narrative theory

Barthes 5 narrative codes

Enigma Code:

Barthes enigma code is a theory in which refers to the mysteries within text. He looks into how clues are dropped, but the audience will never receive answers. This means new questions would constantly be getting asked making the audience want to know more by frustrating the audience.

Proairetic/action code:

This focus on how sequences in text and how proairetic elements hep add suspense to keep the audience engaged.

Semantic code:

This part focuses on the hidden meanings in a text that are either a literal meaning or suggested meaning.

Symbolic code:

This focuses on the opposites to help show the difference as to what people think to give a bigger meaning, create tension and help with character development

Referential code:

This part relies on the audiences knowledge to help with the text, whether it be scientific, historical, cultural etc.

Todorov narrative theory

Todorov's theory follows the narrative in which every story follows, whether it be a film or another kind of media text i.e. music video. there are key stages he noted:

1. Equilibrium
   The story shall start in a place in which everything is content and is how it should be. In other words, the characters will be continuing to live a normal everyday life where everything is in place.
2. Distrubtion
   A distribution will appear that causes a problem within the story.
3. Realisation
   The characters begin to recognise the problem and everything becomes chaos
4. Restored Order
   The characters will begin to repair the damage that has been caused in order to restore the happiness at the beginning.
5. New Equilibrium
   This is when the damage has been repaired and the characters will end on a happy note and normality can continue

The narrative shown in "Sum 41 in too deep" are as follows:

1. Everything is normal and the group turns up at swimming pool to go diving
2. Another gorup turns up as competition and ends up being better at the sport
3. the group realise they need to do something to stop the competition
4. The group tried to solve the disruption through distracting the competition and throwing them off and entertaining the crowd in their own way.
5. The competition fails and the group win the competition.

Propp narrative theory

Propp suggests that in all story lines, it has to follow the same character set up. These consist of:

1. The villain - fights against the hero
2. The dispatcher - character who send the hero on his way
3. The helper - aids the hero in some way
4. The princess/prize - the rewards for the hero at the end
5. The father - gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished
6. The donor - prepares the hero
7. The Hero - completes a task for the prize. mainly the main character
8. False hero - takes credit for the hero’s actions

The character types seen in "MAGIC! Rude" are:

• The princess - the leads singers gilfriend
• The hero - the lead singer
• Her father/Villian - the one who stops the couple seeing each other
• The dispatcher - the rest of the band
• The false hero - the man in which the family tries to set up with the princess
• The helper - the princesses mother
• The donor - the rest of the band

Strauss narrative theory

Strauss states that in all story lines there will always be two binary opposites such as:

• rich vs poor
• human vs inhumane 
• hero vs villain
• beauty vs ugly
• male vs female 
• good vs bad
• young vs old
• innocence vs corrupted

The binary codes we see in "all time low's something's gotta give" are:

• male vs female
• good vs bad
• humane vs inhame 
• sane vs insane

forms and conventions of music videos

Forms and conventions in music videos from charlie1901

how do music videos help to market an artist/song

Music videos help the atrtist in mulyiple ways. The first being that it is a great way to express thwe song to fans using a visual image in which display the meaning behind the song. This tends to connect wioth many fans especially ones that have a deep underlying meaning such as "cardinals by the wonder years". The songs links to death. This creates a deeper meaning when showing the lryics in a video in which the audience can respond to by not only knowing the artist has spoken about something very cmoon in everyones lives but also expressed it and shownt he pain he felt. These kinds of msuic videos will help promote artists as fans will be able to engage with their lryics and form an connection or relationships towards that artist. 

However, the other reason is that the artist is able reach a broader audience as they will be able to upload their media onto different softwares in which many people will use. It will also mean that if an audience is looking for a particular genre there music will be an option and hopefully enageg with different viewers.

inspirational genre videos

            

Features: 

• The video focuses on the main singer
• The music video follows a narrative which matches up with the lyrics - follows someone dying (time-bomb) metaphorically shown.
• The narrative is fast paced with the song 
• The narrative interacts with the video.

Characters:

• All the band members are shown as confident and have a great deal of stage presence even without a physical stage. 
• It is clear that the band members has a connecting to the characters acting in the narrative through them showing their rebellious side. The band do this through performing on top of a roof, while in the narrative it shows a young guy as a thief who is chased by a gun and doesn't seem to care to much. They both link up at the end of the song as both appear in the same shot in the same location - hinting a connection between the narrative and the band.

Mise-en-scene:

• They follow the format of guitarist at the front, two bass guitarist in the middle, and drummer at the back
• Not only the band but the characters in the narrative bar the women, are all seen wearing black. The black stands for power, death and mystery. Whereas we see a women who is presented in white and portrayed as innocent due to connotations with the colour.
• There is quite clearly a negative atmosphere. While the music may be fast paced and upbeat giving a happy thrill, the lyrics and narrative help present this negative atmosphere.
• The band have tattoos which is commonly associated with the genre

Lighting:

• The lighting is bright when on the band, but dark during the narrative. This could be trying to insinuate the negative atmosphere they're wanting to create by the lyrics but using the visuals.

