Narrative Structures in Other Music Videos

Making the narrative structure different to the normal linear structure in a music video can be a risk, as it is important it is done right and the audience understand what the producer is trying to portray in choosing a non linear narrative. Flashbacks and flash-forwards also make a narrative that bit more complicated - which is why its also important that they're done right and that they are not too difficult for the audience to understand.

Jason Derulo uses a non linear narrative in the music video for 'What If' as at a point in the video, the clock starts moving in reverse. On top of this there are many flashbacks used in this, making the video quite complex. The video was done and produced incredibly well which is why it works and is massively popular, with over 29 Million views on youtube.

Payphone - Maroon 5 is also an incredible example of a successful music video with a non linear narrative. The beginning starts with the end, and everything in between is a flashback to an attack and a police chase that happened earlier that day, with the occasional flash-forward to the present day where the man is trying to call his lover. Again, this was produced impeccably which is why it works so well.

There are pro's and con's of using these non-linear narratives in a music video though, the most obvious con being it isn't always as easy as it looks to pull off, it could leave the audience very confused making it meaningless as nobody understands it. It would also take a lot of planning and cooperation from different people (such as the actors filming more scenes in more locations) in order to make the video the best it could be..

However, personally I believe the pro's outweigh the con's massively. This is because when done right, it can give the music video more dimension, depth and meaning. I personally believe it tells more of a story than a linear narrative as it gives the beginning middle and end in an alternative way, whilst making the audience reflect and think a bit more than a regular narrative would. I also think using non linear narratives and flashbacks/ flash-forwards, make a music video much more intriguing to watch and enjoy.

Even though I really enjoy watching media products with non-linear narratives, I think giving myself this challenge would be too complicated, so instead I would really like to just incorporate some flash backs/forwards into my music video as I think this is far more achievable in the time span I have to plan, produce and make my music video rather than what it would be if I was to create one with a non linear narrative.

Narrative Structure Plan + Footage

I am looking at having a mostly linear narrative, however I'm interested in making the actual narrative a flashback, and we see the present day main character as an old woman, looking back on 2015. I think this would be effective and very fitting with the song 'Photograph', as the entire song relates to reminiscing about happy memories and times. I think it would be a nice and emotional touch to have an older woman reminiscing about her younger years, particularly the year she left home to go to university.

As I have briefly mentioned before, I have decided rather than including the different problems that arise in each relationship the girl has with the different people in her life, I will make the issue her moving away from home for university. This is because it takes a positive spin on issues rather than a negative one such as lying and deceit. I think this positive spin is definitely more fitting to the positive uplifting lyrics of the song I have chosen.

The narrative will show a 70 year old opening a memory box labelled '2015', most of the narrative will be about the girl moving away to uni and the different emotional stages she goes through because of it, however there will be some 'flash-forwards' throughout the video of the older woman picking up objects from the box that we see in her flashbacks. I think this will help tie in the different shots and scenes within the video nicely.

The meaning behind this narrative and its structure, is to show how important all different kinds of relationships are - as you grow older there are more responsibilities, people have their own lives and move out, this doesn't mean their relationship ties should be any weaker. I intend to show the importance of family and friends, and how we should cherish them whilst we are young and we can, as nobody is getting any younger, everyone will grow old and all that will remain from life will be memories - its what anyone's life adds up to. So, we should make these memories great and take on new and exciting ventures in life with joy.

I have decided to have just a narrative story for my music video rather than just a live performance or a mixture of the two. This is because I want there to be a deeper meaning to my music video and I feel like cutaways into a live performance would be very distracting.

I have also decided that rather than including a lot of different people in different relationships, I will have one main character, and show them in the different relationships. I will show her relationship with her mother, boyfriend, sibling and friends. I think this will make my music video idea a lot more practical to the production as it immediately cuts down the amount of characters that will be featured.

As well as having artistic shots and shots making up the narrative, I would like to make the music video more personal, including some home videos too.

My Basic Narrative

I have decided, I would like my music video narrative to be surrounded around one main character and their relationship with different kinds of people in their life. I would like the relationship between them, their boyfriend, their parent, sibling and best friend to be shown throughout the music video.

I have decided the type of disequilibrium I want to include is positive, the main character will be moving away to go to uni and I would like the music video to be that of a documentary style, showing her troubles and anxieties whilst her family and friends support her.

Developing Ideas - Brainstorm

Above you can see a mindmap I have made, brainstorming more ideas for my music video to the song 'Photograph'. I have many ideas coming out of the bubble as you can see, and I also have a list of different shots I think I could make artistic. Under that I have also written people that could play the characters.

Planning Footage

As I have previously stated, I would like my music video to show many different kinds of relationships, the shots will be in time with the music and I think I may divide the verses and have a friendship be the first half of the first verse and have the second half be a romantic relationship etc.

I don't want to have ALL the friendship footage in a clump, and all the romantic footage in a clump, etc, I want to spread it all out so its a continuous story.

I haven't yet decided how much of the video I want lip synced - if at all, so below I have done a table showing the pro's and con's of each option.

