How useful are ideas about narrative in analysing music videos? Refer to the close study products ‘ghost town’ and ‘letter to the free’ in your answer.

Narrative theory is useful in analysing music videos to gain an idea about the storyline, message and plot that the media is trying to portray. Todorov’s narrative theory consists of a three part structure, an equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium (beginning, middle and end).

These can be used to analyse the letter to the free music video which focuses on the black community and the multi-media Netflix documentary about American prisons being filled by black lives. The letter to the free video shows a symbolic square box which common explains that it represents blackness not being defined in time or space. This box appears throughout the video structure as a satallite, which in Seymour Chatman’s theory means it is not essential to the narrative but are helpful and in this instance, it is helpful to provide the meaning behind the video. While the black box is shown at points throughout the video, it is shown before the song starts and then at the end of the video it is the last thing you see. This relates to Todrov’s theory as the video is structured in a way that leaves a significant beginning, middle and ending that highlights the main message of the video.

In the Ghost Town music video, the narrative shows the band travelling in a car through empty roads, highlighting a time in the uk where there were riots, deindustrialization and unemployment which caused the feel of a ‘ghost town’. Throughout the video, the band are together in the car which represents them being isolated. This relates to the narrative theory as the beginning shows shots of urban buildings which introduces a theme of industrialization, it than shows a point of view from the car driving and the view of the empty roads. These beginning shots are useful to identify the setting and the theme of the music video right at the beginning, which then sets the mood for the rest of it. The ending then shows a contrast to the disruption, which is chaos with the camera spinning. Whereas, the ending is just one still shot which shows the group throwing rocks into water. This contrast is useful as it shows a clear structure of narrative.  

How useful are ideas about narrative in analysing music videos? Refer to the Close Study Products ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Letter to the free’ in your answer

In analysing music videos, ideas about narrative can be useful as music videos have a story and always have a beginning, middle and end but they don’t need to be linear, and the end can be at the start. There’s always a plot which shows how it’s organised and what’s put together in order to create something whole. There is always some sort of structure which allows for the video to come together and shows that thought has been put into the piece as a whole. Music videos can also be sequential which is the forming/following in a logical order or sequence.

In Common’s letter to the free, in the music video there is a clear black box which has significance to Common himself and represents the black community that isn’t being treated right in society. Chapman’s theory on how a video can be broken down into two different things which includes the main thing which are called Kernels and Satellites which are the less important things but still contribute to something. If a Kernel is taken out then the whole narrative could fall apart because it won’t make sense if it’s taken away. In this case, the black box is the Kernel and is significant because it represents something so important, and has an important message to portray throughout the video.

Furthermore, in the music video ‘Ghost Town’ it’s filmed in a car that’s moving through the city while everyone is inside the car. This creates a scene and narrative as it creates a story of the band moving through the city in a car; the video is also in black and white which could connote simplicity. The video also starts by showing different buildings and empty roads which will help to create imagery and a sense of loneliness/empty space and it’s setting the scene.

Letter to the free and Ghost Town could be considered binary oppositions as they both represent different things and want to portray a different image. This relates to Strauss’ theory on binary opposition. Although they aren’t the same video, they are radical to one another as they aren’t the same and do represent something different. Letter to the free represents how black people are being treated unfairly, and the fact it’s filmed in a prison connotes they feel trapped. However, in Ghost Town, there is a group of people driving around a city in a car, on empty streets. This could show isolation however the group of people are together which shows community.

Over the weekend, I have finished the basis of the music video. (Backgrounds for length of shots and text placement/actions). Now I am onto the last stage where I draw my characters before inserting them to my music video. I will use photoshop to cut body parts and rotate them to give the look of animation.

Here are my characters/actions. The Utopia of my character happens when their headphones are on whereas when the headphones are off, they are in reality.

(Note: I am not very good at drawing so these are my best attempts!)

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How useful are ideas about narrative in analysing music videos? Refer to the close study products ‘Ghost Town’ and ‘Letter To The Free’ in your answer

Narrative in music videos are important as it adds a story and structure to the music video. Vladimir Propp explains how each story has 7 main characters; the hero, the villain, the princess, the victim, the dispatcher, the false hero and the father. Todorov explains how each narrative should follow a structure of equilibrium, disruption and then new equilibrium.

Analysing the music video for Ghost Town, there is a clear equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium. The music video starts with the band driving down a lone road with no cars around, giving it an eerie and ghostly feel. In the middle of the music video, the band drive the car uncontrollably, this may represent how the unemployment rate started spiraling uncontrollably. Then as we enter the last part of the music video we see the new equilibrium start to play out as the band has much more gentle approach with throwing rocks across the water, creating the feeling that the madness has passed and they are in a much more normal state of world.

Analysing Letter To The Free, the equilibrium would be the guy playing the piano alone, which symbolises a lone voice expressing their self. The disruption in the middle would either be the appearance of the black square which could symbolise an empty space/feeling, or it would be all the people joining in which shows a group chant of them expressing the same feelings. And then the new equilibrium would be the pianist going back to playing by himself with the mellow tune like he started out with.

Referring back to the question, I believe that narrative’s are very important when analysing music videos, this is due to being able to follow a clear story line and see a dilemma pop up, like an incident which affects a character or changes the mood of the story, and then having the final equilibrium which shows that the dilemma got resolved.

Representation: The female form

Structural level and textual level – individual images

Radical and reactionary

Toril Moi: Feminist = A political position

Female = A matter of biology

Feminine = a set of culturally defined characteristics

Laura Mulvey – Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. The signs of visual please and the male gaze. Women as an image and the male as the bearer of the look. Pleasure in looking has been split between active male/ passive female. Scopophiloia is the natural pleasure in looking, Vouyerism is the sexual pleasure gained in looking.

