Riptide - Deep Dive
- Mastering Media
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Point The Riptide music video subverts the traditional conventions of the indie folk-pop genre by rejecting a coherent narrative and standard performance-based footage. Evidence Unlike mainstream videos that feature the band playing instruments, Riptide offers a wide variety of seemingly disparate elements, such as a girl going missing in a graveyard or shots of a swinging light. Theory This reflects Steve Neale’s genre theory, which suggests that while genres rely on repetition, they are also marked by "difference, variation, and change". Analysis By avoiding the "spectacle" and high-budget special effects typical of later Vance Joy videos like Georgia, the producers confer a sense of uniqueness and intrigue upon the artist's brand. Cultural Context As Vance Joy’s first single released in the USA, this stylistic "rebellion" helped establish him as an artistic, indie-focused alternative to polished mainstream pop stars.
Point The video utilizes overt montage editing to invite the audience to actively construct their own meanings from colliding images. Evidence A sequence features a man and woman turning their heads to look off-screen, followed immediately by a hard jump cut to a pile of dollar bills. Theory This is a direct application of Eisenstein’s concept of "intellectual montage," where new ideas emerge from the collision of seemingly unrelated shots. Analysis These juxtapositions create polysemy, allowing the audience to interpret whether the "dollar bills" represent success, envy, or the idea of "selling out" in the music industry. Cultural Context By moving away from a linear story, the video mirrors the postmodern tendency to prioritize style and fragmented imagery over traditional, straightforward messaging.
Point Through a literal and graphical interpretation of lyrics, the video explores semiotic "myths" and visual metaphors. Evidence The lyric "all my friends are turning green" is accompanied by a shot of money, explicitly linking the color green to both wealth and envy. Theory According to Roland Barthes, these constructed meanings (the signifier of green money) become "naturalized" into a myth through social convention. Analysis This overt interpretation of lyrics—like showing a swinging light for the "dark"—subverts the usual convention of artistic "subtlety" by being so literal it feels uncanny or dream-like. Cultural Context This approach addresses common social anxieties about the corrupting nature of money and the pressure to maintain "success" in a capitalist society.
Point The representation of women in the video is highly complex, oscillating between patriarchal objectification and a subversion of beauty standards. Evidence The video features "disembodied" parts of women—such as bare feet running or hands being dragged—alongside a singer who becomes increasingly dishevelled with smudged makeup as she "sings the words wrong". Theory This relates to bell hooks’ feminist theory, questioning whether these images of women being "watched" reinforce sexist oppression or ironically critique it. Analysis The transition of the lip-syncing woman from "immaculate" to "vacant" and dishevelled challenges social norms of beauty and the pressure for female performers to remain "glamorous". Cultural Context These contradictory messages reflect the post-#MeToo tension in media, where audiences are invited to deconstruct the "male gaze" and the historical objectification of women.
Point Riptide functions as an artistic short film by making significant intertextual references to cinema history, specifically surrealism and horror. Evidence The video uses cinematic credits graphically similar to a "billing block" and references the infamous eye-cutting scene from Buñuel’s Un Chien Andalou with a hand-stabbing sequence. Theory This use of intertextuality offers an "implied artistic value" that transcends the standard music video form, positioning the product as high-brow art. Analysis Borrowing horror iconography—such as females being dragged off-screen by "unseen forces"—adds a layer of thriller-genre suspense to what is otherwise a standard indie pop song. Cultural Context By aligning a debut single with surrealist masterpieces, the producers frame Vance Joy as a "credible" and "intellectual" artist for a media-literate audience.
Point The video’s "pick and mix" style empowers the audience to construct their own identity and response to the artist's message. Evidence The video rejects a singular message, instead presenting a variety of stimuli ranging from images of violence (stabbing, guns) to lighthearted cultural references. Theory David Gauntlett’s theory of identity suggests that modern audiences are not passive; they use media texts as resources to form their own interpretations. Analysis Because the narrative is not clearly defined, the viewer becomes an active participant in the "puzzle" of the video, fostering a deeper connection to the artist. Cultural Context This fragmented, high-speed delivery of information is designed for a digital-native audience accustomed to processing large amounts of visual data on platforms like YouTube.
Production Context: Who is the artist, and which major record label is his indie-folk brand signed to?
Direction: Who are the two directors of the music video, and approximately how many views has it gained on YouTube?
Montage Theory: What is the name of Eisenstein’s concept used when two disparate images (like dollar bills and turning heads) collide to create a new meaning?
Genre Conventions: How does the video subvert the usual conventions of a music video in terms of how the lyrics are shown on screen?
Cinematic Branding: What specific element from film posters or trailers does the opening shot of the video mimic?
Surrealist Reference: The hand-stabbing scene is an intertextual reference to which 1929 surrealist film by Luis Buñuel?
Representation: How does the appearance of the lip-syncing woman change as the video progresses, and what does this suggest about social norms of beauty?
Audience Reception: According to David Gauntlett, why is the video's "disjointed" style particularly relevant to how modern audiences construct their identities?
Billing Block: The "credit block" of text found at the bottom of film posters, which Riptide uses to look like a movie.
Disparate Elements: Different, unrelated things (images or shots) placed together.
Indie Folk-Pop: The musical genre of Vance Joy, typically associated with "low-fi" and acoustic instruments.
Intellectual Montage: A technique where the editing of two unrelated shots creates a new, complex idea in the viewer's mind.
Intertextuality: When a media product refers to or "borrows" from another well-known text (like a famous film).
Lip-Synch: When a performer moves their lips in time with a pre-recorded song.
Myth (Barthes): A cultural idea that has become so common it feels "natural," like "green" meaning "envy".
Polysemy: The capacity for a single sign or image to have multiple different meanings.
Scopophilia: The sexual pleasure gained from looking at others (the "male gaze").
Signifier / Signified: The physical form of a sign (the word/image) and the mental concept it represents.
Surrealism: An artistic movement that uses dream-like logic and bizarre, irrational imagery.
Un Chien Andalou: A famous 1929 surrealist film referenced in the video's more violent scenes.
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