History of the Medium

Top 10 Music Videos of 2014

Looking at the online Independent online news website, published on the 6th January 2014, YouTube have released information of the top 10 music videos viewed in 2014.

1. Katy Perry - Dark Horse

 

 

Views: 715,803,197

 

2.Enrique Iglesias - Bailando (Espanol)



Views: 587, 653, 823

3. Shakira ft Rihanna - Can't Remember To Forget You

Views: 442, 424, 676

4. Shakira ft Carlinhos Brown - La La La (Brazil 2014)

Views: 417, 921, 827

5. Jason Derulo ft Snoop Dogg - Wiggle

Views: 400, 095, 326

6. Iggy Azalea ft Charli XCX - Fancy

Views: 389, 794, 386

7. Sia - Chandelier

Views: 369, 018, 399

8. Taylor Swift - Shake It Off

Views: 356, 211, 902

9. Meghan Trainor - All About The Bass

Views: 361, 990, 661

10. Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

 Views: 325, 512, 823



LIIAR of 3 Media Texts

Looking at Music Videos

Katy Perry - This Is How We Do

I like this music video because the video acts out the lyrics to the song so that you get a visual interpretation of the lyrics. During the music video animation is used which I think adds humor and also the cartoon characters appeal to the younger audience who listen to her music. In this music video a lot of techniques have been used like the neon scene, where the music video goes into darkness and the clothes are all lit up in glow in the dark material. Also the music video uses slow motion and in some scenes objects are suspended in mid air. However, in my opinion, because the song is quiet fast pace, there is a lot going on to match the lyrics which can seem like a lot is going on at once.

Duke Dumont - I Got You

At the beginning of the music video, there is a shoot out when the character puts on the headset. This is effective because the viewer knows that this action is referring to being transported to another dimension. Due to editing of the camera it is as though the person who is watching the music video, is going through what the character does due to the point of view aspect. This works well because it connects with the audience and makes the audience want to continue watching because they want to experience what he is doing and wants to see what he does next. However, one thing that I think lets the music video down, is that during the video, you cant see the singer performing. 

Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag

This music video is effective because due to the mise-en-scene, it creates realism of a real high school from the use of costume and props. There is a range of editing and framing techniques used such as close ups, point of view shots and pan around to show the band performance, traditional of most band music videos. By using pans it helps develop the location and surrounding of the band in the music video. Also the different cuts to the close ups of the band members make the shot more interesting to watch rather than just a long shot of the performance. What I find effective in this music video is the link with the beginning and end of the music video, as they are the same scene and clearly signifies to the audience that the main character in the storyline has experienced a dream.

We The Kings - Say You Like Me

This music video is constructed very well because i think that it has incorporated the gaming world with the real world very effectively. At the beginning of the music video, it uses cartoon spray paint and writing which I think is very unusual and unique to see. It also follows a profile on the characters that are similar to how you would expect on a Kong Fu video game. This music video includes multiple different music video references. I think this makes it very recognizable to the audience because with the games being successful, they would be able to recognize them. I think that it has been executed to a high standard because when watching the music video, it is as though you are taking part in the video games. 

Music Video Research

What makes a good music video?

A good music video, in my opinion, is one that uses reliant mise-en-scene to create the iconography of the music video as well a suitable location that fits the this. When making a music video it helps to have either a narrative or abstract performance with suitable editing to the track beat. Most music videos have a trend or a role model for the audience to look up to. This can help appeal a young target audience for your music video because at that age they often look up to older generation.

What are the main conventions form a music video?

Most music videos include conventions such as a performance element, for example most bands tend to have the band playing during the music video. Where as some music videos can have a narrative performance and not relate to the music lyrics of the song. However on the other hand, some music videos interpret the lyrics into the music video. And in some music videos have an abstract element and not be esociated with the music. Conventionally most music videos have lip syncing along to the song as well as relvant probs, costume and other mise-en-scene elements.

Skills Development Essay

Digital Technology

I used many programs when producing my music magazine. For starters I used my Lumix G2 camera to photograph the images that would make up my music magazine, of which I photographed in a RAW format. I photographed in RAW because the format is better quality than JPEG and is much better for editing on photoshop than JPEG as the pixels stay the same quality during the editing process. This was helpful because it made it easier to do extreme work on my images without losing the quality of the image. Another program I used was bridge and photoshop. I used Bridge to look at my images in RAW (windows xp doesn't support the format) and Photoshop to edit my images. Bridge was useful because I was able to see all my images at once and I was able to make slight alternations to the image. Photoshop allowed me to make physical changes to my model like blemishes, changing the colour of certain parts of the image and constructing many drafts to my front page, contents page and double page spread. I also used online programs such as Blogger, Survey Monkey and the social networking site Facebook. Blogger was used to display my work in a chronological order and helped me to make edits easier because I just had to click on the appropriate post. Also it was very user friendly and I was able to put different forms of media on to my blog. I used survey monkey to set up a survey to get audience feedback on my final product and make the alterations that where mentioned.

