Narrative structure theory

Levi Strauss analysed mythology. Myths from different cultures from the globe seem similar; Strauss didn’t focus on the concept of myths but the structure of them. A myth is from the past, a timeless story. He also thoroughly analysed the language of the myth that it has told be told in order for it to exist. He links myth and language and forms relationships based on opposites of which provides structure.Tzventan Torodov strived to simplify the narrative theory also allowed a more complex interpretation of film text with his theory of equilibrium and disequilibrium. His theory in a nutshell was that fictional environment begins with a state of equilibrium (everything how it should be) it then , towards the middle has some sort of disruption, followed by a new equiklbrium produced at the end of the narrative.Vlamdimi Propp investigated traditional stories, and suggested that there are set characters and a limited number of props and action.

The 8 character roles are:

1. The villain(s)

2. The hero

3. The donor ‑ who provides an object with some magic property.

4. The helper who aids the hero.

5. The princess (the sought for person) ‑ reward for the hero and object of the villain's schemes.

6. Her father ‑ who rewards the hero.

7. The dispatcher ‑ who sends the hero on his way.

8. The false hero

Torodov’s theory will be essential for my music video as it follows this structure to some degree, for instance, Adiat and Iva will appear to be best of friends, however when the scene changes we realise that there is a destructive route, which is then resolved in implied death, or breaking of friendship, (however the audience wishes to interpret it.Similarly, Propps’ idea of heroes and villains will come in handy as Iva will come across as though she is the ‘goody’, innocent, dressed in white, and Iva dressed with black attire, giving sly smiles as if to say ‘ I know what you did’ but behind Adiat’s back.

Music Channel Reaearch

3 music tv channels that i would broadcast my music video on:

Q TV is a UK music channel based on Q Magazine, launched in 2000. It is operated by Box Televison, and specialises in indie, rock and alternative. In common with other EMAP channels, Q was originally a jukebox channel, where music video selections made were by the viewers using premium rate phone lines; however this element was dropped in 2004

Starz (formerly Fizz TV) is a digital satellite TV channel, owned by Mushroom TV Ltd. It is available through Sky Digital within the United Kingdom on channel 371.
The output of the station is music videos from a range of genres that are currently popular in the charts. This is unlike its sister channel Channel AKA, which is more focused on Grime and UK hip hop.

Magic TV is a British music television station owned by Box Television. It plays mainly easy listening music videos and is based on the Magic Radio network also owned by Bauer.large section of daytime is now dedicated to 'Today's Magic Hits' to keep up with the current market.

Music Video Independent Research

The term "pop song" is first recorded as being used in 1926 in the sense of a piece of music "having popular appeal.Starting in the 1950s the term "pop music" has been used to describe a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market. Pop music began in the 1950's as a softer alternative to rock music which is where most of its stlylistic origins came from along with jazz, doo-woop and dance music.

Three Kings/Queens of pop are:

• Madonna
  


• Michael Jackson
  


• Britney Spears
  

it is hard to tell what the first music video ever made was, however 'video killed the radio star' was the first video to be played on tv, on MTV in 1981.Most people were excited by the invention of music videos as it gave them an oppurtunity to see their favourite artist regularly and in a new light. the track 'video killed the radio star' celebrates the golden days of radio, describing a singer whose career is cut short by television. the theme of the song is mainly nostalgia. Music videos have evolved tremendously over the last 10 years, in terms of performances, narration, costumes, themes and especially special effects.

Planing-Details of chosen track and Ideas

The track we chose to do a video for was 'Secret' by 'The pierces'.

Lyrics:

Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it, in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you
Won't tell what I said
Cause two can keep a secret
If one of the m is dead…

Why do you smile
Like you have told a secret
Now you're telling lies
Cause you're the one to keep it
But no one keeps a secret
No one keeps a secret
Why when we do our darkest deeds
Do we tell?
They burn in our brains
Become a living hell
Cause everyone tells
Everyone tells…

Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it, in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you
Won't tell what I said
Cause two can keep a secret
If one of the m is dead…

Look into my eyes
Now you're getting sleepy
Are you hypnotized
By secrets that you're keeping?
I know what you're keeping
I know what you're keeping

Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it, in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you
Won't tell what I said
Cause two can keep a secret
If one of the m is dead…

[spoken]
Alison?
Yes, Katherine.
I have something I want to tell you, but
you have to promise to never tell anyone.
I promise
Do you swear on your life?
I swear on my life

[end spoken]

You swore you'd never tell…
You swore you'd never tell…

You swore you'd never tell…
You swore you'd never tell…

Got a secret
Can you keep it?
Swear this one you'll save
Better lock it, in your pocket
Taking this one to the grave
If I show you then I know you
Won't tell what I said
Cause two can keep a secret
If one of the m is dead…
(chorus x 3)

Yes two can keep a secret
If one of us is…. Dead.

