2. Background Information on Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell is a British Singer, clothing designer, author
and actress. Geri Halliwell is mostly known as „Ginger Spice‟
when she was part of the British pop girl band Spice Girls
between the years of 1996 and left in 2000 due to
differences within the group. Geri Halliwell‟s „It‟s raining men‟
was the first single from Geri‟s solo album „Scream if you
want to go faster‟. It‟s raining men originally written by The
Weather Girls in 1983. The single was featured on the
soundtrack of the 2001 movie Bridget Jones Diary but also it
was featured on the popular video game, Dance Dance
Revolution. It‟s raining men lasted 2 weeks at number one
and is said to be Geri Halliwell‟s most successful single
worldwide.
3. Background Information on Jim Canty and Jake-
Sebastian Wynne
The music video for Geri Halliwell‟s It‟s Raining Men
video was based on the movie Fame and Flashdance.
Jim Canty and Jake-Sebastian Wynne created the
music video for Geri Halliwell‟s „It‟s Raining Men‟ video.
Jake-Sebastian Wynne has directed Geri Halliwell‟s
other music video „Scream If You Wanna Go Faster‟
and Jim Canty has worked with other music artists for
their music videos such as Biffy Clyro, Mumford and
Sons and James Blunt.
4. Camera work
There are also of long tracking shots of Geri as she is dancing for the judges for example when she is
touching her body. Over the shoulder shots are used to make us see what the judges are seeing. Camera
shots work in time with the music for instance the part where Geri does a forward roll and lands on her feet it
works in time with the music. When the people come in the pace of the music stays the same but Geri is still
seen as the main part of the music video because she is positioned in the center of the frame. Next scene
we see Geri in a mid shot wearing a different costume dancing amongst other people dancing. Geri is made
to stand out because she is stood on a higher level compared to everyone else. The next shot seen Geri in a
close up and this is the first time she is looking into the camera interacting with us than rather us watching
her perform. Also by the looks of things this is also the first time she is seen covered up which could show
that Geri has two different sides to her, the good girl side where she covers up and her bad girl side where
she doesn‟t. The next scene we see Geri in yet another costume and another location. This location is more
in a road area compared to before where it was in a studio. The camera shot for this scene starts off with a
low angle shot where Geri is looking down at us. The scene again changes to the studio scene where she is
seen in a long shot so we can see all of her body and face, all of the crowd and all of the judges. The next
shot is the first time we see Geri in her black „bad girl‟ outfit and she acknowledge the camera whereas
before she wasn‟t looking into the camera. The next shots are hard to work out who the people the close ups
are on but these shots don‟t last long in comparison to Geri who‟s shots tend to last a long time and they are
mostly on her body rather than her face. Tracking shot from behind the judges which shows everyone
dancing and Geri in the center of the frame yet again. When the chorus kicks in and the music tempo gets
faster the camera shots get faster and most camera shots are in close up such as the shoes running and the
close up of Geri‟s tummy as she does sit ups so that‟s an exercise theme throughout with the dancing etc.
The next scene is a long shot of Geri rushing out in yet another costume we see this in a long shot which
shows her body movements are in a panic as if she is supposed to be somewhere else soon. Following
scene is very different compared to pervious scene because Geri was more rushed and in his scene Geri is
calm but also wearing another costume which emphasizes the whole good girl bad girl Geri has throughout
5. Narrative
The narrative for It‟s Raining Men by Geri Halliwell is based around the film „Bridget Jones‟ Diary‟. The song was performed originally
by The Weather Girls in the video for The Weather Girls version It‟s Raining Men, men are literally falling from the skies. Geri
Halliwell‟s cover of this song was her first single as a solo artist after she previously left the popular pop girl band Spice Girls. The
video is showcasing Geri‟s new figure and blonde hairstyle, this could be to differentiate herself as Geri Halliwell not as Ginger Spice
as she was more known well as when she was in Spice Girls. The video is in a audition style dance routine in front of judges similar
to the 1983 movie, Flashdance. Similarities between Geri‟s video the Flashdance video is the audition going wrong. Opening to both
Flashdance and Geri‟s audition is the diegetic sound of Geri‟s footsteps as she walks to the judges. After Geri mucks up the first time
just like Flashdance she begins to dance again and we see a student looking through the door watching Geri performing to the
judges with a grin/eager look on his face this then cuts back to Geri dancing. After the cut back to Geri more people arrive to watch
her through the door window. This could be to emphasize Geri‟s as a performer or star as well as her being seen to be popular
amongst her school that everyone should watch her. We see the first clips from the movie Bridgett Jones in the middle of the music