	PRO’S	CON’S
Live performance/lip sync	·         It feels real from the perspective of the main character/artist, as they can sing the lyrics they are feeling	·         The actors may get shy and not put enough effort or confidence into their performance, which can seriously alter the quality of the video ·         There is no set narrative, we can only rely on the lyrics to picture a scenario
Narrative story	·         We can relate the lyrics to a story we can see, we don’t have to use our imagination ·         A narrative can make us think, I think this adds an interesting element.	·         There’s no live performance meaning some people may not feel the narrative and song are directly connected
Mixture	·         You have both elements of a narrative and live performance, getting the best of both worlds	·         It can be distracting if there’s a tension building point in the narrative, and then there’s a cut to an artist singing ·         It can divide the music video up more perhaps making it more lighthearted than if there was a solid block of a strong narrative.

Song choice

In making a music video, song choice is clearly incredibly important. The lyrics need to relate to the narrative of the video and the tune/melody of the song should create meaning for the audience too. In my case it should be uplifting yet soft, easy and enjoyable to listen to, with simple yet heart-felt lyrics.

Due to my initial ideas you have seen in my previous blog post, I want to use a song with lyrics that can relate to any relationship, not necessarily just a romantic one. I typically enjoy listening to pop songs, therefore I am thinking of using a slow pop song, as if I enjoy the song behind the music video, I will enjoy producing it more.

With this genre/type of music that I am interested in (for the music video) I think a documentary genre for the narrative along with romance would fit nicely, as lyrics in these music genres aren't necessarily deep enough to be part of a full on dramatic music video, yet they still create uplifting meanings for the audience and have lyrics portraying important messages, which when talking about different types of relationships, is suitable.

I have decided that 'Always be Together - Little Mix' appears to be more about friendship than any other relationship, and that 'Home' by Michael Buble is more about a non-platonic relationship. That leaves me with 'Flashlight' by Jessie J and 'Photograph' by Ed Sheeran. These are now the top two songs I will decide between for the song choice. I really like the meaning behind each of these lyrics, especially when put side by side with my idea... here are the lyrics of the first verses and chorus' from each song.

Flashlight - Jessie J

VERSE 1 "When tomorrow comes
I'll be on my own
Feeling frightened of
The things that I don't know
When tomorrow comes
Tomorrow comes
Tomorrow comes
And though the road is long
I look up to the sky
And in the dark I found, lost hope that I won't fly
And I sing along, I sing along, and I sing along"

CHORUS "I got all I need when I got you and I
I look around me, and see a sweet life
I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight
You're getting me, getting me, through the night
Kick start my heart when you shine it in my eyes
Can't lie, it's a sweet life"

Photograph - Ed Sheeran

VERSE 1 "Loving can hurt
Loving can hurt sometimes
But it's the only thing that I know
When it gets hard
You know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive"

CHORUS "We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
Times forever frozen still
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket
Of your ripped jeans
Holdin' me closer
'Til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone
Wait for me to come home"

I feel like Ed Sheeran's photograph lyrics are much more fitting to the meaning of the music video I intend to create rather than flashlight. I think 'photograph' is more relevant to all different kinds of relationships, therefore I have decided I will use this song in my music video.

Initial Ideas

Above, you can see a mind-map I have made for all of my initial music video ideas.

As you can see, the four genres i'm interested in are: family, drama, documentary and romance. I believe these four genres are quite closely related as they can all be tied together by the subject of relationships. I know I definitely want my music video to create meaning and show the importance of relationships therefore the songs I have chosen are generally quite heart-warming and uplifting.

I don't want to include just romantic relationships in the video as I think that's quite stereotypical, I want my video to be original and different, including platonic relationships too.

I think showing many scenes of these people in the different forms of relationships just hanging out would get boring, there is no strong narrative in that idea. Because of this I would like to incorporate Todorov's narrative theory of moving from equilibrium to disequilibrium to a new equilibrium, I think it would make the narrative more interesting to have an unbalance in emotions at some point.

In order to do this, I think showing troubles different types of relationships can go through is a good idea, for example showing a daughter moving out, or a relationship beginning to fail perhaps due to cheating, or even relationships becoming distant due to insecurities. However, to end the music video on a high I think the music video should include how these issues were overcome.

In terms of types of shots, I want them to be artistic as possible, I also want to be 100% focused on the narrative so I think it would be better and more effective if there was no live performances, however in saying this I do have an idea that one of the people in these relationships will be writing a song about how her relationship makes her feel - the music video's song, and there would be shots of her  producing and recording it. I feel this may make the video slightly complicated however I am not ruling it out.

Coursework Decisions

Setting Ideas for Different Genre's

In my past two blogposts I have spoken in detail about setting, however I wanted to make a blogpost to give some examples of different locations that could be used to film in, according to different genres.

Romance:

• field (a couple enjoying a picnic/running around)
• a beach (a romantic beach walk)
• countryside (capture pure natural beauty, mirroring the relationship)
• bright city (capture electric atmosphere, mirroring the relationship)

Horror:

• abandoned shed (create eery atmosphere)
• graveyard
• empty city or field (abandoned)

Drama:

• home (portraying daily issues)
• abroad (showing a long distance relationship)
• hospital

Documentary:

• home
• following someone round their daily lives

Kids/Family:

• colourful locations
• a family home
• days out (e.g. a beach or funfair)

Settings #2

Existing Setting

Setting is "the place or type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place" - the location where a scene is filmed.

The directors choice of setting in a film is very important as this setting sets the mood, it sets the backbone for a good narrative, for example if the film is a horror, the narrative wont be as strong if the setting is in a colourful school playground with bright skies and a rainbow, than if it was in a cold, dark abandoned field with a dingy shed.

