Girls, Calvin Harris

Name of music video: The Girls

Artist: Calvin Harris

Release Date: June 4th 2007

The imagery used within "The Girls" suggests the electopop/post-disco genre. The use of bright neon colours used for the women's costumes and hair conforms to the stereotypical view that audiences have about electronica music. However, this stereotype is contradicted by what the artist is wearing as he is wearing all white and therefore he stands out against all the women, suggesting that he is the most important person there and the women are just objects. The location is also completely white, suggesting that it could be his mind rather than a solid place or room; it could also be his mind because the women are moving robotically or like dolls, giving the impression that they are being control by something, possibly the artists thought processes. Due to the fact that it is a single artist rather than a band, the camera is focused mainly on the artist, with a mixture of close up shots and medium long shots; this sells the artist to the audience. Compared with the women who are sexualised, as the close-ups and extreme close ups focus less on their faces and more on other areas, such as their legs, implying again that the women are just objects to be looked at. The use of these camera shots creates a voyeuristic feel, because it is as though people are taking a closer look at the women, again strengthening the idea that women are just objects.

The lyrics and visuals also link together, as the song is "The Girls" which talks about girls as a group rather than individual people, suggesting that all girls are the same rather than being unique. "I get all the girls, I get all the girls" also reaffirms this theory, as he talks about them like they are conquests, just something to be won over, again this links with the suggestion that they could be dolls/thoughts controlled by him. It could also suggest that the artist represents "men" as a whole and is showing how the male population still have dominance over women, and is, perhaps, suggesting that women are like dolls or robots that will easily follow what a man says or thinks; this could link to the film "The Stepford Wives" in which the wives are replaced with robots in order to do the husband's will. At 1:48 of the video, the artist is standing in front of a line of women singing "I get all the girls, I get all the girls" this could suggest dominance over the women and could show that he is more important than them, or give the impression that the women will just follow him in an orderly queue (again similar to robots) implying that he is their leader or master. As well as the lyrics and visuals supporting each other, the music and visuals also link together. Throughout the video the female dancers movements are in time with the music and when the stamp their feet or thrust their hips it's exactly on beat, this suggests again the robotic feel to the women which also supports the genre (electronica) as it does have an electro feel which implies electronics/electrical linking to robots.

The location suggests, again, that it is taking place in the artist's mind rather than being a real location, which suggests a surreal feel because, if taking place in his mind, it will be his thoughts and therefore may not make sense to other people. However, the thoughts are coherent as there is some sense to them, and the women obviously link to the song. The robotic/doll feel to the women could suggest a threatening feel because they appear to be controlled by the artist’s thoughts, which are said aloud through his lyrics, and therefore aren't independent and have no moral values. However, as the women aren't being controlled by society and as the women could be perceived as figments of his imagination they aren't real and therefore it gives the impression that it isn't representing realistic women. In another one Calvin Harris's music video "I'm not Alone" there are also women in submissive roles; again they have the feel of robots which links to the techno feel. This has a similar feel to "The Girls" as the women in this video are also in submissive roles, which suggests that he may enjoy being a dominant figure.

By sexualising women, this could create a divide between men and women, as the female audience may find the way in which the women are sexualised, and made to be just objects to look at, offensive. The male audience may enjoy this more, however, they may also find this offensive because they may believe that women are people and shouldn't be used just to look at. Although with this music video, because of the lack of solid location and the way the women look (neon wigs, and clothes) the objectification of women isn't taken as offensively or seriously, perhaps because the women aren't dressed as, and therefore don't look like, women in real society. Also, the location isn't a set place, and therefore can't be true representation of society because it is set in a surreal location.

Sony BMG, a major global music company based in New York, has had local and international superstars, such as Franz Ferdinand and Calvin Harris. It appears to be an appropriate outlet for bands such as these, because of their popular status within the music industry, and their fairly mainstream types of music; they’re not extremely alternative. EMI is a major British music company based in London. Being part of two major record labels could potentially have huge influence on what the artists, such as Calvin Harris, could release. As there is such a wide audience, they have to create music and videos that could be, potentially, viewed across the globe, in order to do this they have to make music that wouldn’t offend the majority of the world’s population, and therefore there would be restrictions on what artists, such as Harris, could output.

New technologies, such as faster download speed, have strengthened the marketing of the band. Sites such as http://www.youtube.com/ make music available to listen at your own leisure. This then could broaden the fan base, and people can communicate through email and other message boards and send the link to people all over the world. The use of http://www.google.com/ has also enabled people to search for their favourite artists and then to view information on http://www.wikipedia.org/ about their favourite artist. Due to fan bases people have been able to view what other fans enjoy from artists, such as Harris, for instance on ww.fanpop.com/spots/calvin-harris , the fans have chosen their favourite single, “the fans pick: Acceptable in the 80s.” By doing this, anyone who doesn’t know the artist can see that Calvin Harris fans have chosen “acceptable in the 80s” and could wonder what is good about the song and then be able to check it out on music sites, such as http://www.youtube.com/. This way of marketing broadens the audience, and lets the audience make a choice about what they like about the artists and what they don’t, and this could then assist the artist/record label to, possibly, create music that is listened by an even wider audience, because it is to the majorities taste.