musicvideonarrative.pptx

7/29/2019 musicvideonarrative.pptx

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Narrative inMusic Videos

KKS 2010


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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 toyour product

Poor answers will lack reference to theory andspecific answers.

Choice of text is important.


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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 toyour product

Poor answers will lack reference to theory andspecific answers.

Choice of text is important.


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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


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Narrative Theory:

Applying the concept

Look carefully at your video at how the story is structured and how theaudience 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.


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Your chosen track :1. Summarise the lyrics in your music video.

2.

How far did you choose to follow the lyrics in yourstoryboarding?

3. Are there key lines that you are choosing to givevisual dominance to?

Or:

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


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How much narrative?

videos tend to only suggest storylines andfocus on fragments of the lyrics (SteveArcher).


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The Main Artist1. What role does the artist play in your music video

narrator, protagonistorboth?Is the video a vehicle for the artists star

persona? (Refer back to Andrew Goodwin)

1. Did you chose a subjective orobjectivecharacter identity in your music video and why?

(Subjective character identitya range ofcharacters stories or points of view are shown.Objective character identityone characters storyor point of view is shown)


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Importance of the mise-en-scene 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. Bysuggesting a setting associated with sexual allurelike a sleazy nightclub or boudoir?

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


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Applying music videotheory


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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 popularAction in the story isdominated by males who do things and females who passively react orwait 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 artistto attract viewers and to convey a direct or indirect message.

They can act as extended advertisements, as popular art forms or as self-referential filmic texts (e.g Madonna videos)


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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 dancemight be part of the artists performance or an

extra aspect of the video designed to aidvisualisation and the repeatability factor.

Sometimes, the artist (especially the singer) will be

part of the story , acting as narrator andparticipant at the same time. But it is the lip synchclose-up and the miming of playing instrument sthat remains at the heart of music videos, as if to

assure us that the band really can kick it.


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Applying Andrew GoodwinWhat is the is a relationship between lyrics and visualsand music?

Is your narrative:

Illustrative? (images provide a literalrepresentation)

Amplifying? (repetition of key meanings andeffects to manipulate the audience)

Contradicting? (images contrast with the music)

Disjuncture?: (When the meaning of the song iscompletely ignored)


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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 thestar, "star-in-text," as all Madonna's videos seemto do.


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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 tohuman agency. However, it is more likely that themusic video will feature members of the band eitherperforming 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 inpreference to shapeless, abstract, eventless images.


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A reminder from AS:narrative theory


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Vladimir ProppAfter analysing folk tales, Propp developed a theory that within eachnarrative there are a set of stock characters, which reappear in everystoryline.

These roles are:

HeroPerson on the quest PrincessPrize for the hero HelperHelps the hero on his quest False heroSomebody who believes they are the hero DispatcherSends the hero on their quest

FatherRewards the hero VillainAttempts to stop the hero on his quest DonorProvides objects to help the hero on his quest


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Levi-StraussLevi-Strauss theory dictated that in every mediatext there are binary oppositions, or a conflictbetween two opposites. The audience

subsequently are aware of who they should sidewith, and this technique can also help create apolitical theme within a text. For example:

Good & Bad

Rich & Poor Eastern & Western World

Love & Hate


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Roland BarthesBarthes was a French semiologist who identified 5 different codes bywhich 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 aproblem

The action codethe audience is excited by the need to resolve aproblem

The semantic codethe audience is directed towards anadditional meaning by way of connotation

The symbolic codethe audience assumes that a characterdressed in black is evil or menacing and forms expectations of his/her behaviour on this basis

The cultural codethe audience derives meaning in a text fromshared cultural knowledge about the way the world works.


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TodorovTodorovs theory states that in a media text there arefive stages.

ORIGINAL EQUILIBRIUM (normality)

DISRUPTION

RECOGNITION (of disruption)

ATTEMPT TO RESTORE original equilibrium

NEW EQUILIBRIUM


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Put these criteria into your own wordsHere are a list of the assessment criteria for the relevant exam:

BAND 4Explanation/analysis/argument (9-10 marks)There is a clear sense of progression established by the answer, and arange 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 skillsdevelopment.Use of terminology (5 marks)The use of both production terms and conceptual media terminologyapplied throughout is excellent.

Complex issues have been expressed clearly and fluently using a styleof writing appropriate to the complex subject matter. Sentences andparagraphs, consistently relevant, have been well structured, usingappropriate technical terminology. There may be few, if any, errors ofspelling, punctuation and grammar.


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1(b) ) Media texts rely on culturalexperiences in order for audiences to

easily make sense of narratives. Explainhow you used conventional and/orexperimental narrative approaches inone of your production pieces.

1b)Apply theories of narrative to one ofyour coursework productions.

Documents

musicvideonarrative.pptx