            

Features: 

• There is no clear narrative through this video making it a fragmented storyline.
• The video follows the band "Guns 'N' Roses" as a typical music video by using just a performance of the band in front of a live audience. These kinds of videos are common within the rock genre. This feature helps creates a sense of realism and allow the audience to engage with the band as they see the band performance the lyrics to show a deeper meaning compared to a visual narrative.

Characters:

• All the band members are shown as confident and have a great deal of stage presence even without a physical stage.
• The members of the band are wearing typical clothing for the genre, this being 
• the band show a representation of being rebellious through there performance. As they were a band in the 1985s, it was around the time in which rock was still seen as part of the "devils music". The fact they were gaining such a widespread aucidence and having them join in with the song suggests this rebellious side. Furthermore, there is parts of the video in which the band are seen doing what society considered to be wrong but still socially acceptable such as smoking. 

Mise-en-scene:

• They follow the format of guitarist at the front, two bass guitarist in the middle, and drummer at the back
• All members of the band are wearing the stereotypical dark colours such as black, they all have the typical rock hair style back at the start of the rock genre, and express themselves through tattoos and piercings. 

Iconography:

• The band are seen using the rock symbol multiple times alongside some audience members. This shows a clear connection thye band are able to make with their fan/audience. 

Lighting:

• The lighting changes from dark to light. The luight side being when the band are actually playing their song in front of an audience, and the dark being when seeing what appears to be a slight narrative. The narrative shows the progression of the band and what they do when off stage. This can be seen as a negative atmosphere through it possibly being rough times for the band. 

I can reflect on these two videos when it comers to my work as i will be able to decide whether or not i want a narrative or fragmented storyline to my project. Furthermore, I will be able to link some effects into my work such as black and white, or how ther use of the lighting effects the story. 

One thing i will have to make sure sticks is the mise-en-scene used in both vuideos. This is because it links to the codes and conventions of a rock videos and as im doing a rock production it should be clear when the audience see certain features that they are watching a rock band. 

what are music videos and who are they for?

What are music videos?

Music videos are a short film that is based around a song and creates a visual image of the narrative for both promotional and artistic purposes. Michael Jackson was the first artist to create a music video displaying a short film following the concept of having a start, middle, and end. Music videos will tend to use all artists involved during the recording of the track, however, when it comes to band we may only see the main singer. In modern music videos, they are used mainly for a marketing purpose. Music videos are usually made for a new single or songs in which we would expect to find in the charts.

Why are they made?

They are made for multiple reasons being: promotion, synergy, bigger income and wider outlets. The purpose of these is to mainly see the song and in hope that creating a powerful music video in which people remember will also lead to them remembering the song. It also helps to give the audience more knowledge of the song and connect with the meaning behind it. In addition to this, it helps to entertain the audience allowing them to see popular artists giving a small performance of their song.

How do they work?

Music videos work by an artist being signwed up to a record label. This label is then responsible in helping the artist gain publicity and fame through sharing their music worldwide. The artist will have what is known as brand, such as Jessie J is recognizable for her lips, or Lada GaGa is recognizable for her weird style. By producing music videos, it not only gains a wider target audience as more fans will be able to notice newer artists, but also allow fans to gain a deeper meaning to a artists song.

Who are they for?

Music videos are for everyone. People dont have to be a fan of certain music vto watch a video. However, when it comes to music videos, it tends to be the younger genertaion/teenagers who are known for watching them. 

Where do we see them?

Music videos can be shown on many media platforms. The main one is youtube. However, there are many different platforms and not everyone opts to use yotuube as a main choice. There are programs such as MTV which allows people to watch a series of different music videos on their tv's, or even on music platforms such as Spotify allow artists to share their music video there app. Selena Gomez recently released her new video for "bad liar" which was only avaliable to view for those who are members on the app. This partnerships is an example of syngery as both artists are gaining a broader audience from this.  

When are they released?

Most music videos are used as teaser for their fans/target audience. The band may have a new album on its way out, so prior to this they will release singles which instead of being listened to on apps like spotify they will release a music video making the band eager for more. This will help build up the hype for the new album, which hopefully will results in a bigger sale.

Genre Research

There are 11 main genres and 1,264 micro-genres. The table on the left displays results of 99,478 people voting of their favourite music genre. The results are collected from all over the world not just the UK. The 3 most popular results are rock, pop and alternative music. This will influence the decision I will make to do my music video on as I know what genre is most popular, and will have one of the largest target audiences, and information on the genre should be fairly easier to find to help make my product effective. 

I have decided to do a music video for the rock genre as they seen less in the charts and easy to try and make a unique video for the genre.