GCSE Media - BlackPink’s How You Like That - Audience

Aimed at AQA GCSE Media Studies students

[heartie]

I’m a blackpink fan and a previous A level media student that achieved A* here are some good points that were not in mrs fishers video. Good luck all

Y’all can also say it targets a male audience due to voyeurism with the costumes, for example Jennie (a member) wears tight shorts and the dance move in the chorus emphasises hip movements which brings more attention to her revealing outfit. This may attract a male audience through male gaze (add theory Laura mulvey, bell hooks, van zoonen, etc. Male audiences are further attracted as the blackpink members are represented in hyper feminine nature ( colour pink is girly and there is many pink distrusted through lighting, Lisa’s princess dress, Lisa’s pink wig, etc) (they pose and dance quite femininely and seductively which captures male attention).

The music video has symbolism of nature elements, for example earth, fire, water, etc. this is shown through the fire set, ice age set, tropical desert set, etc. this may attract people that share an interest in the environment, but through a fantasised manner. Include context that blackpink has participated in a global warming campaign to support this statement.

They attract pre existing K-pop fans, the music video offer conventional mainstream K-pop mv elements such as coloured hair in costume, experimental outfits, individual sets per member which is common in high budget K-pop videos, wide shots of group choreography, etc.

Intertextual references may attract audiences which can recognise the references. An example is in one of the first sets where the member Jennie is laying by a cold ice set with an ice queen outfit. This references frozen and symbolises the character Elsa, further indicated through Jennies use of blonde streaks even though her hair is naturally black. This will engage a Disney fan base and perhaps young children) and teenagers that grew up watching the frozen movie). There is also a statue which is repeatedly shown many times throughout the video, this intertextually references the Greek statue head in one of blackpink most iconic music videos called “kill this love”, this shows how a storyline is continuing throughout each comeback (entices pre existing audience to come back and watch the hylt music video). The member Jennie is a brand ambassador for Chanel, in the second chorus she wears a white Chanel tank top (references her significance and status in this designer brand) fans of chanel and Jennie will know this and realise the reference to her position in Chanel (this could also be marketing for Chanel add relevant theories regarding profit if needed).

At the dance break near the final part of the video all members wear modernised hanbok (traditional Korean dresses), this engages an audience of older demographic as hanboks are traditional and were more commonly worn back in the olden days, however blackpink has stylised and modernised these Hanbok dresses which may attract younger and fashion-savvy audiences. It should also be noted that Hanbok dresses are conventionally long and cover the knees, however blackpink has altered the hanbok skirts to be short which relates to male gaze (add theory) this attracts male audiences through voyeurism.

Blackpink are known for high budget music videos every comeback, their production quality is insanely high. This may engage an audience of video directors looking for inspiration. Talk about camera angles used, filters, experimental beautiful sets, lighting. Blackpink are very successful and their music videos garner billions of views so it is no surprise that directors would watch their music videos for inspiration and tips. For context talk about how blackpink were nominated for music video of the year awards in Korean award shows.

The video further entices female audiences through women empowerment. This is shown through the dance break where the girls and other female backup dancers are in unity and embracing themselves through dance and powerful choreography, they are all in specific formations underlining how each girl is important in creating this pleasantly looking dance routine outcome, and all play a significant role in perfecting the choreography (you can talk about the domino effect in the dance break to support that point). This theme of women empowerment engaging female audiences is also revealed through the member Lisa sitting on a throne, this connotes that she is powerful, a leader, superior, which goes against negative female stereotypes and shows her in a dominant conventionally masculine way. This may empower women and make women look up to blackpink as they break gender norms.

Blackpink attracts a demographic that is attracted to anti realist and supernatural media texts. To support this talk about jennies ice set intertextually referencing frozen and Elsa In particular (talk about set lighting and costume as well as the cold icy color palette distributed throughout the set and costume). They further attract this audience through the flying floating umbrellas in jennies pre chorus scene (element of supernatural and potentially referencing Mary poppins). The characters each member represents through their costume may also be important to back up this demographic type (talk about Jisoo’s red fallen angel costume, jennies ice queen look, Rose’s ghost-like look, Lisa’s princess look, and all members wear black dresses with intense makeup making them look like witches / mages. These are not typical outfits and are more costume / character based which further conveys a sense of fantasy that will attract a fan base of anti realist supernatural media texts.

The video also shows iconic parts of the chorus choreography, engaging tiktokers specifically dancers and dance trend followers on the platform (this is the audience). The HYLT dance went viral when this video came out (proof it went viral through the dance practice which reached over 1 billion views, in fact the dance practice reached over 1 billion views before the music video did further proving my point). So because of this people might visit the music video to learn the routine and participate in the blackpink dance trend. The trend made blackpinks HYLT sound to become one of their most used sounds on the TikTok platform.

I have way more points but I would be typing for over an hour so if anyone wants more good points / context reply to me and I’ll get back to you if I’m bothered lol. I guarantee you that if you mention everything I stated previously in great detail (and with context) your grade will bump up by a lot. Most of these things only mega blackpink fans like me will notice, rather than normal a level students who have no knowledge about blackpink. I assume not many people will talk about most of the stuff I have mentioned so your answers will differ from the majority of people sitting this exam.😊

[flykon]

Thanks a lot Mrs Fisher! I have a media exam in 20 minutes and this is very helpful!

[marinaa]

Please could you do a video on the radio CSPs for AQA GCSE media? 😊