Creativity

From looking at my college magazine to my music magazine, I have progressed in my Photoshop skills. When producing my college magazine I used basic Photoshop skills to adjust the model on the front of my magazine. Some of the tools I used to produce my college magazine involved making a plain background, erasing the background on my model image and adjusting the levels on the image. However, when making my music magazine, I used more tools such as the line tool, adjusting the settings and I also merged multiple images together to create my 3 products. I have learnt how to also make physical changes to my model; I used Youtube videos to help me with. I produced multiple drafts to produce my products; I made four for my front cover, and 2 drafts of my contents and double page spread. The first draft of my products where boxes and internet images to get an idea of what I wanted my products to look like. I then after getting feedback, changes the drafts slightly of my DPS and contents page. I then went on to change my front cover, making an additional 3 more drafts before having the final product. The first draft had the basic layout showing the boxes of where I would layout my front cover. Another draft included; text, boxes and an internet image to get a better idea on how my model could look. And finally 2 more drafts which included alterations to the front cover after getting feedback.

Research and Planning

Once I had made my decision on what genre my magazine would be, I began to research appropriate material I would need. I looked at examples of magazines of my genre on Google, to see what you would expect to see on a front cover of a music magazine. I then researched a country western woman, to see what costume they stereotypically would wear. I thought that’s this would be good to see because then the audience would know the genre just looking at what the model on the front of the magazine is wearing. From this research I was able to have an idea on what the mise-en-scene would be. I then looked at popular magazines such as NME, Q and MOJO as I wanted to look at different magazine layouts and use this as inspiration for my magazine. I then took some photographs of my model and possible locations of where I could take my photographs; from this I then produced several drafts. As I thought I didn't have as many photos for my first shoot, I thought to take another set of images that could go on all three media products. In total I did 7 front cover drafts altering different bits of each draft, making sure that my product improved each time. For my contents page and double page spread, I produced 4 drafts improving each draft at a time. Improving the design and changing alterations for each.

Post-Planning

After producing all three of my products, I used a website called Survey Monkey to get anomalous feedback on all three of my products. This was very helpful because it gave me an idea on what I needed to change, from someone else’s point of view. After highlighting areas that I may of missed out or needed to change, this helped me to improve my products further. After getting this feedback I tweaked a few things on each of my products. I videoed one of the students in my Media class to give me some verbal feedback on my products, to see what I needed to change, to see what I did well and not well on my products.

Using conventions from a real music magazine

To make sure that my music magazine followed the conventions of a real music magazine, I looked at previous magazines from different genres and looked particularly at the layout and design of the magazine. From this I then used their layout to inspire my own layout for my music magazine. From this I was able to see what you would expect to see on any music magazine, like a masthead, cover line, main story ect. I googled popular news for my genre so that I could incorporate real life events into my music magazine. This would help to make my magazine look like a music magazine you would expect to see on the everyday market.

Representation Theories

Laura Mulvey ‘Male Gaze’

Laura Mulvey’s theory looks at how the audience view woman who are presented in the media. Her theory states those women are there to be seen as sexualised objects through the way the camera is angled and framed. The theory looks at how men look at woman from those images, how woman look at themselves from those images and lastly how women look at other woman.

The theory focuses on the male gaze which is how men see women through the use of the media. Usually the male gaze typically focuses on: 

• Camera movements and framing empathises curves of the female body
• Referring to women as objects rather than people
• The display of women is how men think they should be perceived
• Female viewers view the content through the eyes of a man
• How women are often sexualised and see as objects and viewed based on sexual desire
• Describes how the audience or viewer is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male.
• Mulvey states that in film women are typically the objects,rather than the possessors this is displayed by the control of the camera.
• Uses particular movements to perceive women in an idealistic view. Some women may disagree with this use of camera yet others may feel liberated.
• Men are more dominant than females
• States that the female gaze is the same as male gaze because women look at themselves through the eye of the men

Like many theories there can be downfalls to how it works. This theory is based on the prospect of women in the media, however, men can also portrayed in this manor. Also some female artists may want to be seen in this sexual way. This might be how they want there audience to see them and how they think women feel about themselves. Over the years the media has created an ideal image for women and influenced women's opinion on looks. This will be hard to change the perception as we have been taught the ideal image over a long period of time and therefore when we see the opposite, the audience see this image as being right. 

