1B - Narrative

1b) Narrative

In the Indie genre, it is a common convention for the music video to be heavily narrative based rather than performance based. Artists of the genre tend to create a type of story in their video which hooks the audience and attempts to develop a personal relationship through a deeper meaning. The story behind the video is the emotional journey of a young girl who has lost someone close to her.  Jean Baudrillard played an important role in the music video due to his theory of stimulation that I relied heavily on to create the story. The process of stimulation requires something to be presented without actually showing the real thing. The song ‘Autumn Leaves’ connotes the loss of a loved one, and in the music video, this loss is through their death. While the audience never visually experiences the death, it becomes evident to them through a range of signs. For example, the performer looks up to the sky, blows a kiss and waves, which can immediately be perceived as a connotation for death. Furthermore, he also believed there was a relationship between the music and visuals. My music video will support this, as there will be points in the video where what is happening on screen will match the lyrics of the song. For example, the lyrics ‘yesterday you were here with me’ will play over a flashback of the two best friends to emphasise the loss in the performer’s life, but also accentuate much happier times which is how the performer is choosing to remember her friend.

Some theories by Jameson are also significant in my music video, most specifically intertextuality. The black and white effect throughout the video links directly to another Ed Sheeran music video 'The A Team'. In this video, a young girl becomes homeless and addicted to drugs, eventually dying. The music video for Autumn Leaves could perhaps accentuate the story of the girl from ‘The A Team’ best friend who is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss.

I chose to challenge Vernallis’ theory that ‘something drives the video forward but it is often not the narrative’ as it has become evident through researching the indie genre that a typical indie target audience prefer experiencing a storyline as they enjoy videos that are modest and meaningful so that they can relate them to their real lives, whereas a performance based video would be difficult to relate to and stop them from developing a personal relationship with the song and artist. Additionally, I will go against another of Vernallis’ theory that ‘there is not necessarily a balance between narrative and performance’ as I do not plan to use a huge aspect of performance as I will that it would take away the heavy emotion in the narrative, and would also harden the audience’s ability to connect with the story if I kept jump cutting to an artist performing the song. However, there may be some points in the video where the performer will mime a sentence or two from the song as if she is saying it to herself. For example ‘Do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you?’ as this will further highlight what she is feeling following the loss.

My narrative did not comply with Todorov’s five stage narrative structure. His first stage is ‘equilibrium’ which is essentially where everything is good, however my music video will start with a close up of the performers face, in order to capture the sadness she is feeling, which therefore disagrees with his theory. He then goes on to say that there is a something happens that ‘disrupts the equilibrium’ however my video will not include a disturbance of any kind as it is about the performer being able to progress with her life and to always remember her friend in a cheerful and blissful way, eventually leading to a kind of resolution where she is able to move forward with her life.

 

 

 

Conventions of real world texts

Conventions from real world texts

 

In creating both my foundation and advanced portfolios, it was essential that I conducted a wide range of research to familiarise myself with the conventions from real world texts. From doing this, I would enabled myself to create products to a high level of professionalism as I had acknowledged the successes of existing products and applied them to my own.

For my foundation portfolio, many tasks were carried out in order to become accustomed with what I should be including in the creation of my music magazine to fit the conventions of real media texts. I chose to create my music magazine based around the ‘Indie’ genre therefore the magazines I looked at including Q Magazine and Under the Radar. From these magazines I found that their popular features included interviews with both popular and upcoming artists, reviews and latest news. This also inspired the name of my magazine “Emerge” as it describes the impending artists as well as covering artists that have already developed. I also found that other existing music magazines such as NME, Kerrang! And Top of the Pops have short, catchy names therefore I think my magazine name follows this convention. Following the popular conventions I discovered, I created the contents page with different sections. For example one section called ‘’features” is a whole section of interviews with various artists, and there is also a section called “regulars” which includes reviews and behind the scenes information. From these magazines I also found that the front cover typically includes either a close up shot or a mid-shot of the artist. Therefore I selected a photo that I took of my artist in a photoshoot that was originally a long shot, and using Photoshop I zoomed in to her face to make it a close up. This creates an attention-grabbing effect as the artist is making direct eye contact with the audience enticing them into purchasing the magazine.

