Riptide

Riptide by Vance Joy

Product Context

1. Vance Joy is an Australian indie folk-pop artist signed to Atlantic Records, a Warner subsidiary.

2. Riptide was his first US single, released from the EP God Loves You When You’re Dancing, and became a platinum-selling hit.

3. The music video, directed by Dimitri Basil and Laura Gorun, features a low-budget, artistic style and has amassed nearly 100 million YouTube views.

4. Compared to later videos like Georgia, Riptide reflects a minimalist approach, emphasizing creativity over high-budget production.

5. The video acts as both an artistic statement and a marketing tool, establishing Vance Joy’s identity and value to the audience.

Media Language

1. Montage Editing: Juxtaposes seemingly unrelated images, encouraging audience interpretation (e.g., contrasting head turns with dollar bills).

2. Subversion of Conventions: Uses literal lyrical interpretations, cinematic references (e.g., horror iconography), and surrealist influences, breaking conventional music video norms.

3. Intertextuality: Incorporates elements from genres like Westerns, thrillers, and horror, with nods to avant-garde cinema, enhancing artistic depth.

4. Symbolism: Objects like dollar bills and visuals like the American flag serve as metaphors, offering polysemic readings (e.g., money as greed or envy).

5. Artistic Intent: Blends narrative ambiguity and avant-garde techniques to create a unique indie aesthetic, challenging mainstream expectations.

Representation

1. Women: Depicted in conflicting ways, ranging from sexualized (disembodied limbs) to subverted beauty norms (disheveled lip-syncing woman).

2. Violence: Includes unsettling imagery like stabbing, gun threats, and self-harm gestures, prompting discussions about trivializing versus critiquing violence.

3. Patriarchal Viewpoints: Raises questions about whether women’s objectification in the video is ironic or reinforces societal norms.

4. Complex Depictions: Blends glamorous and distressing portrayals of femininity, creating ambiguity in gender representations.

5. Audience Response: Encourages viewers to critique or reflect on traditional gender roles and representations of violence in media.

Contexts

1. Economic: The low-budget aesthetic contrasts with Vance Joy’s later videos, reflecting early-career limitations and indie genre conventions.

2. Social and Cultural: References to surrealism (e.g., Un Chien Andalou) highlight how media forms influence the representation of gender and violence.

3. Artistic Marketing: The video’s style positions Vance Joy as a unique indie artist, appealing to fans of creative and unconventional visuals.

4. Cinematic Influences: Borrowed elements from film genres lend the video an artistic value that transcends standard music video formats.

5. Indie Aesthetic: Challenges the spectacle-driven mainstream by embracing narrative ambiguity, artistic references, and minimalism.

Theoretical Perspectives

1. Semiotics (Barthes): Symbols like green dollar bills and disjointed imagery invite diverse interpretations, achieving the status of "myth" through naturalization.

2. Genre Theory (Neale): Balances repetition (indie conventions) with variation (narrative subversion) to distinguish itself within the music industry.

3. Identity (Gauntlett): Encourages a "pick and mix" response, inviting audiences to interpret and connect with the diverse, fragmented representations.

4. Feminism (bell hooks): Challenges viewers to assess whether the video critiques or perpetuates patriarchal oppression and gender norms.

5. Avant-Garde Influence: Draws on surrealist film techniques, inviting viewers to question traditional storytelling and representation in music videos.