Conventional settings we expect to see used in a music video will vary depending on the genre, however typically we would expect to follow the character round their daily lives and we'd expect the music and lyrics to reflect on the artists experiences that we can see, therefore settings would include places the artist would regularly go for example, around their house, a date night, a night out, a workplace (for example for a singer,  that would be a studio).

Music videos can often be metaphors for deeper feelings, for example Joey Graceffa's music video for 'Don't Wait' symbolises his journey to accepting his sexuality, finding his prince and helping his alcoholic mother. His music video is all about hidden meaning, for example him and his lover are playing as children, then when they are grown they are royally dressed with crowns and powers (these powers symbolise their inner strenghth etc). So, for a metaphorical message like the ones  Joey's music video contains, I would expect settings to include his home where he faces troubles with his mother and then perhaps a romantic open forest or beach where him and his lover can find each other.

Overall the setting will really vary depending on the genre of the music video. Genre is a very important factor in choosing the settings, as I have mentioned, the set of somewhere sets the mood and atmosphere almost just as much as the characters do. If the music video is in the fantasy genre like Joeys (link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcwo_mhyqTw ) I would expect the setting to differ a lot in comparison to a documentary style music video such as Canonball by little mix, where their journey to winning the x factor is shown with locations such as their home, the x factor stage, wembley and behind the scenes of the show.

Mise-en-scene is something that needs to be constructed very carefully, particularly in music videos where theres less dialogue than in a short film. Mise-en-scene helps make the music video mean something, creating meaning and understanding of the narrative for the audience using different factors that we can see in the frame e.g., costume, location, setting, props, lighting, sound etc. The importance of the setting in constructing meaning for the audience through mise-en-scene is incredibly important. Usually aerial shots/establishing shots are used at the beginning of a scene to show the audience the location the scene is taking place in, in order to set an atmosphere and give them more knowledge. For example Harry Potter used many aerial shots of the castle in order to create meaning for the audience before the film even began.

To conclude, setting and locations in films and music videos are extremely important to get right, they are a big factor in helping to construct a mise-en-scene, and creating meaning for an audience, so I will carefully consider my setting when planning/making my music video.

Character Profiles

In my previous blog post I spoke about how different characters in music videos were important, what makes them iconic and whether or not they add appeal to narrative.  In this post I will write the character profiles for 3 of the characters I spoke about.

Taylor Swift in 'Blank Space'

Name: Taylor Swift (darker version to the real life singer)
Age: 23
Occupation: N/A, Rich girl
Physical Description: Slim, attractive, tidy, sharp and smart, with a classic make-up look.
Relationship Status: In a complicated relationship, however appears to be in different relationships often from the lyrics.
Personality Traits: Sweet turning sour, obsessive, crazy and unstable.
Will audience like or dislike this character?: The audience are not meant to like this character, however the character will be the reason they like the music video as it brings a comical side to the narrative, as Taylor is portraying the untrue image of herself in the media.

Katy Perry in 'Last Friday Night'

Name: Katy Perry
Age: 16/17
Occupation: Nerdy school girl
Physical Description: Slim, all over the place, not very well put together, wearing braces - dressed as a very extreme nerd, dark hair.
Relationship Status: Single, however flirty.
Personality Traits: Nervous, desire to be popular, geeky.
Will audience like or dislike this character?: like, she is funny and innocent with no reason to be disliked, however she may be laughed at/ the centre of the joke.

Harry Styles in 'Best Song Ever'

Name: Marcel
Age: 20
Occupation: Nerdy Costume Designer
Physical Description: Slim, average height, dark hair
Relationship Status: Assume it to be single due to his nervous, jittery, nerdy character.
Personality Traits: Nerdy, nervous but nice.
Will audience like or dislike this character?: very much like, the nerdy side to him is presented in a very endearing way - also even if Harry Styles was a villain the audience would most likely still like him due to his fame and popularity.

Existing Characters

In a music video (MV), the characters and the cast are extremely important. The actor must be of a similar physical description of the character they are playing, for example an old man cant play a 20 year old in a MV. Without the characters, there would be no video, therefore the job of the cast is to perform the role to high standards in order to portray the message/narrative of the film through their body language, dialogue and persona etc.

When we think of a music video, we should (if the video is good) remember the characters in them. There are some characters from MV's I think are very memorable and iconic, making the MV better than it would have been without them. The actor playing the character therefore has great importance.

Character personalities should be suitable for the audience they're performing to, for example if the target audience of the product is children, then the main character should be happy, fun, enticing and perhaps colourful, as this will entice the target audience further.

I don't think the audience get too engaged with characters in music videos as MV's are often only a few minutes long, it isn't enough time to get to know the character and sympathise/engage with them, I believe it would be easier for the audience to engage with a character in a short film as there is more time to get to know them and understand their story and personality. This however doesn't mean people cant enjoy the characters or like them, they can still engage with MV characters however only to an extent, unless of course they relate to the lyrics or situation.

Below are three existing characters from some music videos with why I think they're suitable for the narrative/video, what makes them iconic/memorable and whether they appeal to the narrative ... or not.

You can see character profiles for these characters in another blog post

Katy Perry in 'Last Friday Night'

Katy starts in the music video as a nerd at a party, the costume is very full on with braces, a brace around the face, glasses and a plait with bright clips in. The narrative is about this nerd becoming popular at a party and undergoing a transformation to be 'cooler' which means the character does appeal to the narrative as there is room for a transformation and it adds an element of comedy. The narrative isn't as good as any of the other music videos I will talk about in this post, however Katy's character is memorable due to how quirky she is.

