PITBULL, FT.

KE$HA, “TIMBER”MUSIC VIDEO DECONSTRUCTION

CONTEXTPITBULL, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ARMANDO CHRISTIAN PÉREZ, IS AN AMERICAN RAPPER WHO HAS HAD SEVERAL NUMBER 1’S WORLDWIDE. IN 2013 HE COLLABORATED WITH AMERICAN SINGER-SONGWRITER, KE$HA (KESHA ROSE SEBERT) TO CREATE THE HIT, “TIMBER”.

LIKE MOST DANCE-POP GENRE SONGS, THERE IS LITTLE IN THE WAY OF A STORYLINE OR NARRATIVE (SO IN THAT RESPECT IT STICKS TRUE TO IT’S GENRE CHARACTERISTICS), HOWEVER THE UNDERLYING MEANING THROUGHOUT THE LYRICS IS SUGGESTING THAT BEFORE YOU GO TO SLEEP, YOU SHOULD PARTY HARD – SIMILAR TO MOST OTHER SONGS OF THE TYPE. DESPITE THIS THOUGH, THERE IS NO NARRATIVE WITHIN THE MUSIC VIDEO (AGAIN SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU’D EXPECT FROM A DANCE-POP MUSIC VIDEO, THUS MEANING IT FOLLOWS GENRE CONVENTIONS.

GOODWIN’S THEORY

“TIMBER” FOLLOWS SOME OF GOODWIN’S THEORY IN IT’S MUSIC VIDEO, HOWEVER, IT LINKS MAINLY TO THE VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF WOMEN SECTION OF THE THEORY AS THIS IS WHAT THE AUDIENCE WOULD EXPECT FROM A DANCE-POP MUSIC VIDEO (UNLIKE LAURA BELL BUNDY’S, “GIDDY ON UP” WHICH USED THE VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF THE ARTIST AS A SEPARATE WAY TO ATTRACT A NEW AUDIENCE TO THE COUNTRY & WESTERN GENRE, WHEREAS IN DANCE-POP VIDEOS THE AUDIENCE ALREADY EXPECT IT, AS THEY’RE MORE LIKELY TO BE FORMED OF YOUNGER PEOPLE).

GOODWIN’S THEORYTHIS VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT IS SHOWN THROUGH THE VIDEO WHERE THE MAJORITY OF CAMERA SHOTS INVOLVE A FEMALE IN

CLOTHES THAT REVEAL HER SKIN, LEGS AND CHEST AREA. AGAIN, THIS IS COMMON FOR THE GENRE OF MUSIC, AND IS WHAT THE

TARGET AUDIENCE - PRIMARILY YOUNGER PEOPLE BOTH MALE AND FEMALE – WOULD EXPECT (WHERE THE MALES WOULD FIND THE

FEMALES ATTRACTIVE, THE FEMALES WOULD ASPIRE TO HAVE THE PHYSIQUE OF THE DANCERS IN THE VIDEO).

THIS IN TURN PROMOTES THE SONG ITSELF AS THE TARGET AUDIENCE WOULD ASSOCIATE THE SONG WITH THE VIDEO (AND

THE FEMALES INVOLVED IN IT).

FURTHERMORE, PITBULL HIMSELF GETS ‘UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL’ ON HIS OWN WITH A YOUNG FEMALE DURING SOME SHOTS IN THE VIDEO, WHICH WOULD SHOW THE AUDIENCE SOMETHING THEY’RE

USED TO AND GIVE THEM SOMETHING THEY CAN RELATE TO.

RECORD LABELTHIS LINKS TO THE RECORD LABEL WANTING TO SHOW OFF KE$HA AND HER PHYSIQUE, THUS HELPING PROMOTE HER AS AN ARTIST (AS THIS APPEALS TO HER TARGET AUDIENCE).

YOU COULD ALSO ARGUE THAT THIS ALSO SHOWS OFF PITBULL IN THE SENSE THAT HE CAN STILL ‘PULL’ FEMALES, AND CREATE NO. 1 WORLDWIDE HITS, DESPITE THE FACT HE’S IN HIS EARLY THIRTIES – CONSIDERING THE MAJORITY OF OTHER DANCE-POP ARTISTS ARE USUALLY YOUNGER THAN THIS.

