Narrative in Music Videos

KKS 2010

1(b) Examiners Advice

Stronger answers do 3 things well:

Outline the concept for discussion with reference to relevant theorists Apply these ideas to a range of specific elements from your coursework Discuss how well the concept/theories relate to your product

Poor answers will lack reference to theory and specific answers. Choice of text is important.

1(b) Examiners Advice

Stronger answers do 3 things well:

Outline the concept for discussion with reference to relevant theorists Apply these ideas to a range of specific elements from your coursework Discuss how well the concept/theories relate to your product

Poor answers will lack reference to theory and specific answers. Choice of text is important.

Narrative in videos To introduce character (Propp) Establish narrative structure (Todorov) Captivate audience/interest Establish core themes (Levi Strauss) Introduce core iconography Establishes audience expectation through use of generic conventions Establish sense of enigma (Barthes) Predominance of action codes (Barthes) Significance of soundtrack establishing mood Use of titles as credits/ event signifiers Pace

Narrative Theory: Applying the concept

Look carefully at your video at how the story is structured and how the audience is positioned (i.e. who are we led to identify with?) Consider the following:

How the narrative is organised and structured. How the conflict is established and how it is resolved The construction of the characters in the text and how we are led to relate to them How heroes and villains are created within the text The importance of sound, music, iconography, mise-en-scene, editing and other technical features in telling the story. How the themes and ideas are put forward in the story.

Your chosen track :

1. 2.

Summarise the lyrics in your music video. How far did you choose to follow the lyrics in your storyboarding? Are there key lines that you are choosing to give visual dominance to?

3.

Or:

Are you choosing to concentrate on the music with the visuals/ use abstract visuals?

How much narrative?

videos tend to only suggest storylines and focus on fragments of the lyrics (Steve Archer).

The Main Artist

1.

What role does the artist play in your music video narrator, protagonist or both? Is the video a vehicle for the artists star persona? (Refer back to Andrew Goodwin) Did you chose a subjective or objective character identity in your music video and why?

1.

(Subjective character identity a range of characters stories or points of view are shown. Objective character identity one characters story or point of view is shown)

Importance of the mise-enscene in your narrative

Does your mise-en-scene:

Add authenticity to your singer/ band? Is it key to establishing setting and relationships? Is it part of the voyeuristic context e.g. By suggesting a setting associated with sexual allure like a sleazy nightclub or boudoir?

Is it to emphasise an aspirational lifestyle for the audience (John Stewart)?

Applying music video theory

Music videos can be characterized by 3 broad typologies, Firth 1988:

Performance (to convey a sense of the in-concert experience) "Performance oriented visuals cue viewers that the recording of the music is the most significant element. (BUT see John Berger)

Narrative (linear, love stories most popular Action in the story is dominated by males who do things and females who passively react or wait for something to happen (Schwichtenberg, 1992)).
Conceptual (metaphors to create a mood, offer multiple meanings)

These types describe the form and content selected by the director or artist to attract viewers and to convey a direct or indirect message.
They can act as extended advertisements, as popular art forms or as selfreferential filmic texts (e.g Madonna videos)

Narrative and Performance: Steve Archer (2004)

Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefully choreographed dance might be part of the artists performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the repeatability factor. Sometimes, the artist (especially the singer) will be part of the story , acting as narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the lip synch close-up and the miming of playing instrument s that remains at the heart of music videos, as if to assure us that the band really can kick it.

Applying Andrew Goodwin

What is the is a relationship between lyrics and visuals and music? Is your narrative: Illustrative? (images provide a literal representation) Amplifying? (repetition of key meanings and effects to manipulate the audience) Contradicting? (images contrast with the music) Disjuncture?: (When the meaning of the song is completely ignored)

A given music video may actually have elements of more than one category.
Goodwin (1992), in describing Madonna's videos, suggests that the essential narrative component of a music video is found in its ability to frame the star, "star-in-text," as all Madonna's videos seem to do.

Narrative in dance videos? John Berger: Ways of Seeing

Dance tracks may just have pulsating abstract visuals which follow the beat with no visual reference to human agency. However, it is more likely that the music video will feature members of the band either performing or acting, placing a visual dominance on the band involved in the telling of a story in some way.

We are preconditioned to make narrative in preference to shapeless, abstract, eventless images.

A reminder from AS: narrative theory

Vladimir Propp
After analysing folk tales, Propp developed a theory that within each narrative there are a set of stock characters, which reappear in every storyline. These roles are:

Hero Person on the quest Princess Prize for the hero Helper Helps the hero on his quest False hero Somebody who believes they are the hero Dispatcher Sends the hero on their quest Father Rewards the hero Villain Attempts to stop the hero on his quest Donor Provides objects to help the hero on his quest

Levi-Strauss
Levi-Strauss theory dictated that in every media text there are binary oppositions, or a conflict between two opposites. The audience subsequently are aware of who they should side with, and this technique can also help create a political theme within a text. For example:

Good & Bad Rich & Poor Eastern & Western World Love & Hate

Roland Barthes
Barthes was a French semiologist who identified 5 different codes by which a narrative engages the attention of the audience. In order of importance these are:

The enigma code- the audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem The action code the audience is excited by the need to resolve a problem The semantic code the audience is directed towards an additional meaning by way of connotation The symbolic code the audience assumes that a character dressed in black is evil or menacing and forms expectations of his/ her behaviour on this basis The cultural code the audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works.

Todorov
Todorovs theory states that in a media text there are five stages.

ORIGINAL EQUILIBRIUM (normality) DISRUPTION RECOGNITION (of disruption) ATTEMPT TO RESTORE original equilibrium NEW EQUILIBRIUM

Here are a list of the assessment criteria for the relevant exam:

Put these criteria into your own words

BAND 4 Explanation/analysis/argument (9-10 marks) There is a clear sense of progression established by the answer, and a range of articulate reflections on the production process are offered. Use of examples (9-10 marks) Candidates offer a broad range of specific, relevant and clear examples of the use of technology in relation to creative skills development. Use of terminology (5 marks) The use of both production terms and conceptual media terminology applied throughout is excellent. Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently using a style of writing appropriate to the complex subject matter. Sentences and paragraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, using appropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

 1(b)

) Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense of narratives. Explain how you used conventional and/or experimental narrative approaches in one of your production pieces. 1b)Apply theories of narrative to one of your coursework productions.