Taylor Swift in 'Blank Space'

Taylor Swift plays an excellent character in 'Blank Space', she starts off (as you can see above) as a dark, mysterious, yet elegant and classy character. One of the first things we notice about her is her wealth as we see her mansion with 'Cinderella'-like stairs as she appears to lure the male in. Whilst it appears she's looking for love, there's an eery side to her character and the lyrics. Her face appears stone cold as she looks in the camera saying shes dying to see how "this one ends", this is the point we begin to see the obsessive and very weird/abnormal side to this character coming out.

She throws pots at the male when she finds he may be talking to someone else and turns into a psycho obsessive girlfriend, putting knives in, and tearing up her 'lovers' photo.

We then see a more calmed down version of Taylors character, she is warning that "boys only want love if its torture, don't say I didn't warn you", this again is a very extreme view that all boys are going to hurt their girl, she says this whilst holding an apple - here her character looks very similar to 'snow white', which suggests to us she is holding a poisonous apple.

Taylor Swifts character in this music video is incredibly memorable and iconic, Taylor herself explained this video was about mocking the comments she gets in the media about her having a different boyfriend every 5 minutes and the fact she only dates to write breakup songs. This video exaggerates that media view, its different and almost comedic, and the characters personality definitely fits with the lyrics they are singing. Taylor Swift is also an incredibly successful solo artist, anything she creates has popular demand, for example this music video has over 1 billion views, so I think this added to the popularity and memorability of the video. The fact Taylor is the main character adds a huge appeal to the narrative, purely because of the story behind it that the audience know, making it comedic. The male character will also add appeal due to his good looks and the fact he looks like the male Taylor is describing at the start e.g. "new, money, suit and tie".

This is one of my favourite music videos and I'm not the biggest Taylor Swift fan, therefore I think the casting choices and performance in this music video as well as the narrative are the reasons why it's so successful.

One Direction in 'Best Song Ever'

'Best Song Ever' was one of the most anticipated music videos of 2013, the idea behind it was that one direction would play themselves, and then another character in the music industry. So they were all playing 2 characters. Below is an image of each one of the boys and the character they played.

Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan played middle aged music managers, Liam Payne played a camp dance choreographer, Harry Styles played a geeky costume designer and Zayn Malik played a female assistant. 

The characters are so memorable and iconic because of how funny they are both in looks and how they act/what they do, it is also comedic as the 5 boys all dress up as different people, yet look so realistic. 

The song/narrative of the music video is about the 5 boys rebelling against Hollywood and its management of music, and it includes each one of the boys and the characters they play dancing together and breaking rules. The characters are the main attraction in this music video therefore they add huge appeal to the narrative. It was suitable for the One Direction boys to play two parts because it is them in the band after all, they could have chose regular managers and costume designers to play the other roles however it wouldn't have been as funny and therefore would have taken away one of the main appeals of the video, perhaps making it less memorable.

Auteur Theory; Tim Burton

In French, Auteur means 'Author'. Auteur theory holds that the director is the main creative force behind the film, the director's job is to oversee the visual and audio elements of the film and, according to the auteur theory, is considered the author of the film, more than the actual writer is.

An auteur director is usually defined so by their repeated original signature characteristics  they include in their films and their quirky style that distinguish their group of films from all others; when you watch a film directed by them, you automatically know who the director is. For example, Tim Burton is someone I would strongly believe to be an auteur director.

Born in California 1958, Burton was described as a creative child with a wild imagination however was also non academic. He went to the California institute of arts and was later hired at Disneys production animations studio as a concept artist. If you're familiar with Burtons style you can imagine, his style heavily clashed with Disney's, resulting in his departure from this role as he went on to produce and direct his own films.

Tim Burton style films often appeared twisted and abnormal with abstract concepts. They are dark and have a gothic quirk however aren't considered classic horror. They are often films for a younger audience, particularly his animated ones, such as Coraline. Aside from this style, Burton manages to incorporate humour and an upbeat feel to the films he directs, which is what makes him so popular.

The main characters in his films are usually troubled in some way, they're erratic and unusual as well as often being lonely, however they can be humorous, which forms a clear contrast and a contradiction within the characters personality. A perfect example of this is the 'Mad Hatter' in 'Alice in Wonderland'.

The situations/story lines of his directed films are also abnormal and bizarre, which adhere to his child like imagination, this can be seen in films such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Burton also uses flashbacks in a number of his films to recall events that have happened to the main character in the past, his film 'Big Fish' is essentially a film full of flashbacks as the father recalls events to his doubting son.

Burton has also repeatedly used the same cast members in many of his films, for example Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, as these actors in particular seem to really grasp Tim's visions for his characters.

In order to show Burtons style of dark twisted concepts, bizarre situations, erratic+unusual characters, contrasting humour and use of flashbacks, here are some examples of films he has directed, and some stand-out characters.

ALICE AND WONDERLAND

Alice is a 19 year old who's troubled by a disturbing, strange and repetitive dream as she mourns her beloved fathers death. She runs after a rabbit in a blue waistcoat as he looks familiar to her, and falls into a rabbit hole, transporting into a world called 'underland'. She is greeted by talking animals who ask if she is "the right Alice" who will slay the red queens Jabberwocky and restore power to the White Queen. This is quite an imaginative and quirky storyline with humour in it through the animals and characters personalities.