Evidence of this Theory can be seen in most modern music videos for example in the Calvin Harris Blame music video. The camera in figure 1 is framed so that the audience can see the top part of the woman’s body. This shows that this is the view of what the man typically looks at when looking at women. This links to Mulvey’s theory because this is the male gaze and expects all women to have this particular body frame. Also when woman see this shot they have to have this look and this figure because this is what men find attractive and what is the ‘perfect look’. There is another shot in this music video which is a high angle shot looking down at a partly dressed woman on the bed. The male lead is then sat next to the bed while she lays there still. This in my opinion shows male dominance in the music video and shows that she is an object in the scene. Due to her mannerism it shows and role in the music video is that she is seen as a procession rather than a real person. Again this links to Mulvey’s theory of how woman are treated and seen in the music video.

However in the music video by Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora Black Widow, the artists in this music are perceived in a sexual nature due to the mise-en-scene and camera framing. In figure 1.1 the female artists are wearing tight all-in-one suits to show off their figure in a way to attract the male audience. To empathise there figure, the framing shows there top half of their body so that you can see their chests. This links to the Mulvey theory because by doing this, it shows that the artists want to use their body to attract the male gaze. This gives a false interpretation that all woman look like this and should. By using this costume choice, it shows how they wasn’t others women to see themselves and how they think woman should be seen. The camera portrays the woman that they are sexual objects through costume, camera placement and movement. On the other hand, because of the narrative of the music video, it empowers woman to be more confident. In the music video, they play hit woman and kill the villain. This makes woman think that they can stand up for themselves and take control unlike the Calvin Harris music videos. In the Mulvey theory it states that how woman see themselves, they can see themselves either positively or negatively through this music video. 

Rhianna - Pour it up (success)

Another example of how the theory works is through Rihanna's music video, Pour it up. Immediately the music video starts with a tilt up of Rhianna's body. From this positioning you eyes are led up her body showing how little clothing she is wearing. Also empathising the curves of her body when she leans over and you can see her chest. In the music video, she is wearing little clothing which shows she is proud of her body and wants other women to be as expressive as her. Male audiences watching this music video may like this music video because it shows how body confident she is and may hope that other women see this and want to be more confident with there appearance. 'Strip club and dollar bills' is one of the lines taken from the song, shows how rebel and sexualised the artists wants to express her self with. To attract a older audience to her music as previously, most of her songs have been seen by younger teenage range. 

Marina and the Diamonds - How to Be a Heartbreaker (failure)

However, this music video contradicts the Mulvey theory because instead of sexualising women, the music video looks at the opposing gender instead. The music video features a number of men dressed in nothing but briefs, of which medium close ups and close ups are used to show there bodies in away to attract the opposite sex. The location of most of the shooting for the video is done in a shower room, with water running down each of the men. By doing this it sexualises them because the act of water running down their bodies is seen as attractive and appealing for most female young adult/adults. In the music video, the artist is surrounded by all the men which makes women feel jealous want to be her. This apposes the theory because instead of sexualising women it looks at men and also she is using herself to be portrayed as irresistible as she is wanted by the men in the music video. 

Maddie and Tae - Girl In a Country Song

This music video by Maddie and Tae, best sums up the gender roles and opinions in the music industry at the moment. In the video, gender roles of the men and women are switched and what we expect women to be doing in a sexual matter, is reversed to the men doing same thing. The artists go on to sing the troubles and roles of women in a country western area. 'Cause I got a name. And to you, it ain't "pretty little thing", shows that the women in the enviroment are treated and that the artists are standing up for themselfs. By role reversing the genders, it changes the audiences view on the music video, especially when the male audiences are watching and it switches. It makes the audiecnce think twice about womens roles in society and shows that still women are treated with little respect. In regards to the Mulvey theory, it supports and goes against what she has stated becuase it looks at the sexual nature of women. As well as going against because when reversed, men are posed as to how they would look wore and acted like the women.

Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory'

Richard Dyer states three things; "Stars are commodities that are produced by institutions", "A star is a constructed image, represented across a range of media and medium", "Stars represent and embody certain ideologies".  His theory basically looks at the idea that icons and celebrities are manually constructed by institutions for financial reasons that are built to target a specific audience or group of people. His theory is then split into three sections; Audience and Institutions, Constructions and Hegemony.

Audience and Institution

Made to make money for that purpose alone. Audiences what to consume what they think is the ideal (or make believe is the ideal). The institution then modifies the star image around the target audience. They make a star based on what they think the audience want. E.g X Factor audiences - they are looking for the 'full package', they want to please the audience as they are what will make the star a success or not.

Construction

Build for an audience and is not an actual person, a person is created for the audience to identify with and so stars can differentiate between different stars and why they like them or not. The star is build specifically with someones signature to them that differentiates them from other stars, for example Lady Gagas outrageous fashion, Katy Perry's bright hairstyles and Amy Winehouse's behave and eyeliner. 

