50 Shades of Narrative:

In order to attain more knowledge about linear and non-linear narratives I "attempted" to create my own, using the song "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman, as the lyrics follow a clear story line which could be used as the basis for a linear narrative which uses Todorov's Theory.

My own narrative, based on the lyrics, follows the story of a check-out girl working in a busy city with family issues concerning her fathers alcoholism and mother leaving. She then meets a man, who she moves in with and has children with. However, her relationship begins to deteriorate as her partner goes out drinking, is jobless and leaves her at home with the children. The narrative ends with him leaving her, and she continues to live as a check out girl.

SHOT BY SHOT ANALYSIS:

0:00 - 0:20: 

I used an animation of the song title and artists name being drawn on to a cloudy grey background, this was essentially to build a sense of atmosphere, through the dank background and sketchy writing (which suggests elements of frustration and anger). This plays no part in terms of narrative but mainly to fill in the large instrumental gap.

0:20 - 0:50:

The first verse was difficult to fit to a narrative so used it as an opportunity to establish a location through still and moving images, a busy city of people, to show how the days drag by and suggest a mediocre and necessary lifestyle 

0:50-0:60: 

This was a range of shots which I tried to use to tell the story of a young girl who see's a car parked across the street from where she works ("You got a fast car"), I used a video of a girl gazing out a window, this was to suggest she was looking out of the convenience store window, imagining a better life as she looks at this car. Multiple shots were used to show her daily activities at the convenience store where she works. 

1:00-1:15: 

The shot of the girl smiling was supposed to imply she was smiling at the driver of the car as if agreeing to join him, this was followed by still images of the couple crossing a bridge into a city and both sat in the car with each other. I then used multiple shots to suggest the couple are both looking for new jobs for their new life, shown by them smiling and kissing and being playful on the couch.

1:15-1:25: 

Although this is not typical of linear narratives, I used a flashback so there was a connection between the lyrics and visuals. The first clip is supposed to be of him and his daughter at a happier time, the images then begin to show how her father changed, how he began to drink and her trying to convince him its bad for him.

1:25-1:40: 

YES I AM GUILTY OF USING FOOTAGE FROM THE SPIDERMAN TRAILER! The next selection of footage worked really well with the next verse, it showed (lets pretend its a..) her mother leaving and as a child speaking with her father. 

1:45-2:00: 

This selection of clips show the man and woman talking in a cafe, as if considering the prospects of being together, the girl smiling was supposed to be her agreeing to making a commitment to him.

2:00-2:24: 

I wasn't sure how to tackle the chorus for a linear piece, so I used the lyrics literally but also to show the two characters' relationship improving. I have clips of them driving away, leaving their old lives and celebrating this on the road. Mixed in with video clips of couples laughing and being together.

2:35-2:50:

This section shows the ups and downs of their relationship and follows the lyrics. It shows the males attempts to find a job and how the girl is still working as a check-out girl. But then also shows them looking to buy a house together.

3:00-3:20: 

The chorus again. I used the same structure for the second chorus however replaced the clips to show that together they were still happy.

3:30-3:50: 

Begins to show their relationship declining, as the female is forced to put all her earning into paying the bills and her partner leaves her and her children to go drinking, much like her father. There are multiple shots which show them arguing as their relationship worsens.

4:00-4:25:

This is the final chorus and I used a different structure, showing the couple argue and the female leaving, interrupted by her crying because of the break up.

4:25-End:

This is a shot of the original city, going from day to night, suggesting that she has returned to her normal mediocre lifestyle.

NEW NARRATIVE
 

I reconstructed a new narrative for Tracy Chapmans song "Fast Car", above is an example of a non-linear narrative. The video starts with what is actually the middle section of the narrative. It shows a couple arguing and their relationship deterriorating. The the narrative moves backwards to show their relationship blossoming, them as a couple laughing and happy. The narrative then moves on to show how their relationship deterriorated, why they argued in the beginning, this is revealed by how the male partner goes to the pub and the couple are unable to pay bills or find jobs. The narrative then repeats the beginning section of the music video and reveals the rest of the narrative, showing the couple leaving each other and then confronting each other to "chat" about things. The music video ends showing the female character happy again.

