are only signified when a male is present in the scene, this signifies the lust and desire the artists' have towards the males and also connotes how dependent women are on males. The low angle; denoted when the girls are in their dance routine connotes the females in power, however as they are dancing in a seductive and provocative way it signifies how women can only get male attention and power of their audiences if they are getting them vouyeristic pleasure. Within a mid shot the height different compared between the male and the female, this connotes that no matter what a female does or protests for equality she'll always be placed under the a male where she's forced to metaphorically and literally look up to him. The song features rapper and singer
Ty Dolla Sign is denoted within a low angle in which he is connoted as powerful, to the point where the audience feel as if they have to look up at him, he is also denoted holding the hammer this connotes how a male is destructive like the hammer, and therefore dangerous with it in his possession. As the camera pans away from the artist the audience feels intimated by him as the movement of the camera signifies the target audience moving away from him.
Soundtrack:
The backing beat to the non-diegetic soundtrack is a contrapuntal to the images on screen, connoting how females on the construction sight doesn't conform to societies stereotypical representation of women and their hegemonic readings. The lack of diegetic soundtrack of the busy and loudness of the construction site isn't encoded by the demographic, signifying the previous ideology further.
'imma give you a promption' this line is sung in the lyrics, signifying that the females are the Boss of the relationship and she's in charge, when in reality she's not because she's signing a song about sexual desire towards males. The lyrics continue to read, 'you can be the boss at home' the females are prompting gender roles where the stereotypical representations of males whom are encoded as the 'bosses' at home and in the work place and women power is suppressed. In the ending sequence, the beats are parallel and synchronous to the images, as the beat changes so does the shot, connoting and denoting the girl pop groups true desires and attentions to the males before them, as they look up longingly into their eyes. This signifies and connotes women as restricting the narrative (
Laura Mulvey's theory) as they only care about their desires and sexual intentions with the males, therefore spending the entirety of the video putting themselves and everyone else in danger and districting the males from their work.
Editing:
Within the editing, a slow motion technique is used, this conforms the female glaze theory as females are getting voyueristic pleasure this connotes a switch of roles where the men are being portrayed the way females are in male's music videos. The lack of jump cuts (an editing sequence primarily used in all music videos and extracts), by having less it softens the transitions between each scene, it connotes and brings a sense of reality to the music video, this subverts the hegemonic reading of females where are made to seem realistic for females to be working in a building site- however this ideology subverted as the females only chase the males around the males, as they aren't denoted doing any productive or constructive work. A match on action shot is used of the girl climbing over the tractor, a match on action to show the same action but in different camera angles and movements, connoting how the many different females look up and idolise her- mocking this fact because she's not prompting anything worth while only how to sell yourself in order to get attention from males.