THE SOMEWHAT ‘SKIMPY’ CLOTHING IS ALSO SEEN AS A COMMON AND ACCEPTABLE THING TO WEAR IN MODERN DAY SOCIETY, AND IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GENRE A LOT; AS WELL AS GIVING THE TARGET AUDIENCE SOMETHING ELSE THEY CAN RELATE TO.

ANALYSIS

MISE-EN-SCENEAS YOU’D EXPECT FROM ANY PERFORMANCE

BASED MUSIC VIDEO, THE ARTISTS ARE CLEARLY SEEN AT ALL TIMES. THIS IS DOWN TO THE

LIGHTING, WHICH IS PRIMARILY LIGHT WHEN THE ARTISTS ARE ON SCREEN (APART FROM THE

PARTY SCENES WITH ALL THE BACKING DANCERS WHICH IS USUAL FOR A DANCE-POP MUSIC

VIDEO).

THE COSTUMES, AS FITTING WITH GOODWIN’S THEORY, REVEAL THE FEMALES IN THE VIDEO A

LOT, WITH SHORT SKIRTS THAT SHOW THEIR LEGS. FURTHERMORE, PITBULL’S CLOTHING IS

RATHER BRIGHT AND ‘OUT THERE’ AGAIN ENFORCING THAT HE IS STILL VERY MUCH A

POPULAR ARTIST.

MISE-EN-SCENETHE PROPS AND LOCATION USED ALL LINK WITH THE REPEATING TUNE ALL THE WAY THROUGH (THAT THE SONG OPENS WITH)

WHICH HAS A SLIGHT COUNTRY & WESTERN TWANG TO IT. THIS COULD BE SEEN AS UNUSUAL

WITHIN THE DANCE-POP GENRE BUT IT DOES GIVE THE SONG A

UNIQUE FEEL, WHICH APPEALS TO THEIR FANS.

EDITINGTHE EDITING, AS PER WITH MOST DANCE-POP MUSIC VIDEOS, MATCHES THE

MUSIC WITHIN THE SONG (LINKING TO GOODWIN’S THEORY), WHICH IS FAST

PACED AND MATCHES THE UPBEAT TEMPO OF THE

SONG.

PRODUCTION VALUESDUE TO THE SHEER AMOUNT OF EXTRAS AND THE VARYING EXOTIC LOCATIONS (SUCH AS THE ISLAND PITBULL IS SINGING ON), IT’S LIKELY THAT THIS MUSIC VIDEO HAD HIGH PRODUCTION VALUES – PARTICULARLY A LARGE BUDGET.

THIS CAN BE BACKED UP BY THE WIDE SHOT OF PITBULL AND A FEMALE DANCER ON THE ISLAND TOGETHER, AS IT’S CLEAR THAT THE SHOT HAS BEEN TAKEN ON A BOAT OUT AT SEA (MEANING THEY WOULD HAVE HAD TO HIRE A BOAT, PROFESSIONAL STEADY TRIPOD ETC.).

INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCESOMETHING WHICH HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE OF A NORMALITY WITHIN THE DANCE-POP GENRE (WHICH IS SOMETHING COMMON DURING RAP VERSES IN SONGS) IS INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCE TO OTHER SONGS, MUSIC VIDEOS OR ARTISTS. IN “TIMBER”, PITBULL MAKES A CLEAR REFERENCE TO MILEY CYRUS AND HER VIDEO, “WE CAN’T STOP” IN THE LYRIC, ‘I HAVE 'EM LIKE MILEY CYRUS, CLOTHES OFFTWERKING IN THEIR BRAS AND THONGS, TIMBER’.

“WE CAN’T STOP” IS FAMOUS AROUND THE WORLD BECAUSE MILEY IN THE VIDEO IS WEARING JUST A BRA AND THONG, DOING A NEW DANCE MOVE KNOWN AS ‘TWERKING’, WHICH PITBULL SPEAKS OF IN “TIMBER”. BECAUSE SO MANY DANCE-POP/RAP SONGS ARE INCLUDING THESE INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES NOW, THE AUDIENCE SOMEWHAT EXPECTS THERE TO BE ONE.