Mark Ronson is part of the electronic funk genre of music and has gone through many rebrandings in his career. The particular promo package I am analysing is while Ronson is going through a rebranding, on an album on which he collaborated with the group The Business Intl. One single from his album 'Record Collection' is 'Bang, Bang, Bang'.
- Using Dyer's theory of how star image is created, we can see how Mark Ronson has been presented. The video begins with an interview between Ronson and a Japanese presenter which presents Ronson undoubtedly as the star in this video, as he seems to be the focus of the interview.
- However, this point is challenged as we get into the video as we see less of Ronson and more of the lead singer, therefore placing Ronson more in the background. This could link to Dyer's idea of the presence/absence paradox, in which case Ronson is fairly absent during this video.
- In the beginning of the video, Ronson wears a white suit, which immediately has connotations of purity and angels, therefore presenting Ronson as an otherworldly being who may possess superhuman talents. This also contributes to the star image being incoherent, as we want to find out what makes this man so special.
- The visual style stands out as one that is futuristic, which suits the genre of the song correctly. This could also suggest that the video is set in the future.
- Ronson is presented as both present and absent in the clip as we see breaking of the
fourth wall in some shots, giving a first person mode of address. However, in
other shots we see him not breaking the fourth wall and therefore being absent.
- When the music starts, Ronson has changed into a golden costume which again connotes worth and value, presenting Ronson as someone who possesses skills of great importance. Also the golden suit makes him stand out against the other performers in the video, as they all wear red and black. This furthers positions Ronson higher under Dyer's theory of star image.
- Under Goodwin's theory, this style of video is conventional of the song genre. In this particular case the genre is electronic music, which means the visual effects and futuristic nature of the video support the genre it is.
- However, while the video seems to be futuristic, it still has some references to 70's American culture in the way that Ronson is dressed. The constructs a particular meta-narrative around Ronson that he aprreciates all genres of music and merges different styles to create his own.
- Overall, the relationship between lyrics and visuals is disjunctive, however at some points it is illustrative. For example when the lyrics go 'the clock is ticking forward', we see a shot of a clock ticking.
Printwork
well done Ben- deadline met, work of high standard. More detailed comments to follow
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