The appearance of the music video has become a major way of promoting and distributing music in modern society. We can hear the song and see the visual creativity and imagination while watching the music video. In other words, the song itself and the video complement each other. The book Music/video histories, aesthetics, media (2017, P5) indicated that ‘The many affordances of the music video have created a state where some listeners now listen to music by looking at it. Adding this layer has allowed artists to add new nuance, new depth, new ways to convey their messages.’ 

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This means that the audience can use the scenes shown in the music video to help them understand the song. The song <Flammable and Explosive> sung by Li Chen is a good example of using video to construct new depth to convey the singer’s messages. In my opinion, the lyrics express the conflict and contradiction that society places on women’s representation. If we match the song itself with the images it presents in the video, then Li Chen has certainly used new ways to convey the message she wants. For instance, the video of the song used two scenes only, and the scene is constantly changing with the lyrics. The first scene is in a painting studio, the video starts in the painting studio, at first the colours are black and white, and in the next shot switches to normal colour. If we related the meaning of the lyrics and the colour that appear in the scene, it can be seen as a reaction against existing convention and rules for women. Another scene is a very empty place, this scene has two strongly contrasting colours – red and blue, occupying the whole screen, while Li Chen stands in the middle of the two colours, which can be interpreted as a person cut by contradictions. 

Bibliography

Arnold, G. & Cookney, D. & Fairclough, K. & Goddard, M. (2017). Music/video histories, aesthetics, media: Introduction: The Persistence of the Music Video Form from MTV to Twenty-First-Century Social Media. New York : Bloomsbury Academic

Yuqian Hu (33648024)

First Published on 23/11/2022