video because the song is promoting the movie that it features in. Suddenly her peer students who were watching from the door
window burst in and start to dance with Geri as if it was posed. Clips from Bridgett Jones are again played but they also link in with
the lyrics of the song such as when Geri says “It‟s Raining Men” the scene from Bridgett Jones where Daniel falls into water shows
the link between the song and the movie. In the Bridgett Jones clip there is a scene where Bridgett is choosing pants she picks out
similar pants to watch Geri is wearing as if Geri is what people should want to be like. The video strongly links with Bridgett Jones
such as Bridgett is exercising and Geri is exercising but Geri‟s exercising is more to show off her newly toned body so in a way it
could be seen to mock Bridgett Jones body as hers isn‟t not toned but is aiming to be which again emphasizes that Geri is what
people want to be like. Connections again between Flashdance are shown again when Geri Halliwell is seen to be doing ballet which
does seem to be random but if you knew Flashdance you could work out the connection. Geri stands out in this scene because she
the only one wearing white also she is graceful and elegant whereas Bridget Jones isn‟t and we get that feeling because they have
put a clip of Bridget falling over which again could be to show how great Geri Halliwell is. The final scene you see Geri running out of
the building which is very similar to Flashdance where Alex runs out after her audition but with Geri she has all her dancing peers
around her suggesting again her popularity. Again links with Bridget strongly link with the video for example “she‟s a single woman
too” and it shows a clip of Bridget. A big dance routine all in time is seen between Geri and her peers whereas before it was everyone
doing what they want. During the last chorus of It‟s Raining Men, it actually rains. It isn‟t like The Weather Girls version of men
actually falling from the sky but the rain is falling and there is men so there is some connection but most of all I think the rain isn‟t just
designed to link with the song I think it is also to emphasize the male gaze as Geri who is wearing minimal clothing is getting her
body and clothes wet which is seen to be sexy.
6. Representation
Throughout Geri Halliwell‟s video for It‟s Raining Men she is seen to represented in
different ways. There are a few different ways which I think Geri is seen to be shown in.
The first representation is the scene where is she dancing in front of the judges as
much as it‟s a copy of the movie her outfit is very promiscuous and reveling. The tight
pants with the high line and the bra which emphasizes her chest area all draw our
attention. The fact that the color of her outfit is all black is that it gives the connotation
that Geri is bad, so this is her bad girl look. Her dance routine is designed to show off
her extremely toned and flexible physique but also the moves could be seen as quite
sexual as she rubs/touches her body which could been seen as voyeurism. This
representation of her shows her confident side as she isn‟t afraid to dance in sexual
ways in front of strangers. Another representation of her is when she is seen doing sit
ups on the floor. The dog to the side of her is her actual dog in real life which could
show her down to earth side and that she really is no different to anyone else. The
other representation is the ballet scene where Geri is dressed in a ballet dress but also
it‟s white. White has the connotations of being pure, good and also is the sign for
innocent. This is very different to the black she was wearing at the start where she was
wearing minimal clothing and her routine was more sexual whereas this routine is more
elegant and peaceful. The final representation of Geri is when she is wearing the
orange and blue trackies. The orange top has writing on it „Famous‟ in similar writing to
the 1980‟s movie Fame. The writing on the top with the word famous could be a hit to
what Geri wants. She wants to be famous and possibly by covering this song could
make her famous.
7. Video style and iconography
The video style for Geri Halliwell It‟s Raining Men is dance so
the iconography of this is the dance school and with the
backing dancers. Pop music tends to be dominated by females.
Females are seen throughout the music video which could
indicate the audience for the music video. Also, dancing isn‟t
something which would appeal to male audiences as it has
negative connotations of people who do dance as being „gay‟.
In Geri Halliwell‟s video there are male‟s seen in the video but
quiet often they are seen to be muscly and toned but as they
are behind Geri Halliwell, it makes her dominant to the music
video drawing attention to her rather than the men. The muscly
men appeal to the females watching Geri Halliwell‟s music
video women tend to be attracted to tanned, muscly men. This
again could make women want to be Geri as she is surrounded
by men but she also has a body which women want.
8. Mise en scene (Everything in the
frame) – Location, Lighting
costume
Geri Halliwell‟s video is set in a dance school similar to the location to
Flashdance. The location for Geri Halliwell‟s video lets us link at the
beginning that the video will be similar to the movie Flashdance.