My house colour scheme consisted of green, black white and grey. I used these colours as they are all prominent and complement each other so that each one stands out. Q magazine uses red, white, black and sometimes grey, so it became evident to me that I needed one bright colour, green, that would make the typography stand out, and have the rest particularly neutral so that they flattered the brighter colours. The colour scheme was extremely important to choose as I needed to be able to attract my target audience successfully. Often throughout the Indie genre, the audiences like to feel relaxed and at ease, therefore the colour green seemed mandatory to use as it has connotations of tranquillity, nature and peace which would help in luring in readers.

For my advanced portfolio, I also created a music video based around the Indie genre. I needed to watch similar music videos in order to gain an understanding of what is typically included to make it a successful, professional indie music video. By researching into the Indie genre I discovered that there is a reoccurring theme of when it comes to setting. The music videos tend to be set in basic and minimalistic areas, quite commonly outside or at a live concert. This way the chief focus is on the individual artists as performers doing what they love to do. It also keeps the concentration on the actual music itself and the talent that they are showcasing. This is very distinctive in the indie/rock genre as the genre itself stemmed from the passion that people have to perform and play rather than the extravagant details that can be seen in other genres which revolve around the success that comes with the music. A contemporary twist in indie music videos is to include a narrative in-between these shots to break up the music video and give it a story for the reader. Also there is more room to play around with the video if a narrative is included which makes it a popular technique for various artists. I thus decided to adapt this convention in making my own music video. Therefore I incorporated a range of flashbacks in-between the other shots, making it an episodic narrative, as I feel that this enabled the audience to see the performer’s relationship with the person that’s passed away to evoke sympathy from them. Andrew Goodwin’s theory states that the lyrics should match the visual so I ensured that I achieved this by having the performance on screen toning the lyrics.

I also had to create some ancillary tasks for my advanced portfolio which were a magazine advert and a Digipak. In my magazine advert, I was able to make use of the conventions that have become familiar to me as a consumer and as a media student. The target audience of my video is aged 15-20 which I am part of and I have therefore been able to include aspects that I know will be successful with my target audience. Social networking and the internet have become increasingly significant in the lives of my primary target audience, and therefore including a website and a twitter reference would appeal to them and enable existing fans to take their relationship with the artist a step further. Placing star ratings and comments from existing sources that the target audience would likely recognise would increase the motivation and interest from the audience to purchase the album as they would trust the sources. After researching real life media products I was able to understand and acknowledge the relation between the video and the magazine advert. This is used to make the album identifiable and display the same feel and theme to the audience. I adapted this convention when creating my own magazine advert by taking a photo for the main image in one of the same locations that I shot my video in, that also appears at the end of the video. This demonstrates a clear link between the advert and the video which the audience will be able to recognise. The fonts and colour scheme that I have used on the advert is the same as I have used on the digpak which hence creates a house style and furthers the ability for the audience to identify the relationship between the video and the advert.

My digipak is very similar to my magazine advert as it further develops the house style making it distinguishable. I used the same font, “moon flower” with the same colour swatch. On the cover I used the same image as my magazine advert which expands the idea of being identifiable. On the inside of the Digipak, the left hand side displays a number of candles placed into a heart formation and on the right hand side is a close up of a candle. In my music video I included shots of candles therefore anyone that has seen the video would be able to recognise the images. Also on the inside of the Digipak is a personal message to the supporters and fans from the artist to display his appreciation for me. It also mentions other people that have contributed to the making of the album and had any participation in the songs. This is a common aspect in Digipaks as it allows any other musician involved in the making of the album to be credited. The back page is simpler than the rest of the Digipak as it is a plain black background with the tracks listed in numerical order. This ensures that the audience is focused on the songs themselves rather than be distracted by other images. To create a professional look to the back of the Digpak, I added a barcode, a record company logo, a serial number and a website which rounded off the realistic look I was aiming to achieve. Overall, my Digipak follows conventions of real life Digipaks and therefore creates a professional feel to my product.