The genre of this song is a kind of folk/indie. My group chose it because it was original and unique. the main ideas at first was to portray the lyics in our video, so to show two friends who were really close and then one of them betrays the others secret and there friendship is ruined and the girl wants revenge for her friends betrayel. the production was to be performance and narrative based, but have an equal balance of both so the film dosent look like a mini film instead of a music video.

Textual Analysis Snoop Dogg Video

I will be analysing the video for snoop dogg song 'sensual seduction' released in 2007. the video has a 70's style theme which goes with the song as it also has an old-school sound. there is not a definitive narrative about this song and like most hip hop or rap songs its general theme is about women, sex and drugs. women are represented as sexy or sexual and we get an impression that thier sole purpose in the video is to entertain and please men.
stereotypes of women are somewhat confirmed as sex kittans for example by their clothing in the video which is very sexy and glamorous.Snoop Dog is the only main male in the video and is represnted as a dominant boss like figure, who is surrounded by beautiful women wanting toplease him. this is a sterotype often associated with men as it seen to be every mans fantasy nd the text elumintaes this. i think those stereotypes have been used for both women, beacuse its something that audiences can relate to, as steretypes are familiar and easily recognisable. female audiences are most likely to respond negatively to this text as its nothing they can relate to, the songs lyrics are a males objectifiaction of women and the video supports this with half-naked women andd the video supports these representations by the costumes that the women in the video wear, which are revealing while snoop dogg sports a 70's style suit.
i would say that the tagert audience for thistext would be mainly gender or anyone whos enjoys this genre of music.

Textual Analysis of Michael Jacksons Thriller

In this essay i will be analyzing one of musics most memorable music videos to date,Michael jackson's thriller. At the time of its release, 1984, there had never been a music video and it was the first to have a movie like style to a music video. this video has alot of devices and effects which make it spectacular.
In the video there are alot of relationships between sound and images. for example when we hear the lyrics 'you hear the door slam' we hear a sound effect of a door closing and michael jackson does an action as if he is slamming a door. Also, the narration in the song tells us whats going on in the video, for example the narration talks about things lurking in the night as the zombies come out of the graves.

the mise-en-scene of this video os very dark and foggy and for the most part, set in an isolated area where there seems to be alot of warehouses and such. this is a very typical setting for a horro movie, which is the theme the video is set on. the mysterious fog and isolated area gives the audience a feeling something bad is about to happen. in addition the graveyard scene is very typical of a horror movie. the costumes in this video are very significant. Michael Jackson is wearing a bright red leather jacket and bright red trousers with his trademark white socks visible, this outfit was very stylish in its time and proved to be quite effective as in the 80's shortly after the videos release, many people were dressed like that. this outfit also makes Michael jackson stand out as the real contrasts with other dull and dark colours. the female lead in the video is very stylish and trendy for the time, she sports a denim outfit with stilletos which exude class. the make-ip in this video is also very spectacular, especially on the zombies as it looks very realistic and effective.

some of the effects used in the video consist of the film within a film but at the beginning of the video. the video starts with a couple in a car who have run out of gas and they begin walking in the woods where the male turns into a werewolf. suddenly we see michael jacson and the female lead watchingthis at the cinema. Another effect used is the fog surrounding the graveyard and coming out of the grave along with the zombies. this gives a very erie feeling and reinforces the horror movie effect created in american werewolf and dawn of the dead.