Hegemony (leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group)

We relate to the star because they have a feature we admire or share. This develops from an admiration into an idolisation. Some people may try to replicate what they like about a star, but this can be negative as they may be seen as role models, sometimes bad role models will occur due to the pressure the media has on them. They may then act on behaviour that may be negative thus causing audiences to act upon this to try to be 'cool'.  

For example the American singer, songwriter and actress, Miley Cyrus, started her career signed to Walt Disney, becoming a role model to all teenage and young girls through her television shows. In later 2012, Miley sighed a recording contract with RCA Records creating a controversial, sexual explicit public image while promoting her fourth studio album Bangers in 2013. Including singles 'We Can't Stop' and 'Wrecking Ball' were promoted with controversial music videos to publicise her new image. This saw her audience change from innocent young children to punk rocker adults. This face changed the way we saw Miley Cyrus and her music. 

Miley Cyrus - Wreckingball

This music video released by Miley Cyrus in 2013 shortly after releasing 'We can't stop' and performing the hit song at the VMA awards. This performance saw Miley 'twerking' to another artist Robin Thicke provocatively and was accused of "falsely manipulating the content rating' say The Parents Television Council. The Wreckingball music video was then released which shows Miley swinging naked on a wreckingball, wearing little clothing and her licking a sledge hammer. After being released, in less than 24 hours, 16million people had seen the video. The new Miley has being debated even now as to where she is taking her music and how many more boundaries she will break. Her new outlook was certainly a shock after seeing her on the Hannah Montana series.

Beautiful South - Song for Whoever

This music video was released in 1986 as part of the 'Welcome the Beautiful South' album. The video is about writing a song and then finding the ideal 'star' to be the artist that performs the song. After searching they decide to make a blancmange into a star humors the audience it takes the mick out of the media. This follows the theory and states that the theory is true of which the music video makes fun of the how the media does this. 

Tessa Perkin's 'Stereotypes'

A stereotype is someone we associate with a specific group of people (ideology). Creating a stereotype is not a simple process and involves a number of assumptions that can be challenged as well as media influences to create these stereotypes. Perkin's identifies 5 assumptions, one that not all stereotypes are negative, for example, mums are always caring. There not always about minority groups or less powerful, powerful people have there own stereotype. They can be held about ones own group, not necessarily about another group of people. They are not always rigid or unchanging and not always false.

Not always negative

People assume that stereotypes are negative. For example: young troublesome youths, 'hoodie culture'. However youths can be also quite positive to the society.

Not always about minority groups or the less powerful

People assume that stereotypes are aimed towards the less powerful, however this can be vise versa. 

Can be held about ones own group

We make assumptions on other groups, however we are part of our own social group which can be stereotyped. 

They are not rigid or unchanging

Once a stereotype has been created it is very hard to change this as it has been built over a long period of time. However, Perkins states that over a period of time it can change or develop in to a new stereotype. 

Not always false

They have to have some sort of truth in them or else we wouldn't get this representation of the group or person. We witness and read many stories in the media to help shape our stereotypes, the media can influence our opinions. 

Like many constructed theories there can be downfalls. Some implications to this theory is that they can be wrong. For example, most people see people covered in tattoos as intimidating, however some often are much more friendlier than those that have no tattoos. Most stereotypes are mostly built on negative concepts from the media. E.g BBC News always shows negative stories that may interest us and paints an image of someone who could be considered dangerous. This gives us a negative image of this person and people we may associate to look like them. Another implication of this theory is that stereotypes can be created about a group of which we may have no social interaction with; they are not held about ones own group, that's a stereotype of a stereotype. People either 'hold' stereotype of a group (believe them to be true or do not). Can lead to negative behavior or wrong assumptions. Because someone 'holds' a stereotype of a group, his or her behavior towards a member of a group can be predicted. Can lead to unfair treatment of members of society.

Genre Theories

What is Genre?

'Genre' is considered a critical tool that helps us study texts and audience responses to texts by dividing them into categories based on common elements.  

Daniel Chandler (2001)

Theory argues that word genre comes from the French (and originally Latin) word for 'kind', or 'class'. The term is widely used in rhetoric, literary theory, media theory to refer to a distinctive type of 'text'.

Barry Keith Grant (1995)

Grant's idea is that media texts can be divided up into specifically by their familiar and what became their recognizable characteristics.

Steve Neale (1995)

He states that genres are not 'systems' they are processes of systematization ie they are dynamic and evolve over a period of time.


Vampires have appeared in most Thriller genre films has developed and changed over a long period of time. The fist film to have a vampire appear was Nosferatu in 1922, a silent film of which shows how vampires are a deadly supernatural creating fear in the audiences. However this has soon evolved gradually into the attractive, sexy character that is Edward Cullen in the Twilight saga. Vampires are seen as sexual icons and most vampire film in this current society involve a relationship between a vampire and a human of which the human surrenders to become one of them. This idea that genres can develop is certainly seen through how vampires are portrayed in media texts.

