Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball Camerawork Analysis

In Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball music video framing is used to portray her as a sexual object for men to look at. During the video there are several uses of mid shots and long shots which show her singing on the wrecking ball not wearing any clothes. This supports Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory as the camera takes on the eyes of a heterosexual man and the audience are forced to view Miley in a certain way. Due to her posing in a sexual manner and not wearing any clothes the audience are encouraged to objectifiy her and see her as an object of sexual desire. This is exaggerated because of the lack of clothes as it juxtaposes the other shots where she appears dominant and strong as she swings on a wrecking ball with clothes. In these shots Miley is seen as passive due to the focus on her body rather than her singing, particularly the use of fragmentation where we only see the top part of her body when she is naked. 

The camera movement used in this video present Miley as a passive female. Particularly the use of zoom emphasises how the audience are supposed to view her as an object of pleasure and encourages voyeurism on the audiences part. As the camera zooms out several times as Miley swings on the wrecking ball naked to see her entire body it reinforces the Male Gaze Theory as the audience are forced to see her naked. Although she appears powerful swinging on the wrecking ball the camera movement still represents the patriarchal society where men are superior to women as the focus is on her naked body due to this being the centre of the shot when the camera zooms out.

In this video camera angles are used to present Miley as inferior and as an object of sexual desire. During the video there are several high angles of Miley laying on the floor in asexaul manner wearing a small amount of clothes. The high angles present Miley as weak and less powerful than the person looking down at her. The Male Gaze Theory says the camera is the eyes of a heterosexual male so in this video the person who is powerful and strong in comparison is a male which supports the idea of a patriarchal society where the men are the dominant sex. this also objectifies Miley as the camera is looking down at her lying in a sexual way wearing minimal clothes. 

The use of establishing shots in this video portray Miley in different ways for different members of the audience. when Miley is swinging on the wrecking ball in a white crop top and white briefs it can be interpreted as her being objectified reinforcing the Male Gaze theory and conforming to the stereotypes of a patriarchal society where women are passive and the man active. Due to the majority of producers in the media industry being heterosexual males it is likely that this is the preferred/dominant reading. However other people may interpret these shots as her being portrayed as dominant and powerful due to the high up position she has and the lack of emotion she has on her face as she swings from side to side on an object that a lot of people may associate with the job of a man. This reinforces the Stuart Hall reception theory, where the text is not passively accepted by the audience, they can interpret the meaning behind it differently. It is possible that other people could have a oppositional reading of the text where they completely disagree with the intended meaning, the encoded meaning is different to the decoded meaning or a negotiate reading where they agree and disagree with different parts of the text and the meaning behind it. 

Another use of camera moment in this video objectifies Miley and causes voyeurism for the audience. The use of tracking up her body specifically her bare legs as she lays on the floor with the hammer in her hand supports the Male gaze Theory. this is due to the camera slowly tracking up her body to the point where it cuts off just before the audience can see he briefs she is wearing suggesting she is naked and therefore portraying a sexual atmosphere. This also uses fragmentation as we only she her legs and makes her appear as an object to be looked at as we don't get to see her face. This makes her appear as a passive female as without seeing her face she has no identity at this stage and therefore no power or strength, she is just a pair of legs.