The Mad Hatter is the most quirky and troubled main character, Burton says his character was relevant to the film as him and alice "both feel like outsiders and feel alone in their separate worlds, and have a special bond and friendship." With this character we can see many underlying problems however he literally is mad, which brings around the funny side of things. Burton and Johnny Depp agreed the Hatter's clothes, skin, hair, personality and accent would change throughout the film to reflect his emotions. Burton explains "his emotions are very close to the surface, he is very extreme" which reflects a more dangerous side to the character.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Charlie lives in poverty with his parents. Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is reopening and he announces five golden tickets will be hidden in his chocolate bars and that the winner will be presented with an unknown grand prize. Charlie wins a ticket however his experience of the factory is very strange. The factory is run by wonka's orange dwarf friends which he calls oompa loompa's. In the end, Charlie wins the grand prize and moves into the chocolate factory with his family. This conforms to Burtons style of having a wild imaginative side to his films, with chocolate rivers and houses made of sweets, and the odd eerie side from the oompa loom pa's along with wonka's skittish, some how unpredictable character.

Wonka is a strange character, he acts odd when parents are mentioned and seems like a lonely and troubled soul. He has short orange friends called oompa loompa's. We learn Wonka had a difficult past and was forbidden from eating sweets and chocolate as a child. This kind of character is unsurprising to find in a Tim Burton film, as he often has a troubled main character with an abnormal personality.

Aside from this, the film is happy and up beat, its also quite a fun storyline that would appeal to children; the target audience.

BIG FISH

Edward bloom lives in a fantasy world, he repeats many stories to his family and friends that almost seem too crazy to be true. For example, he tells the tale that he caught a giant uncatchable fish with his wedding ring as the bait. Will, his son, is particularly annoyed by his fathers imaginative tales, believing he will never hear the real truth about anything to do with his fathers life. There is no trust, and so the father and son don't speak for 3 years until Edward suddenly falls ill and they reconcile.

The stories Wills father tells include...
he meets a witch who shows him how he will die, he was attached to a bed for three years because of his body growth rate, he became a well known athlete, had a giant friend, stayed in a hidden town, met a mermaid, worked at a circus, knew of a werewolf, fought in the Koran war, and knew Siamese twins.

Rather than the actual story being fun and imaginative, Burton has directed the film so that all the flashbacks and supposed memories are fun and imaginative. As well as this, instead of having one troubled character, we see a troubled relationship between the father and son. These are slight changes to Burtons usual style however aren't so drastic that we wouldn't know it was him directing the film.

The ending is more emotional that most burton films however conforms to his style in that it has a somewhat happy/bittersweet ending where Will realises there was truth in all of his fathers stories, he was just told them in a more fantastical way, and he leaves his father on a happy and understanding note.

CORALINE

Coraline and her family move into an old house where she discovers a locked door in the living area. They unlock this door and discover it has been filled with bricks. Coraline is warned by her neighbours to not go through the door as they read her future and see she is in danger. Regardless, Coraline opens the door when she's home alone, and instead of seeing bricks she see's a long hallway leading to a home identical to hers, however the parents in this home are called 'the other mother' and 'the other father' who, in the place of eyes have buttons.

Initially the “Other World” is much more appealing  to Coraline, for example, the cat can talk and her parents are nicer. Coraline is then offered to stay in the other world on the condition that she sews in button eyes, and so the twisted story continues. The film definitely has Burton's style, it's dark and twisted yet quirky and interesting with some up-beat parts.

Coraline is troubled by her dilemma on which world she prefers, rather than being a necessarily troubled character, she is torn. However she does have a skittish, strange, on edge personality and acts slightly depressed at the fact she has had to move away from her home. The film does have some up-beat parts in it  however has an underlying down tone to it.


Overall, Tim Burton's directing style is so distinctive, and that is why I believe him to be an Auteur Theorist/Director.

Levi Strauss Narrative Theory

Levi Strauss was a French anthropologist who argued all narratives can be reduced to binary opposittes. He believed the way we understand words depends on our understanding of the difference between the word and its opposite.

For example, our understanding of the word 'weak' depends on the difference between that and 'strong'. Within the media, binary opposites can be used to signify two extremes as they emphasise eachothers difference, its particularly used in fantasy genres as we see the difference between 'good' and 'evil', or in horror films when we see the difference between 'sanity' and 'insanity'.

HOW DOES THIS THEORY FIT INTO MUSIC VIDEOS?

This theory fits very well into music videos, however we don't always see the binary opposites at the same point... for example, we could see one character who is angelic, and another who is evil OR we could see the evil character then transform into an angelic one.

A good example of this is 'Black Magic' by Little Mix's music video. At the beginning LM are incredibly nerdy and unpopular, and by the end they are the most popular. Also at the beginning of this video, we see a friendship group the exact opposite of Little Mix's nerdy one, which is another way of using binary opposites to create meaning and emphasise the conflicting characteristics in each group.

I think using binary opposites is a perfect way to emphasise and create meaning for an audience, however I personally believe the theory is more suited to the fantasy genre, which is why I most likely won't include binary opposites, or use this theory, in my final product.