Similarities of Flashdance using mise en scene are the costume such
as the black pants and bra Geri is wearing is very 70‟s which is when
Flashdance was out. The lighting of It‟s Raining Men there are both
natural light and artificial light. The natural light is provided by the
windows on the right of Geri so the sides of her toned body are
highlighted and the artificial light is used to spotlight Geri so it draws
our attention as the audience to her. An interesting prop I think which
gives the video and song date is with the vinyl record at the beginning
of the video when back in 2000 tapes were popular so having a vinyl
player gives the song age because it is an old song but it also gives
the video age because the video is based on a 1970‟s movie.
9. Editing
The editing for It‟s Raining Men is effective for instance at the
beginning when Geri makes a mistake and asks to start again
there is a cut away editing of Geri to the judge the take is long
giving us time to see the actions and facial expressions of the
judge. We can see he is looking down at Geri and we are seeing
this in a POV shot so it makes us feel that he is talking to us from
a higher perspective. During the dance routine there are a lot
more cut aways when Geri shakes her head the camera changes
to the judges then she does it again and it changes to a boy
watching her through the window. Through the video the editing is
fast paced when looking at Geri‟s body but besides that the
editing isn‟t fast paced. The ending there is slow motion editing of
Geri and editing of the background to dark skies as if it‟s about to
rain, this matches with the narrative of the song.
10. Intertextuality/Voyeurism
Intertextuality for Geri Halliwell‟s It‟s Raining Men is based on the
dance movies Fame and Flashdance. It‟s Raining Men uses iconic
parts of Fame and Flashdance making it recognizable but also there
is some narrative behind it if you have watched both Flashdance and
Fame because you know what will happens next. Voyeurism is
important for Geri Halliwell‟s video because she is showcasing her
new body off to everyone so the costume helps us see her new body.
Furthermore throughout the video Geri is being watched by everyone
this could be an example that she is being watched by everyone in
real life too as she shows off the new Geri. This strongly links to the
male gaze by Laura Mulvey because all the males are looking at her
because she is an attractive female but she is also the stereotypical
blonde bimbo which is emphasized by her showing off her body but
there is also another side of Geri which is the more clever and
talented side and that‟s when she is doing ballet
11. Analyse using Andrew
Goodwin
Geri Halliwell‟s music video for „It‟s Raining Men‟ works with Andrew Goodwins theory as the lyrics
and visuals share a relationship. In Geri Halliwell‟s music video at the end when she says “It‟s
raining men” it begins to rain. This rain makes Geri‟s clothing wet which adds in Laura Mulvey‟s
Male Gaze theory as Geri looks into the camera as her clothes starts to cling to her slim body. It is
said in Goodwins theory that the music video will work to the genre of the music. In this case, the
genre for the music video for Geri Halliwell‟s „It‟s Raining Men‟ is pop. Conventions of pop music
tends to be dancing. This music video strongly focuses on this element even if it‟s a music video
based on the movie, Fame which is a film based on dancing. This music video would fit into a
performance music video as Geri Halliwell is dancing to the camera but also we are able to see
her star image by what she looks like and her attitudes. The music and the visuals work together
as the editing as been used sharply and quick to match Geri‟s dance movements. A popular
camera shot used in Geri Halliwell‟s music video are close up‟s and long shots. The long shots are
designed to focus on amount of people dancing to capture their movements and their facial
expressions. Close ups are used to show off Geri Halliwell‟s body and emphasize the sweat
dripping off her body and her toned body. These close up shots help promote Geri Halliwell‟s star
image making iconic and appealing but also it makes people idolize her as she is no longer known
as „Ginger Spice‟ which she is more known as. There are intertexual references throughout the
music video as the music video is based on the film „Fame‟. This intertexual reference is
emphasized with Geri‟s clothing of her orange top with the word „Fame‟ written on it.
12. Analyse using Laura Mulvey's
Male Gaze Theory
In the opening of the music video, the camera uses close up shots
to reveal different parts of the artist body via 'fragmentation' - in
which the artist Geri Halliwell is wearing very revealing clothing
consisting of black pants and black sports bra. The use of the tight
skimpy clothing helps to sell her 'new image' & 'body' but also it
involves Laura Mulvey‟s Male Gaze theory because males can‟t
help but admire/ look at her because of the use of camera shots
but also because of the minimal clothing Geri is wearing. The
camera works on long takes allowing us as the audience to take in
everything that‟s happening but also making us look at Geri‟s body.
The long takes with the low angle shots not only reveal Gerri
Halliwell‟s body but also shows the facial expressions of the panel
of judges, in which she is dancing in front of. The judges
expressions looked shocked which could be what Geri wants
people to feel when they see her video or see her s what her. The