This is a typical example of a non-linear narrative, as non-linear music videos tend to show the end of the narrative at the beginning, in order to make the audience believe one thing and then reveal another, surprising audiences. The non-linear narrative doesn't follow the song, however is influenced by the lyrics, unlike my first Shot by Shot analysis, there was a clear link between visuals and lyrics, although this link is still their it isn't as clear in a non-linear music video.

Diary of a Media Kid: Frame by Frame Remake

AS PRACTICE FOR our final product we have attempted to make a frame by frame remake of a music video of our choice. As the majority of our group have decided to focus on pop videos, we have decided to make a frame by frame remake of Little Mix's Wings video. We specifically chose this video, as the quick and complicated editing will allow us to stretch and challenge ourselves. It also allows us to try out new methods while filming, such as a green screen, so we can add a bright and popping background later on, similar to the backgrounds used in the original video.



 

 

 

Music Video Theorists

One of the most influential music video theorists is Sven E Carlsson. Carlsson says that music videos is a
"MANY FACETED MULTI-DISCRUSIVE PHENOMENON THAT IS COMMUNICATED THROUGH THE TV SCREEN AND ITS SPEAKERS VIA CARRIERS OF INFORMATION SUCH AS, THE MUSIC, LYRICS AND VISUALS"
His theory is that there are binary opposits which drive the narration of the video forward and that there are two categorys music videos fall into, Performance and Conceptual. Performance Clips tend to show mainly just the artist or artsist singing and dancing. Conceptual Clips show something else during its duration often with artistic ambitions.

There are three types of performance clip; song performance, dance performance and instrumental performance. If a music video clip contains mostly filmed performance e.g. a video that shows the vocalist in more than one setting, then it is a performance clip.

The performer is often made into a materialization of the commercial exhibitionist  where the performer is made almost into a selling item, fans typically will aspire to be the artists as the video will be high in quality and often glossy.

The exhibitionist wants success and tries to evoke the charisma of stardom and sexuality. Another type is the television bard which is a singing storyteller who uses on screen images instead of inner, personal images.

The third type is the electronic shaman, sometimes the shaman is invisible and only his/her voice that anchor the visuals and they often shift between multiple shapes.

Beyonces 'Countdown' video consists of Beyonce only singing and dancing and there is no narration beyond her performance. Beyonce is slightly sexualised in the video evident through close-up shots, lack of clothing and often tight clothing, dancing and frequent images of flesh turning Beyonce into a sexual object. Beyonce is subtly seductive and confident, shown through her embracing her preganancy in the video at 0:37, a time where most women feel at their least sexiest, this would make women aspire to be as sexy and confident in themselves as Beyonce is.

STANDARD CLIPS:

Standard clips are music videos which focus on the singer blended in with inserted images. Standard clips are typically meant to be dynamic and have many different variations. Vocalists often are directly involved in the story and take on a sideline role and offer a self reflexive commentary, they may have an alter ego.

NARRATIVE CLIP:

Narrative clips often contain an easy to follow story and often does not contain lip synchronisation. A music video clip is a narrative clip if it can be understood as a silent movie.

ART CLIP:

If a music video contains no perceptable visual narrative and contains no lip-synchronisation singing then it is a pure art clip. These are normally associated with more modern, experimental music.

Britney Spears' video "Everytime" is an example of a Narrative Clip as the video has a clear story line with more or less no lip syncing, the narrative is also simple and easy to follow. The audiences are introduced to the tension between Britney and her Boyfriend at the beginning of the video when he ignores her. As Britney Spears leaves her car she is bombarded by Paparazzi and her boyfriend attacks one of the photographers after Britney is injured. In their apartment Britney argues with her boyfriend, supposedly over attacking the photographer. Distraught, Britney runs her self a bath and notices blood on the back of her head from where she was hit, she then sinks herself into the bath, committing suicide. The video cross cuts between shots of Britney in Hospital and her boyfriend finding her body. 