Barthes Narrative Theory

I made a slideshare presentation rather than a blogpost to talk about this, the link is below!

http://www.slideshare.net/aaldrismedia/barthes-narrative-theory-and-music-videos

Todorov's Narrative Theory

Todorov was a Literary theorist from Bulgaria. The model below displays his theory.

EQUILIBRIUM -> DISEQUILIBRIUM -> NEW EQUILIBRIUM

He suggested that the majority of narratives would start with a state of equilibrium, this means it would be balanced and harmonious, life would be normal and the protagonist is happy. Todorov then stated that after this state of equilibrium and normality there would be an unbalance, called 'disequilibrium'. The normality would be disrupted for some reason for example due to discovering a secret, new information or because a villain was unhappy with a certain situation. This disequilibrium then has to be fought in order to restore peace where a new equilibrium is reached.

This model can easily be applied to many films, however I have found that it isn't always the protagonist that is happy in the first equilibrium, it can be the majority of characters that are happy but isn't necessarily the main character.  I have also found that some films may continue this cycle twice. I have written a few examples below.

'Frozen' (2013) -  The equilibrium here is Elsa living with this power that no one is aware of, everyone is happy with the exception of her because she is having to conceal who she is and what she is capable of due to the fear that she might hurt someone. This is normal for Elsa and its a balance. The disequilibrium begins when elsa accidentally reveals to everyone that she has powers, people begin to think she is a villain and so she runs away, builds her own castle and a new equilibrium is found when she decides to stay there as its the only place she can be free to be herself. There is then a new disequilibrium as Ana, her sister, decides to go on a mission to save her sister and to bring back summer to their kingdom. The final new equilibrium is reached when Ana manages to save her sister and her sister realises how to control her powers, everyone is happy and the story ends on a positive note. Here you see Todorov's theory becomes a cycle repeating twice

'Mean Girls' (2004) - In this film Todorov's model fits perfectly. The equilibrium is the girl, Cady, moving to america, going to school and settling down with some friends. The disequilibrium arrives when Cady becomes one of the 'Plastics', joining the wrong group of girls at school getting her into a lot of trouble. The new equilibrium appears when Cady finally gets her head down into work, makes up with the girls she fell out with and realises that theres more to life than being 'pretty' and 'plastic'. The film ends by showing the group of girls split up, talking to new people and doing good things rather than the way it was back at the beginning of the film when they acted as a clique and caused hassle.

'The Parent Trap' (1998) - Yet again, this film fits very well with Todorov's model. There is an equilibrium at the start of the film where two girls are in a camp and are fairly happy in their lives, however unlike Todorov suggests, they are not completely happy. Both of the girls are missing one parent and the disequilibrium starts when they realise they are actually long lost sisters and decide to swap lives after the summer camp. A new temporary (the fact its temporary is also known to them as they know they will have to go back to their normal lives eventually) equilibrium comes around when the 'other twin' settles in with the 'other parent' and yet again another disequilibrium is arrived at when parents realised what has happened and the father has a potential new spouse and so the twins decide to try and get their distant parents back together. After a lot of drama, a final new equilibrium is reached, where the family are all joined together once more, the twins are no longer separated, and the parents are back in love.

The three examples above show that it is very common for films to show changes in equilibrium as this is what makes a storyline, however there are some films that end in a state between disequilibrium and a new equilibrium, such as 'the vow' where the wife hasn't yet recalled her memory however is starting to fall back in love with someone who was once her husband.

All of this shows that, especially as time has gone on, Todorov's theory is the backbone concept of most films, however this can be adjusted in many ways, such as ending the cycle in between stages (a cliff-hanger) or repeating the cycle twice. This just depends on the storyline and the effect the producers of a film want to go for.

HOW DOES THIS THEORY FIT INTO A MUSIC VIDEO?

Because most music videos come from inspiration of love or a problem, and the narrative relates almost exactly to the lyrics, there isn't usually 3 stages of equilibrium, there is usually a beginning where there is an unbalance or a problem, and the end is usually more uplifting towards the bridge of the song, creating a new equilibrium. (more two stages than three).

It is more difficult to fit this theory in with a music video than it is with a short film due to the fact narratives usually closely follow the lyrics of a song.  However this only applies to music videos that like to create meaning - some don't. For example Ed Sheerans - Photograph doesn't contain a strong narrative although the lyrics have the potential to, it just contains a lot of home videos of Ed growing up.

Overall, I think this theory can fit into music videos depending on the lyrics, but when it fits, it can create very good results.

Propp's Narrative Theory

I have made a slideshare rather than a blogpost to talk about this, you can find the link below!!!

http://www.slideshare.net/aaldrismedia/propps-narrative-theory-and-music-videos

Narrative conventions

This is a post about the conventions of narratives in different genres

Comedy

In a comedy genre music video there is no direct set narrative, the narrative is set around whatever it is that is funny (such as in gangnam style it is set around the dance). Conventions of it include being funny, light hearted, uplifting and not to be taken too seriously. The lighting should be bright and the characters should wear casual clothing or comedic costume whilst being happy. The narrative will usually be about whatever it is that is funny for the whole music video.

Horror

In a horror music video there will usually be a villain/false hero,  a heroine and sometimes a hero. This applies in MJ's Thriller video. The villain will be after the heroine and hero but the hero will protect the heroine OR the villain in fact is the hero (so its a false hero) and therefore the heroine has no hope. The narrative will build a lot of tension as there should be different stages to the story (unlike the comedy genre where there will be a contant balance throughout the video rather than a disequilibrium) and cause the viewers to ask a lot of questions. The lighting will be dark and dingy and should also be enticing scary.