The Community

Re write of mock

1a)
Digital technology has been an essential part of the coursework I have created since beginning media A level. Using it in both my foundation and advanced portfolios has greatly increased my skills when using both hardware and software. In my foundation portfolio, I used web 2.0 as the base to my research. It enabled me to find pictures on Google images of existing music magazines which helped me to evaluate the various photographs, fonts, colour schemes and layouts depending on which genre of music it was focused on. Furthermore, I was able to access websites such as Q magazine and Kerrang! Which provided me with a wide range of content that I could develop ideas on for my own magazine e.g. sell lines, competitions and interview substance.
In the foundation portfolio, using a handheld camera was one of the ways in which I increased my skills in digital technology. I used a Canon 550D SLR camera to take photographs of the model for my music magazine. The camera was set in an automatic mode which joined with the harmonisation of the flash from the studio lights ensured the images were clear and of a high quality. As well as being able to take photographs from a range of different angles due to the portability of the camera, I was also able to review the images immediately and make a decision on whether to perhaps change the angle or positioning of the model. A 16BG SD memory card enabled me to take up to 800 pictures which enabled me to capture a huge variety including different camera shots and angles that I could look back on and determine which ones would be the most successful in my magazine.
In creating the music magazine for my foundation portfolio, I was determined to reflect the professionalism of the music magazines I had researched primarily. After taking over 200 images in a photo-shoot with the model for my magazine, I used the software Adobe Photoshop to edit the photos and make them of a high quality similar to the ones I had seen when researching. Having taken my images with the use of a white screen backdrop, I was able to edit the photos I had taken with a variety of tools included in the software. From reviewing the photos, I noticed that some of them appeared dull with a slight grey tinge. For my front cover especially, I wanted to brighten up these images so that they would stand out and capture the attention of the reader while also looking professional. I used the brightness scale to add lighting to the photo which made the model look much clearer. Furthermore, I increased the contrast to avoid any fuzzy lines that would make the photo look improper. Increasing the saturation gave the image a strong and vibrant tone which reflected the indie genre my magazine was based around well. These different tools enabled me to filter the image until I was satisfied with how it looked. Moreover, by watching a video tutorial I learnt how to airbrush using the spot healing tool, which gave the model a more flawless look that was aesthetically pleasing.
To shoot my music video for the advanced portfolio I used a Canon SLR 600D camera. My aim was to create a high quality, professional product which the camera enabled me to do. I was able to develop my camera skills in the advanced portfolio as I used the manual setting instead of the automatic. Using manual settings allowed me to edit them depending on the location or lighting that I was capturing. A few of the scenes that I shot were at night time when it was dark, with the only light coming from fairy lights and candles. Here, I was able to use the ISO setting on the camera which captured the scenes in a high quality and increased the visibility of the performer. Also, I used a prime aperture lens of 1.8mm in these conditions as it is more suitable to lower levels of light. Similarly to my foundation portfolio I was able to use the digital viewfinder to watch back clips immediately and see if anything needed adjusting that I could instantly recreate.
In creating my advanced portfolio I was introduced to a new software that I hadn’t used before. Adobe Premiere was the software required to edit my music video and make it all come together. It required me to work with moving image on a continuous timeline. Being completely new to the programme, I relied heavily on video tutorials to guide me through making the footage the best quality I could. I uploaded all the footage that I had recorded to the software and created layers for each take, as there were some close up shots some mid shots and some high angle shots. After removing and deleting some of these shots, I merged them together onto one layer so that the video could be played uninterruptedly. Additionally, Adobe Premiere includes a selection of tools that can be used to add effects to the video. I used the black/white effect to transform my video into greyscale. Having recorded some of the clips without a tripod, some of them were reasonably shaky and hard to watch. Using the speed tool and the warp stabiliser I was able to steady these shots and therefore include them in my video.
I have developed a range of skills from my foundation portfolio to my advanced portfolio and have become more aware of how to use different hardware and software to create a professional looking piece.
1b)
Media language refers to the ‘meaning making’ aspect of a media text respectively. Every media text has signs or connotations whether they be ideological, symbolic or a signifier. Media producers use media language to communication with their audiences effectively.
There are a significant amount of theorists that have helped me to produce a music video that can conform to the regular codes and conventions of a typical, professionally made music video. For example, the theory of Stimulation developed by Jean Baudrillard played an important role in the music video. The process of stimulation requires something to be presented without actually showing the real thing. The song ‘Autumn Leaves’ connotes the losss of a loved one, and in the music video, this loss is through their death. While the audience never visually experiences the death, it becomes evident to them through a range of signs. There is a scene where the performer writes a message on a white balloon, with the words ‘I miss you’ which is shown through a close up. The white colour of the balloon connotes purity and innocence which could perhaps represent heaven and peace – close links with the theme of death. Moreover, a midshot followed by a close up reveals to the audience the performer looking through old photographs of her and her best friend. This encourages the audience to recognise the performer’s loss and helps to create a personal relationship as they sympathise with it.
Straussare developed the idea of denotation and connotation which are significant elements in the music video. As the video progresses the audience see a transformation in the performer as she begins the video mourning the loss of her friend however by the end she realises she should be celebrating her friends life. The art of denotation enables the audience to see this progression. For example, the beginning of the video introduces the character through an extreme close up of her eyes, allowing the audience to see the sadness in them, revealing her vulnerablity and struggle to cope with the loss however by the end of the video another close up of her eyes pans out to a mid shot displaying the performer smiling as she overcomes her battle with grief.
It could be argued that intertextuality is present in the video which is a concept developed by Jameson. The black and white effect throughout the video links directly to another Ed Sheeran music video 'the a team'. In this video, a young girl becomes homeless and addicted to drugs, eventually dying. The music video for Autumn Leaves could perhaps accentuate the story of the girl from the A team's best friend who is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss.
Simulation was also a reoccurring theme in the music video. There was a strong representation of loss without actually displaying the specific event. An over the shoulder shot displays the performer writing a birthday card. In the card she writes 'I will send you a card every year even though you aren't here' which immediately suggests to the audience the idea of death. I incorporated various elements of lighting, for example fairy lights, candles and close ups of light bulbs to accelerate the representation of church and celebration that the audience would be able to link to death and celebrating the life of the person who has passed.

