Postmodernism within my music video

In almost every music video there will be examples of bricolage and hybridity; a mixture of
influences from pre-existing texts and other genres. For example, Andy Blacks We Dont Have To
Dance is a bricolage of multiple genres, meaning that the music appeals to a wider audience. Charli
XCXs Doing It features intertextual references to Thelma and Louise, which is an example of
hybridity as this is what the whole basis of the video is.

In my music video, Im using typical shots and locations from a variety of genres and so it is a
bricolage video; meaning that it should appeal to a large audience. Dick Hebdige suggested that
youth subculture empties meaning behind symbols in order to shock people, for example the old
punk subculture used to wear swastikas, not because they agreed with the Nazis, but to provide a
sense of shock and fear to those who saw them and stand out from everyone else. The costumes of
my video also fits into Hebdiges theory on youth subcultures changing the meaning behind clothing,
thus making it empty of its original meaning; as whilst tight dresses are associated with parties, I
have shown a model in a tight dress by herself and smoking, changing the connotations to being
lonely and struggling with substance abuse. This then contradicts with the pre-existing associations
with tight, short dresses and makes more of a statement behind the imagery in the video as it
conflicts with the audiences previous expectations of a girl in a short dress. However, in some ways
it still fits into the stereotypes of girls in short, tight dresses as they can be associated with parties
and thus associated with drugs and drinking.

As well as this, I have used a disjointed narrative structure, meaning that the audience is unaware of
whether or not there will be a happy ending but also that the characters arent fully relatable; due
to how melodramatic they are. This then leads to a sense of alienation for the audience and makes
them question themselves or seek enlightenment in being able to relate to a character. On the other
hand, as I have used multiple characters, there is a higher chance of the audience being able to
relate to one of the characters, as they all have different storylines and perspectives. A postmodern
audience is assumed to use media to be able to relate to something or someone (Uses and
Gratifications theory), which means that the superficiality of the video may make them
uncomfortable as they are alienated but also that they may continue to watch it over and over again
in order to try and find a deeper meaning as we are a more active audience.