Drama

A dramatic narrative usually entails a traumatic event occurring, showing how the characters deal with the event to try and overcome it and restore normality. Dramatic narratives are usually quite intense and emotional, completely opposite to light hearted films. Lighting and the mise-en-scene will vary as dramatic films take you on an emotional rollercoaster, they are often quite moving therefore lighting + sound will change at different high and low points of the story.

Romance

A romantic narrative will most often tell the story of how the couple met, the process of them becoming a couple, them as a couple and any hardships they face. It also may include milestones a couple can reach together for example marriage and children. The narratives aren't incredibly light hearted or intense, however they can be moving and heart warming due to the romantic side of it. They are quite easy to watch however can become emotional at times as its a very popular genre because of the amount of people that can relate to it.

Family

A family genre's narrative is usually light hearted, although it will almost always include a moral for children or the audience to learn from after watching the media product e.g. family is important, or treat people as you like to be treated. Family music videos/films are often moving but enjoyable and easy to watch, their storylines/narratives are easy to follow and you don't have to think to much in order to understand it.

Documentary

The narrative in a documentary takes you on a journey, it will most often start from the beginning to end of a story and take you and show you what the characters are going through at each point. It can be both light hearted and heavy, for example it could be a documentary of a teenager organising a party and then show you them having it, or it could be a documentary showing you the story of an emotional break up. It is usually used for real life scenarios and ties in well with genres such as romance and drama however ties in less well with genres such as comedy and horror.

Kids

A kids genre narrative is extremely light hearted as it would be inappropriate to expose a child to an intense storyline that could upset them. The narratives would usually deliver a simple and basic moral or try and teach the child something intellectually, so that watching the final product would benefit the child in some way, so that they were learning. Usually there will always be a disequilibrium within the narrative however wont be too intense, and the characters almost always fit that of Propp's character types. This genre's narrative is well suited to the fantasy narrative, they are well paired together.

Existing Narratives

A narrative is "A spoken or written account of connected events; a story", a narrative of a music video is its storyline.

From this definition you can immediately see narrative is extremely important in any media product whether it be a film, TV programme or a music video, as without a storyline there is ultimately no purpose for the product.

A narrative needs to be gripping, enticing and interesting to the audience, otherwise they will certainly not watch it never mind enjoy it. I personally think creativity and originality is key when deciding on a narrative, people like to see something new, not another version of something they have seen many times before

In relation to a music video, narrative most often works to portray a message to the audience, this can either be directly, or metaphorically through hidden meanings. This can be done by using the actors body language, performance and dialogue, it can even be done using words popping up on the screen or being written by characters. The way this is done is incredibly important as that in itself can be a part of the hidden meaning...

...For example, in Emile Sande's music video for 'Clown', words flash up on the screen to show the dialogue, this is to emphasise the fact in this video Emeli does not have a voice, no one is listening to her - therefore no noise is coming out of her mouth, just words on the screen of what she really thinks and wants to say, showing her lack of importance in this video.

Below are different music videos from different genres with their narratives written next to them, in another blog post I shall write the conventions of narratives in each genre.

a) Comedy -> Gangham Style, Psy ---> This music video doesn't really have much of a narrative, Psy appears to be taking this famous dance to different places teaching people it and following different people around with it before performing it right at the end with a very big crowd. The narrative is centred around the dance as in almost every scene he is doing it. There is also a theme of him being attracted to girls who are doing it and that the girls are attracted to him doing it, perhaps portraying the message that this dance is attractive to the opposite sex and even the same no matter who you are. Unfortunately the words are not in english meaning the mass audience will not understand it which is why its important the narrative is simple and enticing, which it is, hence why it is viral at over 2 and a half BILLION views.

b) Horror -> Thriller, Michael Jackson ---> The narrative here appears to have multiple dimensions. It begins with a scene where MJ + his girlfriend are actually characters in a film they are watching where he turns into a werewolf, MJ is enjoying the film, however the girl is not. He begins to tease her as they walk through the graveyard, however they soon become surrounded by zombies, when MJ then becomes one. The girl is terrified and as she falls to the floor screaming, she wakes up from her dream where MJ is laughing. He calms her down, but when he turns around he has the eyes he had as the werewolf. I like the dimensions in this narrative as it keeps the 13 minute long music video interesting and enticing.

c) Drama -> Irreplaceable, Beyonce ---> The narrative in this video shows a girl breaking up with her boyfriend as he moves out, it is a female empowerment anthem as you begin to get to the end of the music video and see that beyonce is singing the song with many other single women of whom seem to strongly agree with the lyrics. The narrative is ultimately a girl breaking up with her cheating boyfriend and her putting her foot down showing him he can't have her back and she will find someone much better than him.

d) Romance -> You belong with me, Taylor Swift ---> The narrative here is apparently directed to the teenage audience. It's about the popular 'soccer' boy being stuck in a relationship he isn't happy in, the girl desperately wants him to notice her and see her in a light other than being 'just friends'. Eventually him and his girlfriend break up and Taylor turns up to prom, transformed from nerdy to pretty, and the two of them end up together.

e) Family -> Bad Blood, Taylor Swift ---> This narrative is playful and to be taken light heartedly but had an underlying message of someone who had broken ones trust creating 'bad blood'. Catastrophe and Arsyn are fighting the bad, then Arsyn ends up fighting Catastrophe. This leads to bad blood between the two former friends and Catastrophe building an army to fight Arsyn's. Its a simple but effective narrative conforming to the conventions of a family genre music video and is also enjoyable to watch with its all star cast.

f) Documentary -> A Moment Like This, Leona Lewis ---> This music video fits the documentary genre perfectly. The narrative is about Leona Lewis' journey from auditioning for the x factor to winning it. It shows her audition and other flashbacks in black and white and occasionally cuts to present day with Leona as the winner singing into a microphone in a grand venue. I really enjoy the simple narrative behind this as it is emotional and reflective of an incredible story to success.