2) Postmodernism is essentially the diverse mixture of any tradition with that of its immediate past. Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or ranges of study, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology.In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is vital; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be imperfect and relative, rather than certain and collective.
I have been researching the film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in order to accentuate how postmodernism is used in current film making. An instant referral to postmodernism is the film’s use of a dystopian structure. There are 12 districts all controlled by the ‘Capitol’ and the protagonist, ‘Katniss’ is the face of the rebellion to overthrow them. It is becoming more common for postmodern art to display the theme of dystopia due to the futuristic element in which the values and practices of society have changedway beyond ours, and presents a general lack of hope in the future.The image of Katniss, having no relation whatsoever to the reality, as pure simulacrum - is evidenced most clearly in the third novel when Katniss becomes Mockingjay, the image that leads the revolution of the Districts under the command of District 13.
Anne Friedberg has argued that because we now have much control of how we watch a film (through video/dvd), and we increasingly watch film in personal spaces (the home) rather than exclusively in public places, ‘cinema and television become readable as symptoms of a “postmodern condition”, but as contributing causes.’ We don’t just have films that are about postmodernism or reflect postmodern thinking. Films have helped contribute to the postmodern quality of life by manipulating and playing around with our conventional understanding of time and space. She said ‘One can literally rent another space and time when borrowing a videotape to watch on a VCR….the VCR allows man to organize a time which is not his own…a time which is somewhere else – and to capture it.’
It has been claimed that Hollywood has experienced a transition from ‘Fordist’ mass production (the studio system) to the more ‘flexible’ forms of independent production characteristic of postmodern economy. The fusion of Hollywood into media conglomerates with multiple entertainment interests has been seen to illustrate a ‘postmodern’ blurring of boundaries between industrial practices, technologies, and cultural forms.
My view on the future of postmodernism seems to be taking the "postmodern condition" as a particular and creating new altered works disassociated from the modern-postmodern arguments and oppositions.

Narrative Essay

“Media texts rely on cultural experiences in order for audiences to easily make sense of narratives.” Explain how you used conventional and / or experimental narrative approaches in one of your production pieces.

 

I am going to deliberate theories of narrative in relation to my advanced portfolio. I plan to produce a music video for Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Autumn Leaves’.

During the creation of my version of ‘Autumn Leaves’, I will look at Vernallis’ theory that music videos are constructed around four concepts – Narrative, Editing, Camera Movement, and Diegesis. After evaluating the lyrics of the song, I discovered that it was a melancholic song about loosing someone close to you, and experiencing life without them. It also suggests that we think life is plain and simple until it is shaken up by something unexpected and sudden, such as a death. Therefore, I have decided to create a narrative video as it will allow me to tell a story based on the performer’s struggle coming to terms with the loss of a loved one. The story will highlight the memories of two best friends and therefore will include a variety of flashbacks, however the main focus will be on the protagonist’s adaption to a life without them. The camera movement in my video will be an important aspect as I will need to capture the performer’s emotions correctly. I plan to use high angle shots on the performer by herself, as it will connote the idea that she feels less powerful without her best friend by her side.