Music Video 'versus' The Analysis;

Andrew Goodwin is a media theorist, and in his book on the rise of MTV, "Dancing in the Distraction Factory", he identifies a number of key features which distinguish the music video as a form. He says:

There should be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which will either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
There should be a relationship between the music and the visuals to either illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.
Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography.
There will be a demand on the part of the record company for a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking, screens within screens, binoculars and cameras.
There are also likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos, film, TV and other forms of low culture.

ED SHEERAN - LEGO HOUSE

Ed Sheerans 'Lego House' used a multi stranded narrative, using seperate shots which weave together to follow a narrative. Multi stranded narratives are used when the editor doesn't want to reveal something to the audience until the end. It means shots we are shown, especially in the case of 'Lego House' aren't what we think they are. The video also uses a non-linear structure as the story isn't told in sequence. The artist typically is associated to the Indie Genre, therefore the video is layered with conventions of that genre.
Summary: The video's narrative, starring very popular Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, reveals Grint as an obsessive fan, although within the first verse and chorus it is suggested to audiences that Rupert Grint is playing the role of Ed Sheeran, a singer songwriter touring. The protagonist then develops through a mental breakdown, ending with Sheeran and Grint meeting as Grint is forcibly removed from a music venue and Sheeran comes out of an elevator

The video opens with iconic Harry Potter star Rupert Grint walking towards a concert stage. This challeneges conventions of the indie genre, as typically rock videos tend to use a "live performance" to show themsleves as performers, this could be used in a similar context, to show Ed Sheeran as a born performer, with a love for his music and his fans rather than an image, as the artist plays and performs his own music, making the video both Performance and Narrative-based.

Ed Sheeran was also an upcoming star when the song was released, the use of not plastering his face throughout the whole video in order to make audiences recognise the artist is done deliberately so that the star doesn't become branded, this is also done through the use of simple clothing, Pop Artists are branded by their quirky personalities and costumes, the simplicity of Ed Sheerans music video steps aways from this. This also challenges Goodwins theory of a need for close-ups of upcoming artists to be demanded throughout the video. It also means the star is made more memorable, If Rupert Grint is obsessing over him then so should we?

Rupert Grint takes over in a cameo role, as he looks similar to the artist Ed Sheeran, the audiences are mis lead by the narrative to believe that Rupert Grint is Ed Sheeran and there is just a clever play on character going on. This is shown through Grint writing songs, entering the stage and sitting on a tour bus. It is then revealed that Grint is an obsessive fan, and the narrative centres around Grints desperate want to be Ed Sheeran, if a rich actor wants to be Ed Sheeran, then surely so should we, the audience?

In terms of camera shots and colouring the video sticks to its own music style, with the use of auburn colours and large outdoor settings, to suggest something very natural about the music, that it is uneditted and "real" like the outdoors. The video also uses a mixture of long shots and close-ups, long shots show Grint as being isolated, suggested by his problems or emotions, as typically the indie genre focusses on peoples problems and issues that can easily be related to by a normal audience. Close-ups are also used to show emotions and how characters are feeling based on their current situation within the narrative.

The use of camera work is also quite shaky, this adds to the effect of something "real" as if it is unstructured and "rocky" like real life. However, unlike in other indie videos, there is an element of voyeurism, as some shots appear to be filmed as if Grint is being followed by a camera crew, for example when he is stood outside the tour bus and when he walks down the corridors. The artists also tends to move from shallow to deep focus, blurring the background and then being brought back into focus to blurr Grint's character, this is a method typically used in the indie genre as it can represent their confusing problems and dilemmas they face. It also fits nicely with camerwork being something unstructured and random, so that the video feels more real, making it more identifiable with.

Throughout the video there is also links between both lyrics and visuals and music and visuals. For example, the use of Lego is present within the video relating to the title of "Lego House", as the music builds within the song Grints character drops a "lego helicopter" on the floor breaking it, the shot is quick and abrupt, unlike typical shots which are long in order to tell narrative. This short shot contrasts with the longer shots and highlights the change in tempo in the music. After the build up in music, the shots become more tense, showing the character as eagerly walking down the corridor and close-ups of strong expressions fuelled by emotion.The visuals are used both to illustarte and amplify the change in the music.

