HANNAH LUX DAVIS

Birthday: May 17th 1986 Childhood and Education:

At 18, she moved to LA and enrolled in the NY Film Academy.
Birthplace: Bellevue, WA Then, she graduated in 2006.

Age: 31 Inspirations:
She was inspired by childhood music videos and in editing was self taught.
Also, she liked the creativity and freedom.

Artists Worked With:

2012: hiphop - Lil Wayne + Drake = MTV Video Award
2014: pop - Ariana Grande + The Weeknd = VMA Nomination
2015: pop - Ariana Grande = nominated twice

Other artists include Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj and Demi Lovato

Source: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/a62666/hannah-lux-davis-music-video-director-get-that-life/
HANNAH LUX
DAVIS INTERTEXTUALITY
Within her directed video Power by Little Mix ft. Stormzy, there is a glimpse of a couple of well known drag
queens from the show Rupauls Drag Race which is syngery. This may have been used as a way to promote
the programme since Little Mix is quite a well known girl group and viewers watching the music video could
recognise the drag queens and be intrigued to watch the series.

In the scenes with the drag queens, there is also a rainbow flag which is the symbol for LGBT+. The slight
reference to this may be a way to support it and encourage their fans to since they are influential on younger
audience.

Sources: http://www.hannahluxdavis.com/music-videos/
HANNAH LUX
DAVIS
VISUALS
There are a lot of different things going on in the video of power by little mix. There are
lots of bright colours used, to be eye-catching to the audience. The lighting is bright
throughout the video, also to be eye-catching.
The outfits worn, are very revealing and very feminine. This could be to present the group
as attractive so they get a larger fan base.
Hannah has a theme of typical pop music videos throughout her work. She has worked
with a lot of well-known artists and bands, making her directing even more important.
The bigger the artist/band she works with, the more influential and popular her music
videos will become. This means, that Davis should take into account the representations
of the people in the music videos.
Nearly all of her work is for pop musicians/bands, maybe because this is the style she
knows the most about and is the most comfortable directing.

Sources: http://www.hannahluxdavis.com/music-videos/
HANNAH LUX
DAVIS APPLYING THEORY
The video power by little mix could be evidence of Laura Mulveys male gaze idea.
This is because the video shows the females in very revealing outfits. This could be
argued that it presents the women as objectified. This is also backed up with the shot
of one of the females bums. There are also lots of shots of the females biting their
lips and nails, which is often thought of as attractive. This seems like Hannah Davis
purposefully created an image for the girls as attractive, even though it objectifies
them extremely.

David Gauntlett would argue that the lyrics contradict the video objectification, as the
song is called Power. David Gauntletts theory on girl power shows how women in
the media can be shown as empowered and in control of their own stereotype.

Sources: Hannah Lux Davis official site - http://www.hannahluxdavis.com/music-videos/

 Ruffmercy
Background:
Ruffmercy is also known as Russ Murphy,
from Bristol. He was born in 1973.
He worked for MTV after he finished
college in the 90s. Then, went on to do
animation for broadcasters and agencies
after qualifying a BA Hons in design and
illustration at LMU.
After that, is when his music video journey
began.
Mainly, he directs for the rap genre,
although he has branched out into EDM
and pop, still sticking with the animation.
Artists Worked With:
Artists he has worked with before include
Lily Allen, Run the Jewels, Young Thug,
Wiley and Disclosure.
Inspirations:
He was inspired by simply always loving to
doodle on bits of paper and doing so in
the style of the abstract artist, Jean-
Michel Basquiat. He uses intertextual
references to exaggerate certain lyrics
such as writing, shown below.
 Ruffmercy: intertextuality + Visuals
In the videos he directs, its clear to see he has a very distinctive
style, where he is editing focused. He uses sketchy animation
over music videos, which I wish to replicate in my own video
rebranding.
Also, he sometimes uses psychedelic like colour adjustments
throughout as shown by the two images as one is completely
blue and the other, red. This is applicable to Vernallis editing
theory; Ruffmercy changes around whats been seen so much as
he is in time to every word and beat in the song. He uses
intertextual references to exaggerate certain lyrics.
To the right is an example of where he uses his drawings to
amplify meaning as the word whispers is written across the
mans lips at the same time as the lyrics whispers is said. This
again appears later on in the song when lies is sung, this is
shown.
The images shown are from the EDM song: Disclosure F For
You
Similarities
. They both use visual intertextuality, conforming
to Goodwins theory, but Ruffmercy uses words
and writing whereas Hannah uses it through mise
en scene during the actual filming.
. Both of them have a distinct style with Hannahs
aesthetic being vibrancy and feminine and
Ruffmercys being dark and abstract.
. With Blumler and Katz Gratification theory,
they both appeal to those who use media for
identification purposes, aspiring to be like an
artist, as well as entertainment and escapism, to
enter a different world temporarily.
Differences
. Both directors are gender focused. Ruffmercy
orientates his work around males whereas
Hannah Lux Davis is more towards females.
. Ruffmercy prefers an abstract approach to his
work, by using drawing or colour grading but
Davis prefers to keep her work natural and
realistic.
. Hannah is centred towards filming and footage
whereas Ruffmercy is more into editing in post
production.
. Hannahs style is directed at a mainstream
audience as she focuses on pop. Ruffmercy works
more with hip-hop or EDM music, so niche
audiences would be better interested.