 

However, I will go against Vernallis’ theory that ‘there is not necessarily a balance between narrative and performance’ as I do not plan to use a huge aspect of performance as I will that it would take away the heavy emotion in the narrative, and would also harden the audience’s ability to connect with the story if I kept jump cutting to an artist performing the song. However, there may be some points in the video where the performer will mime a sentence or two from the song as if she is saying it to herself. For example ‘Do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you?’ as this will further highlight what she is feeling following the loss.

 

Andrew Goodwin is another theorist of whom I have researched, and he believed there was a relationship between the music and visuals. My music video will support this, as there will be points in the video where what is happening on screen will match the lyrics of the song. For example, the lyrics ‘yesterday you were here with me’ will play over a flashback of the two best friends to emphasise the loss in the performer’s life, but also accentuate much happier times which is how the performer is choosing to remember her friend.

 

I am choosing to ignore Vernallis’ theory that ‘Something drives the video forward, but often it is not the narrative’ as I feel that the ability to tell a story simply through the narrative will connect more with my ‘indie’ target audience as they prefer things to be modest and meaningful rather than over the top performances which are generically used in ‘pop’ videos.

 

My narrative will not comply with Todorov’s five stage narrative structure. His first stage is ‘equilibrium’ which is essentially where everything is good, however my music video will start with a close up of the performers face, in order to capture the sadness she is feeling, which therefore disagrees with his theory. He then goes on to say that there is a something happens that ‘disrupts the equilibrium’ however my video will not include a disturbance of any kind as it is about the performer being able to progress with her life and to always remember her friend in a cheerful and blissful way, eventually leading to a kind of resolution where she is able to move forward with her life.

To conclude, I will be creating a music video mostly based on a narrative structure, which will support Vernallis’ theory of the four concepts and Andrew Goodwin’s linking visuals to lyrics, but goes against Todorov’s theory on narrative structure and another of Vernalls’ theories about performance driving the video forward.

Modernism VS Postmodernism

Modernism	Post modernism
Faith in "Grand Theory" (totalizing explanations in history, science and culture) to represent all knowledge and explain everything.	Rejection of totalizing theories; pursuit of localizing and contingent theories.
Master Narratives and metanarratives of history, culture and national identity as accepted before WWII (American-European myths of progress). Myths of cultural and ethnic origin accepted as received. Progress accepted as driving force behind history.	Suspicion and rejection of Master Narratives for history and culture; local narratives, ironic deconstruction of master narratives: counter-myths of origin. "Progress" seen as a failed Master Narrative
Sense of unified, centered self; "individualism," unified identity.	Sense of fragmentation and decentered self; multiple, conflicting identities.
Master narrative of progress through science and technology.	Skepticism of idea of progress, anti-technology reactions, neo-Luddism; new age religions.
Faith in, and myths of, social and cultural unity, hierarchies of social-class and ethnic/national values, seemingly clear bases for unity.	Social and cultural pluralism, disunity, unclear bases for social/national/ ethnic unity.

Baudrillard

Baudrillard

 

Hyperreality
‘a condition in which "reality" has been replaced by simulacra’

 

Simulacra...
When a sign loses its relation to reality, it then begins to simulate a simulation
Simulation:
The process in which a representation of something comes to replace the thing which is actually being represented.
The representation then becomes more important than ‘the real thing’
Hyperreality:
Division between "real" and simulation has collapsed,
therefore an illusion of an object is no longer possible because the real object is no longer there.

 

Understanding Hyperreality
Celebrity culture:
Celebrities who reach a point at which every aspect of their lives is taken care of by someone else are said to live in a hyperreal world.
They lose the ability to interact with people on a normal level and are cocooned in Hyperreality.
Normal people often try to copy this, for example one man who is obsessed with Britney Spears and every aspect of his life relates to her, he genuinely believes that he lives in the same world as her.
This is a common case in which someone has become more engaged in the hyperreal world than the actual real world.

 

Understanding Hyperreality...
Video Games
Play station games which have a lot of violence in them often have a lot of bad press, the media believe that people will copy the actions which they see in the video game.
This actually happens very rarely, only a small percentage of the people who play the violent video games actually copy the actions which they see on them.
For example one prime example is of a man who believed he was in a game and would therefore gain points by carrying out illegal tasks, the worst crime which he committed was killing his best friend. His argument was that he had been told to do it, meaning that he genuinely thought he was taking part in the game when in fact it was real life.
Showing that he could no longer distinguish the difference between game play and real life.