Billie Jean Case study

1) What was the budget for Billie Jean? How did this compare with later Michael Jackson videos?
The budget for "Billie Jean" was 300,000 dollars

2) Why was the video rejected by MTV?

Billie Jean was rejected by MTV as it was argued that it didn't suit their demographic of middle-class America.

3) Applying Goodwin's theory of music video, how does Billie Jean reflect the genre characteristics of the pop music video?

Goodwins's Genre theory suggested that media products appeal to audiences through repetition and difference. Billie Jean accomplishes the repetition element of this through the following conventions: lip-syncing, dance routine. performance, expensive/high fashion wardrobe and lyrics linking to the video.

4) How do the visuals reflect the lyrics in Billie Jean?

Even though there isn't a direct reference, Billie Jean is referenced throughout the song, as a character who is claiming that MJ got her pregnant. A clear reference between visuals and lyrics is when MJ says that the babies "eyes were like mine" and then there is a freeze frame around his eyes. Then there are also other minor things like Michael Jackson dancing and clapping with rhythm and on the beat.

5) Why does the video feature fewer close-up shots than in most pop videos?

This may have been done in order to focus more on Michael Jackson's innovative and unique dance moves, which only became even more iconic at the famous Motown concert in 1983.

6) What intertextual references can be found in the video?

An intertextual reference in the video is the director paying homage to film noir as there is a clear use of black and white/shadows in the beginning, as well as the main character being a detective, a common role in these types of films. Another minor reference in the tiger skin, which is a clear link to the "Thriller" album cover when MJ poses with a baby tiger

7) How does the video use the notion of looking like a recurring motif?

At first, the detective is looking at MJ, almost trying to investigate him. We then see multiple Polaroid cameras looking at MJ, whereby he was not captured on the images, giving this mystical aura about him. Further, in the video MJ is frozen in frames within frames, allowing us to look at him for an extended period of time, and in the latter stages of the video, we see the detective become the voyeur. 

8) What representations can be found in the video?

Michael Jackson is represented as slick, smooth and arguably as if he is the Messiah, as some of his other videos and behaviour have provided evidence towards. This is displayed where he turns the homeless old man into a rich playboy, it is here that we see MJ perhaps being arrogant, being that he can turn anyone into a superstar. It was as if he believed that everything he touched turned to gold.     

Close-textual analysis of the music video

1) How is mise-en-scene used to create intertextuality - a reference to other media products or genres? E.g. colour/black and white; light/lighting.

The use of lighting, in the beginning, uses chiaroscuro, which is an intertextual reference to film noir which utilized this lighting theme quite often to create a mysterious and perhaps tense atmosphere. There is a further reference to film noir where the main character, who is white, is a detective, trying to find a culprit. Also, the fact that the setting is pre-built is a subtle reference to musicals and how the characters may break out into song and dance, like how MJ does in this music video. It can also be argued that this references to Bollywood movies as well. 

2) How does the video use narrative theory of equilibrium?

The video starts with Michael Jackson walking through the street, and the detective looking for him. The disequilibrium is when the detective does not manage to capture MJ on the Polaroid camera. The new equilibrium of the video could be the detective getting caught by the police and going to jail.

3) How are characters used to create the narrative through binary opposition?

The ethnicities of the main characters are used to create narrative due to the fact that the detective is white and MJ is black, this creates narrative as in other genres, like film noir, the white person would be the protagonist, and the black person, who would be the antagonist. This creates interest and appeals in the video as the director us doing something different with the genre, in that we are made to like MJ, who is thought to be the antagonist, and dislike the detective, who would typically be the protagonist.

4) What is the significance of the freeze-frames and split-screen visual effects?

I think that the freeze frames were used to highlight the dance and improvisation skills of MJ. Doing this helps build him as a performer and an icon in the long run. Also, the effect of the freeze on the eyes was to emphasise the fact that a fan was trying to say that he was the father of her child.

5) What meanings could the recurring motif of 'pictures-within-pictures' create for the audience?

This can be to give the idea that MJ is being watched by the detective, as well as the viewers, almost as if we are invading his privacy, which he has said before has been an issue as he has even made songs about the topic.

6) Does the video reinforce or subvert theories of race and ethnicity - such as Gilroy's diaspora or Hall's black characterisations in American media?

This music video arguably reinforces race theories, one of which being black characterisations as MJ can be seen as the "Entertainer" in this video. This is due to the fact that he is lip syncing and dancing throughout. 

7) Does this video reflect Steve Neale's genre theory of 'repetition and difference'? Does it reflect other music videos or does it innovate?

This video does reflect the idea of repetition and difference, this is due to the fact that throughout the video we see MJ singing and dancing, clearly showing a performance, which is normal for a music video of this genre. The difference element perhaps comes through the setting of the music video, as it is sound stage, which is normally used in live performed musicals, which is clear intertextuality.

8) Analyse the video using postmodern theory (e.g. Baudrillard's hyper-reality; Strinati's five definitions of postmodernism). How does the 'picture-in-picture' recurring motif create a postmodern reading?

The picture within a picture motif creates postmodern reading for the viewers due to the fact that supports the idea of having a private detective, which is what we can assume the person following MJ is, therefore the pictures within pictures motif could represent him taking pictures. It can be argued that this declines the idea of letting the police and government handle the whole love child situation and take matters into your own hands.