Treatments for Shorts - Basic Ideas

I have researched a variety of different genres of music video's and below you will see very basic ideas I have begun to construct for each genre in preparation for developing my idea for my own music video.

Horror

Song to use: Madhouse - Little Mix

Lyrics from the song: "Everywhere I look I'm shook I got bloodshot eyes, I'm like a fugitive tryna climb the walls but my hands are tied, in just one touch and I'm infected by the sound crawling all over my skin and the sky is falling down, I don't know what's happening, beats so sick"

Idea for Narrative: The girl has just got out of a relationship that has drove her mad, she see's and hears things and is trying to get revenge on her ex. As she wakes up she realises it was just a dream, but then her boyfriend breaks up with her...

Documentary

Song to use: The Climb - Miley Cyrus

Lyrics from the song: "I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming, but there's a voice inside my head saying, you'll never reach it. Every step I'm taking, every move I make feels lost with no direction"

Idea for Narrative: a girl has achieved her dream and is now looking back on the struggles and worries she had about it when she was younger, the moral of the story being, go for your dreams.

Mockumentary

Song to use: Alessia Cara

Lyrics from the song: "I'm sorry if I seem uninterested or I'm not listenin' or I'm indifferent. Truly, I ain't got no business here, but since my friends are here I just came to kick it"

Idea for Narrative: This would be mocking the typical character types at parties, the uncontrollable drunk, the gossiper, the ones doing drugs, the girl getting with every guy, the guy who loves himself etc and the main character will be at the centre of it not enjoying herself at all.

Romance

Song to use: Say Love - Jojo

Lyrics from the song: "you just say I'm perfect, say I'm pretty, say I'm worth it, but if you really care for me, say love, I want you to say love, when I say love you, you just say me too, but I want you to say love"

Idea for Narrative: Typical teenage romance story, includes flashbacks of the couple getting together, the girl worries that the boy is a player and we can see that he is but all she wants is for him to love her the way she loves him

Comedy

Song to use: I'm Yours - Jason Mraz

Lyrics from the song: "I tried to be chill, but you're so hot that I melted I fell right through the cracks now I'm trying to get back"

Idea for Narrative: An unpopular nerd at high school has a crush on one of the girls who would never look at him, everyone laughs at him for pushing too far out of his league but he keeps trying and being persistent. The video would contain funny scenes of the nerd trying to get the girls attention and at the end they get together.

Drama

Song to use: Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Ray

Lyrics from the song: "I've seen the world, lit it up as my stage now. Channeling angels in the new age now. Will you still love me when I'm no longer young and beautiful? Will you still love me when I got nothing but my aching soul?"

Idea for Narrative: A woman is in her prime, she's achieving all her dreams but realises the fame and popularity means nothing. She see's how many people love and admire her but wonders if she wasn't famous would it be the same? she leaves it all behind in hope to find TRUE love.

Documentary Music Video Textual Analysis

Little Mix's Cannonball is a documentary style music video, the narrative being their journey from the beginning of the x factor, to winning it. You can find this video below.

The video starts with photos capturing the moment Little Mix won the famous singing  competition, with reactions from the judges, their family/friends, and themselves. In the second part of the first verse we then see a live performance begin, and this is the backbone for the rest of the video as the narrative always comes back to this.

Flashbacks then begin, we see the beginning of little mix where the four girls walk out onto the stage at boot-camp and are put together, the shot is constantly switching between flashbacks and the live performance. The flashbacks are really relevant and significant, there are a lot of reaction close-up shots making the narrative emotional and more heart-felt. We see the four girls friendship grow and the pride their families have for them.

At the bridge, the background music is turned down and we can only hear Jade Thirlwall's vocals, this is perfect for building tension and so the shot of the girls standing with their opponent waiting to see who has won, is perfect. As the winner is announced the loud backing music and chorus is played with all of the girls singing. The music fits with the video perfectly.

We then see the aftermath of Little Mix winning the X Factor, with their family and friends jumping up and down, their mentor crying etc, it is a very emotional and uplifting video.

The final shot is a 'Zoom-Out' from the X Factor stage into the audience fading to black, which I really like as it signifies the end - the end of the competition.

The only part that is lip-synced is the live performance, the key characters are Little Mix and there are no credits but the rights to SimCo. There is no dialogue we can hear, however we see people talking and can guess what they're saying, for example Tulisa letting little mix know they've made it to the next round. I really like this effect as it means the audience have to think a little bit.

Overall I really like the style of this music video as it reveals a true story as the music emphasises the emotion. I want to mirror this in my own video and be able to successfully tell an inspiring story or deliver an inspiring message.