Geri Halliwell- It's Raining Men.
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Genre characteristics
The storyline in the video depicts Geri Halliwell stars as an ordinary dance student attending an Americanised UK high school, trying to impress and make it as a dancer. She seems to be a very popular stundent who is depicted as always being in the spotlight. Common conventions of Pop music videos occur in this video: Performance with narrative, Dance routines, Colourful costumes, Close up’s of female star’s body and face, upbeat and enthusiastic mise-en-scene.
Is there a relationship between visuals and lyrics? The relationship between visuals and lyrics is amplified in the video, meaning that it is not literally illustrative. However some of the lyrics are illustrated for example: ‘stormy weather rolling in’ – artist dancing in front of a screen showing storm clouds. ‘Its raining men’ – out side and it begins to rain; although it is rain that falls and not men. 
Is there a relationship between visuals and music?
The relationship between music and visuals are mainly illustrated with all cuts and dance movements, going with the beat of the music. The changes of pace in the song are echoed by the editing of the video, for example the opening dance sequence has been timed to the beat of the music. When the other dance students open the doors and start dancing around her, the tempo corresponds to the increase in rhythm and volume of the music. When the song slows down the visuals mirror this with the artist dance movements slowing and a change of background.
Are there any close ups of the artist or any star image motifs?
In this music video there are lots of close up’s of close ups of the artist (Geri Halliwell) which is common in music videos as they are pretty much advertising a product. Throughout the video, close ups and central framing is used in order for the audience to know that she is the star and this video is all about showing off her talent and selling her new image. During the video there are numerous costume changes, again used to accentuate her new look. There is also a scene in which the artist is doing sit ups with a dog next to her, this dog is famously her dog and is always with her providing a star motif within the video.
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Is there any reference to the notion to looking (Voyeurism)?
There is lots of voyeurism within this video. This was Geri Halliwell’s debut as a single artist and she dramatically lost weight and went blonde, so there is lots of shots focusing on her new thin body. Close ups of her wearing a tiny top and underwear dancing are all used to broadcast her dramatic change in appearance. While she is dancing other dancers are watching her which she is unaware of. This is used to emphasise the fact that she is now the cntre of attention. When it starts raining she is dancing seductively and there are lots of shots of her body. There are also a few shots where the camera pans up her body, making the audience look at her in a voyeuristic way.
Are there any references of intertextuality?
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This video has two main intertextuality references; ‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’. Both of these are dancing films. At the beginning of the video it starts without any music. This creates a sense of intrigue, unaware of what is going to take place. This method also gives the video a more ‘movie style’ effect. The opening scene is taken from ‘Flashdance’ where she has an audition then falls and asks to start again. The remainder of the video is very similar to the film ‘Fame’ where they are all in a performing arts school. One of her four costumes is a t-shirt that says ‘famous’ in the same style of the title of the film ‘Fame’ is written. By taking inspiration from these two films I again believe it acts as a representative for Geri Halliwell’s new start which she is trying to get across through the video; Reinventing as a solo artist as opposed to being in a group, similar to the stars in these films whose ambition is to recreate themselves and become famous.
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