the video consists of alot of tracking shots, following michael jackson and the female as they walk through the abondoned area, there is akso alot of long shots used accompined by mid long shots throughout the video walking sequence. few close-ups are used at the begininnig of MJ's face and later during the dance sequence. a high angled long shot is used as MJ and the female are surrounded by the zombies empasizing their vulnerabiltiy in the situation. one of the most effective moments of the video is when the camera is panning around the zombies and MJ and the girl, suddenly there is a close-up of the female looking terrified and then the camera pans around to MJ, who has turned into a zombie, the camera then cuts to the female lead, and the background zooms whilst she is stood still without moving, this emphasizes her disorientation and confusion because of what has just happened. as there is alot of long takes in this video, the shots are not edited very much. at the beginning of the dance sequence after MJ has turned, there is a slight low angle of him, showing him as scary and intimidating, there is then a high angle shot showing al the zombies, again this effect is to show the impact of all of them against one girl. suddenly MJ back to normal and we return to centre frame, suggesting everything is back to normal.

the intertextuality refrences in this video are to the movies American werewolf and the dawn of the dead which are both horror movies and this video has a horror theme. the american werewolf intertextuality is at the beginning in the cinema and the dawn of the dead intertextuality is throughout the video as the theme is zombies.

the video is a combination of performance, narrative and concept which is one of the things along with the mise-en-scene, camera, editings and the overall concept that make it one of the greatest videos of all time.

Planning- Location shots

Location- Outside the clink museum

Peformer-Iva

Performer- Iva

Planning- Storyboard

storyboard for music video, brief outline and plan of what we are going to film.

Planning- Audience Research

Questionnaire

Please choose the boxes which are appilicable to you. Quantitative Research: questionnaire for 30 people
1. Gender? (Tick appropriate): [ ] Male or [ ] Female

2. Age range? (tick appropriate)13-15 [ ] 16-18 [ ] 19-21 [ ] 22+ [ ]

3. Gender? (tick appropriate)
Male{[ ] Female [ ]

4. What type of music genres do you listen to? (Multiple choices allowed)Rock [ ] R&B [ ] Pop [ ] Hip-Hop [ ] Dance [ ] Classical [ ] Heavy Metal [ ]Other _________

5. What music TV channels do you watch and why? (Multiple choices allowed)TMF [ ] MTV [ ] Chart Hits [ ] Scuzz [ ] MTV Classic [ ] Smash hits [ ] Vibe [ ]Kerrang [ ] the Box [ ] Other _________
6. Favourite 3 music videos, why?…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. What type of music video do you prefer?Narrative Based¹ [ ] Performance Based² [ ] Concept Based³ [ ]
Combination of these styles [ ]8. Does a good music video make you want to buy the track?Yes [ ] No [ ]
9. What type of music promotion appeals to you the most?Billboards [ ] Posters [ ] Magazine Adverts [ ] TV Adverts [ ] Radio commercials [ ]Internet [ ]
10. What do you look for in a print based advert for a music group or artist?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………11. What do you look for in a DVD or CD cover?…………………………………………………………………………………………………

RESPONSES FROM GROUP: aged 18-23

“ You should have a goth-like theme…”-Adiat Bucharan

“ Should definitely include props of some sort of funfair rides and black/grey colour scheme for the props”-Bianca Williams

“you should add additional theme colours , like red, black and white so they convey certain messages” –Sabine Newman

“ your song would appeal to teenagers who enjoy indie ,pop and rock”-Ayrton Noye-George

“ I think you should try to create the narrative of the song in the video and include various performance shots and emphasize the evilness of the main singer” – Ahmed Hassan

Evaluation of comments: Many people within the focus group commented that the theme colours of the video should portray the dark and gothic tone of the song. They suggested the colours red, black, grey and white would be appropriate to use.

Members of the group also suggested we add funfair rides into the background of certain shots so it appeals to the younger audience. Based upon the feedback from the focus group we will take into consideration the colour schemes suggested and definitely incorporate the colours proposed as we feel they will convey the morbid tone of the track and use techniques to appeal to younger members of the audience.
Out of 30 :23 listened to hip-hop and R&B -7 listen to rock ,soul and gospel
16 watched MTV base and Kiss -14 watches Scuzz,VH1,Magic and The Hits 28 liked music videos with good lyrics and graphics- 2 liked good narratives 18 appealed to internet and magazine advertising - 12 appealed to posters and billboard advertising.23 looked for bold headings and picture of the artist on print based advertising.People look for bold headings, interesting photography, picture of the artist and a sample of the song the cd/dvd features -
7 looked for simplicity and symbols.