 There is a second link between music and visuals when Grint's character throws his arms out on stage and the music goes quiet again, as if stopping, then as the security guards tackle his character there is a huge burst and the music builds up again. As the music builds up toward the end, shots become quicker to reveal the end of the narrative, Grint as an obsessive stalker, quick shots show him destroying objects and being escorted off the tourbus. The climb in music and quick shots represent Grint's frustrated emotions.

There are also links between visuals and lyrics, such as the overal theme of "Lego" and we see Grint's character bulding lego constructions, one section of the song also says "I'm gonna paint you by numbers . . . frame it and put you on a wall", the visuals match these lyrics as Grint is seen placing a framed picture on the wall, this is used to emphasise the lyrics and is also used as a contradiction, as the lyrics are ideally focussing on a love interest,
whereas Grints intresets lie within his obsession.

Jesus loves PostModernism

Modernism was a political movement that aimed to reinvent culture that had become outdated. Modernism occurred between the 1890's to the 1960's and is a rejection against realism. Divisions of modernism include avant-garde, experimental treatment of artistic, music or literary material and surrealism, taking things a way from the real and making them fresh.

Dali's 'Lobster Phone' is an example of surrealism

Postmodernism is generally from the 1970's onwards and is a breakdown of barriers between genres and styles, and distinction between binary divides, typically mixing up time, space and narrative with an emphasis of style over content. It is a blurring of fiction and reality/representation and the real, a theory by Bandrillard says it is becoming more use to a mediated version of reality, than reality itself, known as hyperreality. (it isn't real unless in the media)

FEATURES OF POSTMODERNISM:

Intertextuality: one media text referring to another

Parody: making something in an original way

High Culture: art, literature, theatre, opera etc

Low Culture: film, TV, video games, comic books etc

Pastiche: an artistic work in a style that imitates that of another work, artist or period. This is a self conscious imitation

Bricolage: mixing up and using different genres and styles

Homage: imitation from a respectful stand point

Auteur: a director who develops their own distinctive visual style

EXAMPLES:

PORK AND BEANS: WEEZER: 

This music video is a perfect example or INTERTEXTUALITY and BRICOLAGE, as it combines music video with viral footage from YouTube. The video continually refers to popular internet culture and YouTube videos. 

The video opens referring to "One Man Band", with four separate shots played in the same frame of the band playing instruments and singing. The video also makes a reference to the typical nuisance of buffering before moving on to its next cultural reference of "Numa numa", "Dramatic gopher" and "Afro Ninja".

There are also references to: "Diet coke and Mentos Experiment"

"GI Joe Gay"

 "most T-shirts worn at one time"

"Chris Crocker - LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE"

"Miss Teen, USA, South Carolina ANSWERS A QUESTION"

 "Evolution of Dance"

"Chocolate Rain"

"Daft Hands - Technologic"

"Daft Bodies - Stronger"

"Shoes"

"Charlie the Unicorn"

and "Its Peanut Butter Jelly Time".

The video then cross cuts between each of these video references until at the end of the song when all Youtube references are played together. 

THE DEATH SET: THEY COME TO GET US:

This music video is also another good example as it overloads the audience with low culture references throughout the entire video. An army of pop culture surrealism. The video opens referencing popular film "Back to the Future", the famous scene where Marty McFly wakes his father my pretending to be Darth Vader. Throughout the music video audiences are bombarded with many many more cultural references from television, video games  toys and film and other low culture. Such as, "Godzilla", "Marge Simpson", "Spider Man", "Bugs Bunny", "Batman", "Lego Men", "Mario", "Jurassic Park",  "Star Trek" and "Army Men". The titles also mimic those used in the "Back to the Future Films"

LADY GAGA: PAPARAZZI/TELEPHONE  



The Theory of Narrative

"Narrative is a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship occurring isn time" - BORDWELL & THOMPSON 

Todorovs narrative theory is one which is typically followed by the majority of film and video, however there are some exceptions.

Todorovs structure follows a linear structure, it goes from A to B to C to D. Todorovs theory starts with a state of equilibrium, everything is normal, although Todorovs typically based this on fairy tales and the equilibrium would generally be in the form of "once upon a time....", the state of equilibrium doesn't always have to be in a positive state, it could begin negative, with the protagonist in a state of despair.