Jason Mittell (2001)

Jason argues that genres are cultural categories that surpass the boundaries of media texts and operate within industries, audience and cultural practices as well. Industries use genre to sell products to audiences. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that are very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society, other texts.
Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what product they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure.

Pleasure of genre for audience

Rick Altman (1999)

Altman argues that genre offers a 'set of pleasures'.

Emotional Pleasures
Offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate an audience response.




Disney Pixar are well known for playing with audiences emotions and taking people on a emotional roller coaster. This all stemmed from the film Finding Nemo. One recent film Up released in 2009, play with the audiences emotion by creating a character with an poignant back story which affect makes the audience feel sorry for this animated character. Audiences may seek this pleasure to bring them back to reality and stir up forgotten feelings of emotion and think about the characters feelings and emotions rather than their own.

Visceral Pleasures
(refers to internal organs) are 'gut' responses and are defined by how the film's stylistic construction elicits a physical affect (roller coaster ride)


The trailer above is for the movie The boy in the striped pajamas, the story takes the audience through a roller coaster of events that leaves the audience saddened by the events that occur. Due to the film being about a true story it makes the audience feel more emotional and frequent to internal responses as the events really did happen. People may seek this style of genre for realism. Most gut responses come from movies that are often sad and involve death as this is a more effective response.

Intellectual Puzzles
Thriller or the 'who done it' offer the pleasures in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and forecasting the end or the being surprised by the unexpected.




The movie Now you see me, is based on four illusionists that try to pull off one of the biggest tricks but are tracked by FBI agents to try and arrest them for stealing from a bank in one of their tricks. This film would be considered a puzzle for the audience because the audience is lead to question there actions and how they manage to pull their tricks. Some audience may watch this film for a intellectual puzzle pleasure.

Strengths of Genre theory

One strength of genre theory is that everybody can understand it even without realizing you are. It is universal therefore music industries use it to develop and market specific texts. Making it easier to categorize different types of film. Genre theories are assessible to any media texts not just film therefore it can apply to anything.

Genre Development & Transformation

Over the years genre has developed and changed as the wider society that produce them also changes. A process known as the generic transformation.

Christian Metz Language & Cinema (1974)

Metz argues that genre goes through a typical cycle of changes during it's lifespan.

• Experimental Stage
• Classical Stage 
• Parody Stage
• Deconstruction Stage

Music Video

Music videos are intended to appeal directly to youth subcultures by reinforcing generic elements of musical genre. Pop-proms are used to promote a band or an artist. Postmodern texts, which is a label given to historical are within society and culture, whose main purpose is to promote a star persona (Dyer 1975). Most music videos are either performance or conception , don't have to be literal representations of the song or lyrics.

The music video on the left is Basket Case by Green Day and references the film One flew over the cuckoo's nest. By placing them side by side you can see that Green Day has used similar mise-en-scene and cinematography to create a scene from the film on the right. This shows us that music videos don't have to have significance to the song but can be used to promote film also.


Themes of Genre

David Bordwell (1989)

David Bordwell says tat 'any theme may appear in any genre'. Some themes include:

Horror films: This film is basically just modern fairy tales and often act as morality plays in which people who break society’s rules are punished.

Fear of the unknown: Themes of which the monster is the ‘monstrous other’ i.e. anything
that is scary because it is foreign or different.

Sex = death: This theme is seen in horror movies, especially Slasher movies, sex is immoral and must be punished, werewolf movies can be seen as a metaphor for puberty, vampires can be as metaphors for sexually transmitted diseases or rape etc.

The breakdown of society: Is the concept of post-apocalyptic movies are about our fear
(or secret desire for) of the breakdown of society. The collapse of civilization results in human kind reverting to their animal instincts.

Some short films can also be social realist texts, and so through their discourse they share some conventional themes of horror/scare texts in general such as:

The duality of man/ personal journey: Is the conflict between man’s civilized side and his savage, primal instincts, e.g. Jeykll and Hyde, Werewolf movies, the Hulk, etc.

Segregation and alienation: The theme suggests two opposing cultures or beings going through a struggle to survive . As there are no standard themes of short movies, depending on their audience they offer their own themes.

Themes associated with the youthful audience:

• Teen angst (fear, worries)
• Rebellion (conforming vs non-conforming)
• Romance 
• Sex (loosing virginity)
• Nostalgia (innocence of youth)
• Nihilism (belief that there is no future)
• Coming of age rituals (prom, falling in love)
• Tribalism (popularity is everything)
• Bullying

Other themes in music videos:

• War
• Crime
• Poverty
• Capitalism
• Racism

David Buckingham (1993)

David argues that 'genre is not... Simply "given" by the culture: rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change'. 

