Representation of the artist constructed in '24k Magic'

What representation of the artist are constructed in this music video? How des the use of camera, editing and mis-en-scene help to construct these?


Referring to reception theory, the dominant reading of this video could be the Bruno Mars is encouraging audiences to party and have a good time, picturing scenes of designer clad people dancing and drinking champagne from golden bottles. However, I personally would take the negotiated reading of Bruno Mars may be trying to encourage a party lifestyle, however actually comes across as flaunting his wealth an status as well as even objectifying women, placing them in the background, dressed in bikinis and even cutting to zoomed in shots of them "twerking". Depending on the audience, each reception of the video will be different.




The video begins with an establishing shot of a private jet surrounded by expensive cars, assumingly owned by the star of the video, Bruno Mars. Throughout the video, Bruno Mars is constantly the focus, surrounded by people who're seemingly obsessed with him. These scenes suggest that money and fame really can get you everything, from riches to an entourage to follow him around, clearly an unrealistic representation of real life. This kind of false, almost dreamlike reality can influence especially young people, who are the majority of Bruno Mars' fans, making them believe that this sort of 'party' lifestyle filled with riches, alcohol and women is a completely normal aspiration.




The whole Miss-en-scene of the video indicates one thing, bling. The actors are dressed in silk and designer brands, which immediately has connotations of wealth. Bruno Mars himself is dressed in the designer brand Versace. Everything has an element of wealth added to it, filmed in Las Vegas, there is no abundance of interesting sets, from the gold plated walls of the famous Fremont hotel and casino, to the fountains of the Bellagio Hotel. In the last extravagant scene, Bruno Mars is even depicted riding a Jet skis through these fountains, for no apparent reason. Him and his entourage are also pictured riding mobility scooters though the hotel hallways, for no reason apart from the fact that they can. This sort of representation of life is unrealistic and dangerously influential, particularly since many of Bruno Mars audience is young, His music video was even nominated for 'Best music video' at the Kids Choice Awards.



Another notable feature of this is placing of characters and the use of their costumes to set their place. Bruno Mars is always entered and far forward, wearing the most bling and designer clothing. His friends are dressed similarly but not as extravagantly. However in the pool party scene, he is surrounded by women in bikinis. The only time the focus is on a woman is if it is on them twerking. This is known as 'The Male Gaze' which tries to keep madly male audiences captivated by showing them what they want to see. These sexual references and objectifying of women is not suitable for children, and yet the video was still nominated for a kids choice award.



The placement of characters is also notable and could be a representation of the hierarchy of Bruno Mars' world. In one scene, Bruno is standing in the centre, while his male friends kneel around him. The use of him being higher up than the over males creates a sense of supremacy, Mars clearly thinks he is king while his friends kneel before him, like subjects. Similarly in this scene, women are shown standing behind the males, again scantily clad but seemingly enjoying themselves. This creates a sense that the females are background characters, not a part of the storyline but just there to watch the males and make the scene more interesting. Again. this links to the male gaze, in which the video is showing what the male audience would want to see. Another notable thing is the separation of the groups into males and females, you never see the two groups interact unless they are engaging in a sexual activity. This creates the idea that the women are only there for the men's pleasure, presenting them not as people but rather objects for use.


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