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| Who's the real Britney Spears?? Which one is sending more of a message? |
I am interested in students’ ideas and opinions concerning pop culture and music videos. There are so many different mediums that are representing in music: the artist is conveying one message through their personal image and appearance, their song lyrics are giving another message to listeners, and then a music video is often times a completely different message than that which is conveyed in the lyrics. I think it would be interesting to make students take a sheet of paper and instruct them to draw two vertical lines on the sheet (so that there are three columns). To begin, I would tell them very briefly about a music video that I am going to show them (only giving them the name of the artist/band and the name of the song). It might even be interesting to give them a sheet with the lyrics printed out so they can see it just as text. Then, based on just that information, I want the students to make assumptions about what they think the video will show/be about. If some of them have already seen the video, I will instruct them to recall what they can about it from memory. These assumptions will be made in the far left-hand column. Then, I will show them the music video, telling them to note and write down any themes they see or think are significant and anything that strikes them as important. These observations will go in the middle column. Finally, we will have a discussion about everyone’s beginning assumptions in comparison to what they noticed while watching the music video. After we have an opportunity to discuss as a group the mixed messages being sent (and what they mean in terms of discourse), I will have the students watch the video one more time. These observations will go in the far right corner and will hopefully help them think about the video more critically and what the images, lyrics, and artist they are seeing are trying to convey or sell to them. As an example, Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time” would be an excellent example of an artist, song, and music video that are all sending different messages.
Here is the link to "Hit me Baby One More Time"
A good idea, Leigh. I remember when that original CD cover was released, when I was in high school, and it is worthwhile to wonder how Britney got from there to here.
ReplyDeleteAlong those lines, you could also work in a time element to this activity by looking at videos and images from her first album and then analyzing a later one. That could invite questions about why she changed and how.
Just a thought. I like this one.