As postmodern theorist Jacques Derrida reminds us, "the law of the law of genre . . . is precisely a principle of contamination, a law of impurity". For example, short films and music videos are in the process of genre cross-over. Some narrative videos borrow from the conventions of short films and in fact are short films.

To Kill a Dead Man is a short film made in 1994 by the trip hop group Portishead. The film is a spy movie which revolves around an assassination and what happens afterwards. The band produced a short film with reference of there music and shows that music videos are borrowing conventions of films and shows the cross over between the two media texts. There is also reference from this video in another one of Portishead's songs, Sour Times. 

Narrative Theories

Tim O'Sullivan (1998)

Tim's theory states that all media texts tell the audience a story whether this is through mediation or whether this story is of ourself - not usually our own personal story but as a culture of set of cultures. He also states that a narrative theory sets out to show what we experience when we 'read' a story.

Kate Domaille (2001)

Kate's theory is that all media texts can fit in one of eight narrative types:

Achilles
A fatal flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless, or almost flawless person. For example, Superman Returns, 'Superman reappears after a long absence, but is challenged by an old foe who uses Kryptonian technology for world domination.' And also Fatal Attraction Movie 'a married man's one night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.'

Candide
Indomitable hero who can't be defeated or be put down. For example James Bond, all 23 films produced tell the story of a spy who defeats the bad guys and comes out on top each film as well as in the novels produced. Another example is the character Indiana Jones who is most famously known for using his signature whip and collecting artifacts before the antagonistic characters.

Cinderella
The dream comes true, narrative. For example Pretty Woman, 'a man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.'

Circle
Is the chase between the hero and the villain, good against bad. For example, Iron Man, the first film is based on the character making his money on weapons but after being captured by the Afghans he has being fighting against, he comes to realise that the company he has been working with, isn't what it seems. An ultimate fight against his good friend sees the fight won by good.

Faust
This narrative story is about 'selling your soul to the devil' which may bring riches but eventually your soul belongs to him. An example of this plot is Wall Street, 'a young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider who takes the youth under his wing.'

Orpheus
The loss of something personal or the gift that is taken away. Could be about the tragedy of loss or the journey which features the loss. For example, Love Story, 'a boy and a girl from different backgrounds fall in love regardless of their upbringing - and then tragedy strikes.'

Romeo and Juliet
The traditional love story between two people. For example, Titanic, 'a seventeen-year-old aristocrat, expecting to be married to a rich claimant by her mother, falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.'

Tristan and Iseult
A love triangle where either the man loves woman, unfortunately one or both of them are already spoken for, or a third party intervenes. For example, Casablance, 'set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.'

Bordwell & Thompson (1997)

His theory offer two distinctions between story and plot which relate to the diegetic world of the narrative that the audience are positioned to accept and that which the audience actually see.

Fabula (story) - is all the events in the narrative that we see and infer. The fabula is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied.

Syuzhet (plot) - is everything visible and audibly present before us. Syuzhet is considered to be the order, manner and techniques of their presentation in the narrative.

Pam Cook (1985)

Pam Cook's theory states that the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have: linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution, high degree of narrative closure, fictional world that contains verisimilitude.

Todorov (1977)

Todorov theory shows the stages of the narrative within a media text and shows how the equilibrium is restored.

Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium, where everything is satisfied, calm and normal.
Stage 2: This stability is disrupted by some kind of force, which creates a state of disequilibrium.
Stage 3: Recognition that a disruption has taken place.
Stage 4: It is only possible to re-create equilibrium through action directed against the disruption.
Stage 5: Restoration of a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction it to change the world of the narrative and/or the characters so that the final stage of equilibrium is not the same as the initial state.



An example of this theory is seen in the music video 'Mistletoe' by Justin Bieber. The music video starts of with the happy couple out and together where the equilibrium is stable between the two characters. At 0:35 the equilibrium is disturbed as an opposing female grabs the attention of the male in the relationship. This is quickly restored when attention to the opposing female is dropped and back onto the main female who hes on a date with. From 0:50 the equilibrium is clearly stable until 1:31 where the male character is then distracted away from his girlfriend. She then walks way to show that the equilibrium is disrupted and no longer stable. 1:45 shows when the male realizes he has upset her and that the equilibrium has been disrupted. The male character then tries to repair the disruption by sending her a present and meeting her outside her home to make up. At 2:18, the couple are seen together smiling and laughing suggesting that the equilibrium has been restored. The rest of the music video we see the characters happy and sharing a kiss of which we know the equilibrium is stable again.