Raunch Culture – The sexualised performance of women in the media

Representation of feminism

Happens at both a structural level and a textual level

Radical and reactionary

Toril Moi:

• Feminist – A political position
• Female – A matter of biology
• Feminine -A set of culturally defined characteristics

Laura Mulvey – Visual pleasure and narrative cinema

• Visual pleasure
• Signs of visual pleasure
• The male gaze
• Woman as image, Man bearer of the looks
• ‘The pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female
• Scopophilia – taking people as objects and subjecting them to a controlling and subjective gaze.

Raunch Culture

• Performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality.

representation: feminist critical thinking

• structural (organisations)
• textual (individual images, films)
• Radical and reactionary

Toril Moi’s

• Feminist- a political position
• Female- a matter of biology
• Feminine- a set of culturally defined characteristics

Laura Mulvey – visual pleasure and narrative cinema

• Visual pleasure
• “the woman is seen as image and the man as the bearer of the look”
• The male gaze
• A world ordered by sexual imbalance
• Concept of scopophilia (looking)
• Vouyerism ( sexual pleasure gained in looking)
• Fetishism ( a cut out styled fragment)

Jacques lacan- This mirror moment

• Highlighting the “mirror stage” of child development
• ” A complex process of likeness and difference”

Feminism

• First wave of feminism- suffragettes
• Second wave of feminism- 60s society structured around men
• Third wave of feminism- younger women
• Fourth Wave of feminism- intersectionality, plurality

Raunch Culture

• Is the suxualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as highly sexually available, where its performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality

Intersectionality- Queer Theory

• Different experiences due to differences of identity

Representation

• happen at a structural level in terms of institutional, companies and organisations
• happens at a textual level, individual images and films
• radical and reactionary

Toril Moi’s (1987) – distinction between ‘feminist’ ‘feminine’ and ‘female’

• feminist- a political position
• female – a matter of biology
• feminine – a set of culturally defined characteristics

Laura Mulvey (1975) : visual pleasure and narrative cinema

• visual pleasure and the signs of visual pleasure
• ‘the woman is seen as image and the man as the bearer of the look’
• the male gaze
• a world of imbalanced power and the power is sexual
• ‘the pleasure in looking is split between the active male and the passive female’
• womens appearances are coded for strong visual and erotic impact
• ‘scopophilia’ – pleasure in looking
• ‘vouyerism’ – sexual pleasure gained in looking
• ‘fetishism’ – the quality of cut out, stylised and fragmented

Jacques Lacan – ‘the mirror moment’

• highlighting the parallel between the ‘mirror stage’ of child development and the mirroring process that occurs between audience and screen.

sexualising in music videos

• woman sexualised in music videos
• first wave of feminism = suffragettes
• second wave of feminism = late 60’s/70’s society structured around male experience
• third/fourth wave of feminism = more radical e.g. #metoo movement and #freethenipple

Raunch culture

• performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexuality – Hendry & Stephenson

Intersectionality: Queer Theory

Ariel Levey

Judith Butler

Bell Hooks

Jean kilbourne

• Kilbourne is internationally recognized as an expert on addictions, gender issues, and the media. 
• Jean Kilbourne has transformed the way in which organizations and educational institutions around the world address the prevention of many public health problems including smoking, high-risk drinking, eating disorders, obesity, sexualization of children, and violence against women. 
• part of second wave femininsm

• Representation in terms of female and looking through the lens of FCT
• Happens at a textual level (films, people etc) and structural level, about society’s groups, companies, communities etc
• Where will people be placed in different situations, radical and reactionary, it’s also about the decisions being made
• Tori Moi’s (1987) – Distinguished between Feminist, Female and Feminine
• Laura Mulvery – wrote an essay on visual pleasure and narrative in 1975. Visual pleasure, signs of visual pleasure, ‘woman as image, man as bearer of the look’ ‘pleasure in looking has been split between active/male passive/female’
• Structured around a male ideology. Women are looked at and displayed. Connecting Lacan’s theory/stage to the media
• Scopophilia – Natural pleasure in looking
• Voyeurism – Sexual pleasure gained in looking
• Fetishism – Cutting out a certain part, looking at certain parts
• Jacques Lacan – There’s a moment in child development when they recognise/understand they’re a person, a moment of consciousness. ‘Mirror stage of development’
• Representation of females in real life is portrayed through other things as well such as games, films, music videos
• ‘boys are boys’ and ‘girls are girls’ problematic issues could arise from this as not everyone is the same and ideology has changed over time
• Jhally comments on how music video clips create a dreamworld based around a range of predictable codes/conventions
• Women are objectified a lot in everything in today’s society
• Raunch culture: Ariel Levy thinks Raunch culture is ‘ a product of the unresolved feminist sex wars he conflict between the women’s movement and the sexual revolution‘ (2006:74).
• ‘Raunch culture is the sexualised performance of women in the media that can play into male stereotypes of women as highly sexually available, where its performers believe they are powerful owners of their own sexaulity’ Hendry & Stephenson (2018:50)
• Intersectionality – The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
• Judith Butler – Suggests that we have multiple identities that are performed to different people, in different settings
• Bell Hook – Multicultural Intersectionality, cultural criticism and transformation. Advocates media literacy, the need to engage with popular culture to understand class struggle, domination, renegotiation and revolution. Put another, encouraging us all to ‘think critically’ to ‘change our lives’.