Applying Narrative theory to my music video.

In my music video (Lovage- "To Catch a Theif) there is a strong sense of narrative. This is because the genre the video was in (trip-hop) both allowed for and encourgaed the use of a narrative. This can be seen in examples of other videos within the same genre, such as massive attacks "Tear Drop". The video combines abstract and often confusing imagary to build up a loose narrative, and while our video had a much stronger sense of narrative, the basic design was the same. This can be seen in our use of a bunny costume to connote disguise and criminality. Since this abstract imagary was within the framework of a quite straight forward narrative, it is clear that we applied our narrative accourding to the conventions of our genre.
Our music video also works within the framework of Todorovs narrative theory, since its guidlines of equilibriam, disruption of equlibriam and the reastablishment of equilibrium fits perfectly into our video. For example, our video begins with the Bunny being calmly talked at by a phsychiatrist, during the middle the Bunny commits a crime, and at the end the Bunny is back in the phsychiatrists chair. This shows that our narrative is quite stereotypical in nature, with a conventional and predefined beginning middle and end. This was consious decision by us as a group, since we wished to make quite a niche and original video, however, we thought that these abstract images would work best within a strong and clear narrative.  

Using Genre To Describe Our Music Video

Our music video's genre would have been described as "trip-hop". Trip -hop is a reasonably new genre of music which was established in the mid-1990s and is a combination of electro and house music.
This genre of music video does not really have any set conventions, as it is quite experimental and is not generally seen as mainstream.

Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music. It began in the mid-1990s, growing out of England's hip hop and house scenes, including that of the Bristol underground. It has been described as "Europe's alternative choice in the second half of the '90s", and a fusion "of Hip-Hop and Electronica until neither genre is recognizable."


This is is best illustrated by the fact that existing trip hop videos are all very unique and individual, with little to no connecting conventions.

The trip-hop genre perhaps fits best into David Buckingham's theory of genre is;
"Genre is not simply given by the culture, rather, it is in a constant process of negotiation and change"

Genre

Defining Genre-

• Genre is a way of categorising literature.
• It originated from ancient Greece.
• There were 3 original classifications when the classification system began- Poetry, Drama, Prose.
• Different Genre's apply to different media types, such as film, music, books and TV.

Background To Genre-

• Theory was constructed by Plato & Aristotle
• Sub genres can be created
• Genres are created through conventions as they change genres become discontinued
• New ones are formed constantly, e.g. Thriller/Adventure

Analysing Genre-

• Tony Thwaites & his colleagues confirms textuality and reading
• Each genre has unique visual and sound qualities (four micro areas)
• Through iconography we can recognise the genre through particular ideologies

analysis of desserts

we think that the theorist that relates to this short film is Todorov. this is because he believes that there are 5 stages to a narrative-
equilibrium- he is walking around
a disruption of this equilibrium by an event- finding the cake
a realisation that the disruption has happened- the fish hook 
an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption- fighting againts the pull of the fish hook
a restoration of equilibrium- after he has been dragged into the sea and everything is calm again

Our Production Analysis - Lovage to Catch a Theif

Micro element: Mise en Scene

The first main denotation you see in our music video is the bunny, who plays the main character throughout the video. We chose a bunny as this connotes vulnerability, which is seen in the scene where the bunny gets kicked out out of his house by his wife. The bunny was also a thief in the video which link to the title, so the bunny costume connoted a disguises as most thieves have.

The use of alcohol in the pub was a form of non-verbal language as it is showing the bunny drinking his sorrows away yet no dialogue is spoken. The audience is likely to decode this encoding in this way as it is a typical and common ideology.

Another piece of encoding we put into the video was the prop of the bundle on as stick over the bunny's shoulder in the opening scene. We hope to our audience that this symbolic sign would connote that the bunny is leaving home and that they would decode this image in this way.

A simple iconic sign we encoded was the bunny behind bars. This image would be decoded by audiences everywhere as someone being in prison and 'behind bars' it is quite a literal sign. This image also links with the title of the song and the lyrics.

Analysis of Se7en opening scenes-using media language

Micro-elements...

(Denotation and Connotation)

The denotation of the lighting in the opening sequences is dim, gloomy, and with a gray hue. The connotations of this could be the dark atmosphere within the house when the man had died, death is a very dark subject and the lighting within the house represents this.

One denotation of the mise-en-scene of Brad Pitt's character's clothing and the way he just throws them on with his tie already done up connotates his laid back, 'couldn't care less' attitude. In contrast, Morgan Freeman's layout of his clothing and possessions is very ordered, conotating his structured and organised approach to his job.


(Written Language)

In the first murder scene 'Gluttony' is clearly written on the wall as past of the mise-en-scene. this serves to give both the characters and the audience a clue into the nature and the reason for the crime. 

In the credit scene there is substantial use of written language in the form of written notes and newspaper clippings. These create the effect of both mystery and gives an insight into the mental instability of the murderer.


(Non-Verbal Language)

Morgan Freeman's character is seen laying in his bed all alone in the first scene. No dialogue is spoken yet his characters loneliness and his direction in life seems almost absent. This can be supported by his obsession over being organised, he may put all of his life into his job.