Barthes (1977)

Barthes theory suggested that narrative works with five different codes and the enigma code works to keep up setting problems or puzzles for the audience. His action code (a look, significant word, movement) is based on our cultural and stereotypical understanding of actions that act as a shorthand to advancing the narrative.

Adrian Tilley(1991)

Tilley created the iconic use of the buckling of the gun belt in the Western genre as a means of signifying the preferred reading of an imminent shoot out, and this works in the same way as the starting of a car engine ect.

Vladimir Propp (1928)

The Russian theorist Propp studied the narrative structure of Russian Folk Tales. He concluded that all the characters could be resolved into only 7 broad character types in the 100 tales analysed.

The Villain - Struggles against the hero.
The Donor - Prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
The Helper (magical) - Helps the hero in the quest.
The Princess and her Father - Gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
The Dispatcher - Character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
The Hero or Victim/Seeker hero - Reacts to the donor, weds the Princess.
The False Hero - Takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.

Claude Levi - Staws - (1958)

Levi idea believed all stories operated to certain clear Binary Opposites eg Good vs Evil, Black vs White, Rich vs Poor ect. The importance of these ideas is that essentially a complicated world is reduced to a simple either/or structure. Things are either right or wrong, good or bad. There is no in between.


This clip is a trailer for the film The Amazing Spider-Man 2, of which Spider-man (good) and many villains such as The Green Goblin and Electro (bad). This trailer best shows the narrative of the movie in brief and shows the battle between good and bad. The clip represents how successful the theory is in the sense that most superhero and action films are based on the battle between good and evil.

Andrew Goodwin (1992)

Goodwin's theory argues that in music video, 'narrative relations are highly complex' and meaning can be created from the individual audio-viewer's musical personal musical taste to sophisticated intertextuality that uses multidiscursive phenomena of Western culture. Many are dominated by advertising references, film pastiche and reinforce the postmodern 're-use' tradition.

Sven Carlsson (1999)

Carlsson's theory suggests that music videos in general, videos fall into two rough groups: performance clips and conceptual clips. When a music video mostly shows an artist (or artists) singing or dancing, it is a performance clip. And when the clip shows something else during its duration, often with artistic ambitions, it is a conceptual clip.



In this music video, Meghan Trainor is seen performing the song and dancing. When the artist is singing to the song varies medium close ups and extreme close ups are used whereas when the artist is dancing long shots are used to show her dancing to the song. This music video is a performance music video as there is no conceptual clips in the music video. However in the Taylor Swift music video, 'Blank Spaces' the music video takes a different approach.



Taylor Swift's music video is considered a conceptual as it only includes clips of a narrative story. This music video can also link to Todorvo's theory. Stage 1 being that the relationship is stable thus both characters are happy from 0.27. However stage 2 takes place at 1.48 where the artists sees that her companion is texting another girl. This is when the equilibrium is disrupted. Stage 4 occurs when the male recognizes this and seeks out to fix it though jealous takes over and the female artists destroys all of his belongings. Stage 5 then take place as the male character leaves. But equilibrium stables when a new potential male companion enters the scene, restoring the stability.

Audience Theories

As an active audience we can choose what media we want to listen to or watch depending on what mood we are feeling and what we what. We control the media because we tell the producers what we want to watch due to popularity in certain things we consume. If we don't watch a certain program, producers wont produce it any more. Depending on what we feel will depend on what media we want to consume.

 

'Users & Gratifications' Theory

 

This theory represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of the media from the point of view of the audience. It looks at the motives of the people who use the media, why we watch the program, why we read newspapers, why we find ourselves compelled to keep up to date with favourite soaps or consume films.

 

This makes the audience active as they choose what to consume, not forced in to consumption for example you only watch the films that you want as you are in control. Media simply creates the product. The theory argued that audience needs have social and psychological needs which generate certain expectations about mass media and what they are exposed to. As the audience is an active participant it allows them to make choices in relation to what they consume. This does assume an active audience making motivated choices making the audience in control of their own consumerism.

 

The 4 Needs

 

Underlying idea behind the model is that people are motivated by the desire to fulfil, or gratify certain needs. Rather than asking how the media uses us, the model asks how we use the media.

 

4 Areas

• Surveillance
• Personal Identify
• Personal Relationship
• Diversion
   

Surveillance

 

Is the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know whats going on in the world. News channels provide a reliable source for information however what ever is published, is specially selected by a team that will choose stories that they think is best for the audience. All about the awareness of what's going on in the world.

 

Personal Identity

 

Is how being a subject of the media allows up to confirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society. The use of media can be used to create your own personal identity. Pop stars often become role models inspiring young children. Hence why theres such an outcry when the star dies something wrong.