Then comes the disruption of equilibrium, this is when something upsets the normal balance of life. Recognition of the disruption occurs when the disruption directly effects the hero, causing the protagonist to attempt to repair the disruption, typically the hero will then go on his quest in an attempt to restore the disruption. Todorovs Narrative Theory ends when the equilibrium is resorted, however not exactly back to the original way it was. "...and they lived happily ever after"

Narratives don't always need to follow a linear structure. Sometimes, especially in modern film and video, narratives will use a non-linear structure, this is when then narrative is not chronological. Non-linear structures can include Multi Stranded structures, where different strands of narrative are woven together. Narratives are also sometimes Fragmented, where there are different parts of narratives that may not be necessarily be woven together in any order. A typical narrative convention is often flashbacks or flash forwards, segments that portray something that has happened in the past or may happen in the future. Narrative range is also a main feature of narrative, whether you chose to have an unrestricted narration, where there are no limits to the information presented, and restricted narration which only offers minimal information regarding the narrative.

Lily Allens "Smile"is an example of a music video which uses a "linear narrative structure" and follows quite close to Todorovs theory, despite cross cutting between the narrative and the artist, the narrative follows a cause and effect and tells a "story". The plot manages to follow the majority of Todorovs steps. Although the beginning state of equilibrium see's the artist somewhat "depressed" and "lonely" after a breakup, gorging herself on comfort food.

The break-up which is mentioned through the lyrics "you were Fucking that girl next door, what you do that for"this could be the disruption of equilibrium which is recognised by the protagonist, in this case the artist. The protagonist then goes out to "restore this disruption", this restoration is done in the form of revenge, the artist pays people to make the life of her ex-partner unbearable, mugging him, breaking into his home, destroying his records he needs for his job and the artist even spikes his drink with "pills".

 

 

 This causes the "antagonist" to become "desperate" and "embarrassed" all for the enjoyment of the artist. The equilibrium is then restored as Lily Allen is much more happy and has a positive attitude at the end of the video.

Ed Sheeran's "The A Team" is another example of a music video which follows Todorovs theory. However this video mixes in both a non-linear and linear narrative structure. The video begins with what we don't know is actually after the ending. We see the protagonist looking over herself crying and then a linear narrative is used throughout the song to show how the protagonist is driven towards an upsetting form of restored equilibrium.

The initial state of equilibrium shows the protagonist, who is homeless, living on the streets, sleeping in a park and selling "The Big Issue". This is a much more negative take on Todorovs original theory, as the equilibrium isn't necessarily good.

 

 Although there isn't a clear indication of what disrupts the equilibrium, I would assume it to be homeless life getting to the protagonist, as she is seen crying and sitting in a state of despair.

 

The protagonist attempts to repair the disruption by prostituting herself, in order to buy drugs. Restoration of equilibrium comes when the protagonist overdoses, and what we saw at the beginning of the video was an "outer body experience". Although this is a very negative take on Todorovs theory it still follows the steps in order to build a narrative, and although the equilibrium isn't necessarily good, the protagonist still sets out on a "quest" in order to rid herself of homeless life.

 

 

 

Radio Heads "Just" is my most favourite example of a linear structure. It uses a similar cross cutting to Lily Allens "Smile", cutting in between the narrative and the artist performing. It doesn't necessarily challenge Todorovs theory, other than the attempt to repair the equilibrium isn't carried out by the protagonist, but those around him.
EQUILIBRIUM: the protagonist is depressed and isolated shown through shots of the protagonist and through facial expressions.

DISRUPTION OF EQUILIRBIUM: this is when the roles of characters shift in the music video, the diruption occurs when the male protagonist lies down on a concrete pavement in the middle of the city.

RECOGNITION OF THE DISRUPTION: another male character trips over the prtagonists torso, this is when members of the public become directly involved in the narrative.

 

 

 

ATTEMPT TO REPAIR DISRUPTION: as more characters enter the frame they all set out to question the man, to discover the reason why he is lying down.