 

Personal Relationship

 

Relationship with the media

 

People often what soaps to get to know the character in the program and use this as a form of companionship. T.V can be quite an intimate experience. By watching the same people on a regular basis, we can often become attached to them as though we know them personally. This is why when a character dies, we feel sad because it is though we personally know them. As well as if there is an antagonistic character in a show or film, depending on what the character has done, we then hate the actor that plays the character.

 

Using the media within relationships

 

Some audiences use the media as a springboard to from and build upon relationships with other people. When watching a TV program, often conversation can be brought on by what has been seen with the people that have either seen the show or watching it there and then.

 

Gogglebox trailer for 2013

 

 

 

Gogglebox is a TV show that's based on showing the audience the views of real people watching the popular shows that have been on TV within the last 7 days. The show features a number of recurring families, couples and friends as they watch the same shows and captures there responces. As you can see from the advert there is a variety of different responces and opinions from each group which shows that life experiances and the society people grow up in, can determin how we interpretate the media texts.

 

 

Stuart Hall (Reception Theory)

 

Stuart Hall's theory states that the media texts are encoded by the producers meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages. This is then decoded by the spectators. The different spectators will decode the text in different ways, not usually how the producers intended.

 

Dominant

 

The audience view the media text in the way the producer wants the audience to. This means that the audience agree with the ideology and message that is produced by the media text.

it handbag looks appealing encouraging you to what to buy it
Oppositional

The audience rejects the preferred reading and creates their own reading of the text. They do not agree with the message that the producer has created.

 

Negotiated

 

A compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings. The audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding in relation to the text.

 

 

How may a audience have a dominant understanding of your product?

 

The audience will have a dominant understanding of my product because the message will be clear to the audience of what I want my music video to be about. The audience consuming my product will be the same age to who my product is aimed at. The product will be easy to understand from a narrative aspect and can relate to the narrative in the same way. The product will also relate to the society we live in. The audience is choosing to consume the product so must have a reason to like it in the first place.

 

How may a audience have a negotiated understanding of your product?

 

The audience consuming the product may not have the same life experiences as what the product is entailing. They also may not understand the narrative in relation so therefore cannot relate to it in the intended way. The age may vary the reading and understanding of the product and therefore the message is unclear to what the dominant is reading.

 

How may a audience have a oppositional understanding of your product?

 

The product has controversial themes and the audience disagrees with the messages in the video. The audience may also disagree with the genre which immediately the consumer rejects the product. The consumer may not understand or relate to the narrative structure as it may be unclear or they may of not experienced what is shown. Different cultures may have a different understanding of the product and it may not reflect the society.

 

 

 

 

This clip taken from the popular TV show Gogglebox, shows the different emotional responces of real people to the TV shows shown to the British public. The views and opinions of what are shown in the video clip are all emotional to the achievement of Musharaf speech. All groups watching the show are domminent as the producers want the audience to feel moved and emotional towards the story of Musharaf.

 

 

Hypodermic Needle Theory

 

This theory implies that mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on it's audiences. In 1940s-1950s, the mass media were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change. Several factors contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including:

• The fast rise and popularisation of radio and television.
• The emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising and propaganda.

The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by 'shooting' or 'injecting' them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desire response. It suggests (a needle) a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver, the passive audience which is influenced by the message. It expresses the view that the media is a dangerous means of communication as the audience is powerless to resit the impact of the message.

 

People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot of media material 'thrown' at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information. The theory is based on the assumption that the audience is brainwashed into believing the media messages.

 

Some implications for this theory is that the theory is self is out of date an invalid due to changes the audiences changed perception of the media. Also not all people consume media in the same way any more due to the technology advances in phones and devices. More up to date theories have provan that audiences are not simply passive.



An example of the Hyperdermic Needle Theory is the 'War of the Worlds' radio broadcast. The broadcast was infact a play of which most listeners had not been paying close attention to. The play cut to a panic broadcast of which what the audience heard was that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth. This created a mass panic to around one million Americans of whom thought that the Earth was underattack. However this was not the case. This is an example of the theory because the media injected a thought into the audience that the Earth was under attack which casued a mass panic in America. This is exactly how the theory worked, by injecting the message directly into the "bloodstream" of the public, attempting to create a uniform thinking. The effects of the broadcast suggested that the media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading theorists to believe this was one of the primary ways media authors shaped audience perception.



Narrative Analysis

A2 Advanced Portfolio in Media Brief Specification

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with the two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the band
• a cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
• a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package)

Out of the 7 briefs stated in the brief specification I have chosen the first specification. I have chosen this one because I think that there is a number of different ways I could interpret what is specified due to the range of music videos could be inspired from. Looking at the media industry music videos have developed drastically due to the development of technology convergence, there is a range of unique and original music videos across Web 2.0.

Out of the three options to choose from, I have decided to create a cover for its release as part of a digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak. I have chosen these options because I think that they go well together as well as my final product.