 

EQULIBRIUM IS RESOTRED: the man eventually reluctantly tells his 'audience' causing them all to lie down on the ground as he is.

 

What I love about this music video is it challenges the most necessary principle to a video, it needs to be resolved. Throughout the music videos subtitles are used to play out the scene, the audience is engrossed in why this man is lying down and watch intently. This video uses a restricted narrative range, as the subtitles cut off when the protagonist reveals why he is lying down, the audience is left in the uknown and it is never resolved, opening the video up to audience interpretation.

However, more and more modern music videos are challenging basic narrative theories with the use of non-linear structures. Cold Play's 'The Scientist', cleverly twists a linear narrative to create a non-linear narrative. The video plays in reverse, and although a clear story is told, the audience are shown the end at the beginning. Therefore Todorovs Theory of Narrative is also played in reverse. The concept is quite clever and typically fits in with music videos not wanting to reveal too much. The reversed narrative also fits in nicely with the lyrics "back to the start". 

Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House' also uses a non-linear structure, however this one is multi stranded. The narrative is seperated, and these then weave together to creat an overall story. Despite being non-linear 'Lego House' manages to follow the concept of an equillibrium, although it is not revealed at the beginning the protagonist, the very fine Rupert Grint, actually has an obsession over the artist. The initial Equilibrium is the protagonists quiet life, (lets pretend we don't know he's obsessed), we believe he is singer song writer, performing on stage and travelling on tour busses. Disruption occurs when the protagonist becomes overwhelmed, this is suggested by the change in tempo in the music. He is removed from the stage by security guards and he is shown sneaking off the tour bus. This is when it is revealed that the prtagonist has an obsession, we see he has hung pictures of the artist and made life size dolls of him. Equlibrium is restored when the protagonist is lead away from the stage by security and briefly meets the artist Ed Sheeran as he is escorted away.

MODULAR NARRATIVES IN CONTEMPORARY CINEMA: ALLAN CAMERON

Modular narratives articulate a sense of time as divisable and subject to manipulation. Cameron identified four different types of modular narrative.

ANACHRONIC: involve the use of flashbacks and or flashforwards, with no clear dominance between any of the narrative threads. These narratives also often repeat scenes directly or via a different perspective. Christina Aguilera's video "Hurt" uses flashbacks to her childhood when she was taken to the circus by her father.

FORKING-PATH: juxtapose alternative versions of a story, showing the possible outcomes that might result from small changes in a single event or group of events. The forking path narrative introduces a number of plotlines that usually contradict one another. An example of this in terms of film, (as I found it terribly difficult to come across such a music video,) would be The Butterfly Effect, starring Ashton Kutcher, who changes events in his past so that the new outcome is more positive.

SPLIT SCREEN: their modularity is articulated along a spatial rather than temporal lines. These films divide the screen into two or more frames, juxtaposing events within the same visual field in a sustained fashion.

EPISODIC: narratives are organised as an abstract series or narrative anthology. Abstract series type of modular narrative is charatcterized by the operation of a non-narrative formal system which appears to dictate the organization of narrative elements such as a asequence. Anthology consists of a series of shorter tales which are apparently disconnected but share a random similarity. An example of this would be the film "The Hours", about three women, from three different periods, they share the similarity of an ordinary and mundane life but that is where the similarities stop

VALADIMIR PROPP is another narrative theorist, and suggest that characters took on the role of narrative. Propp came up with seven different character types:

The Hero: typically male, he restores the narratives equilibrium often by embarking on a quest. The hero is the texts central character.

The Villain: typically creates the narratives disruption.

The Donor: gives the hero something, it may be an object, information or advice, which helps in resolution of the narrative.

The Helper: aids the hero in the task of restoring equillibrium

The Princess: is the character most threatened by the villain and has to be saved, by the hero at the climax.

The Dispatcher: sends the hero on his tasl

The False Hero: appears to be good but is revealed at the narratives end to be bad.

 

Although these characters are very typical in fairy tales, in modern music videos we see very little of these types of characters driving the narrative. Typically anti-heros are used and Villains have now been reduced to emotional dillemas that the hero will face rather than an actual character.