Prelim Task

As a really quick warm up task, I have thrown together a 30 second music video. This is really just to get to grips with filming again, and using editing software, that I haven't used for a while now.

LICENSING: E-Mail to Sony Music Entertainment

To abide by copyright laws, I have emailed Sony Music Entertainment to ask for permission to use one of the tracks I would like to use for my A2 production. The e-mail in full can be seen below.

Claude Levi-Strauss

In the 20th century Claude Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes came together to discuss the way in which we, as the consumer, understand certain words, and how this relates to how we perceive their true meaning as opposed to the meaning intended, rather more that we understand the difference between the work and its 'Binary Opposite', almost like Yin and Yang.

What this meant was simple. Words can be used as a form of symbolism, which represents societies ideas and that the meaning of words was a relationship rather than a fixed thing just a relationship between opposing ideas.

Some binary opposites are listed below;

Good vs Evil
Black vs White
Boy vs Girl
Young vs Old
Protagonist vs Antagonist
Strong vs Weak
East vs West
etc.

In summary the Levi-Strauss Narrative Theory is that conflict is based around these binary opposites, and that these re the central climax of a narrative structure.

RESEARCH : Tzvetan Todorov and Vladimir Propp (The Narrative Theory)

Both theorists took different perspectives when discussing the narrative theory.

Vladimir Propp suggested that in every example, regardless of the narrative, there is always a certain figure that represents a certain role. An example of this is in many films/tv shows where a hero/heroine is represented as a lead role in the narrative. Normally the hero is looking to solve a problem, often, especially in productions derived from DC or Marvel comics, this is a character that leads two lives, one of which is in secret. a representation of a heroine is very similar to the hero, however their are minor differences. Often a heroine can be representative of a meddling female character, such as Catwoman on The Dark Knight Rises, who at first appears to be a villain, through her thieving, deceitful nature, which occasionally lands some kind of inconvenience to the protagonist male, however these characters normally come to the aid of the hero in their time of need.

In every heroic story, there must be a villain. The villain is often presented in dark, or with a distinctive look, such as in The Dark Knight, where the Joker is displayed as a clown, wearing a shabby purple suit jacket and an often be found shadowed, where focus is occasionally focused on the scars on his face. This character will pose a complicated threat to the hero, or their constituency, hence causing the main narrative.

Propp and Todorov both suggested that a narrative structure is present in most, if not all media products. These structures are compared below.

Propp's 7 Character Types - SlideShare

Propp

An example of Todorov's narrative theory from slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/SathMan1/vladimir-propps-and-tzvetan-todorovs-narrative-theory

1. Preparation
2. Complications
3. Transference
4. Struggle
5. Return
6. Recognition

Todorov

Todorovs theory suggested that all narratives, from all media types, contain five stages, in this order;

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption
3. Recognition of Disruption
4. Attempt to Repair Disruption
5. A Return or Restoration of Equilibrium

Theorists to look at;

Theorists to look at;

Tzvetan Todorov
Vladimir Propp
Daniel Chandler
Claude Levi Strauss

Claude Levi Strauss

Tzvetan Todorov

Andrew Goodwin

Vladimir Propp

Daniel Chandler

Questionnaire

Gender: Male / Female

Age: ___

1. What would you say your favourite genre of music is? Circle your preferred genre. For others that you enjoy leave an asterisk (*) beside the genre.

(All genres include their sub-genres)

Blues Hip Hop

Country                        Pop

Dance Rap

Drum and Bass RnB

Electronic Rock

Folk Ska

Jazz

Other (Please State) _______________________

2. What do you like about the genre(s) selected in question 1?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Please list some of your favourite artists from the genres specified in question 1:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. When listening to music, do you enjoy watching the associated music video? And, why?

                   Yes                       No

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. If you answered no above, what could music video producers include to ensure they attract all areas of the market?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. If you answered yes to question 4 what do you find attractive in a music video?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7. What are your 5 most favourite songs from the last year? 

1._____________________________________________________________________ 2._____________________________________________________________________

3._____________________________________________________________________

4._____________________________________________________________________

5._____________________________________________________________________

8. What are you 5 most favourite music videos from the last year? 

1._____________________________________________________________________ 2._____________________________________________________________________

3._____________________________________________________________________

4._____________________________________________________________________

5._____________________________________________________________________

9. What is your single most favourite music video of all time? and why? (Please describe specifically what you enjoy most about the music video, i.e. narrative, visual effects etc.)

Song Name: _________________

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. How closely should a music video follow the lyrics of a song, in terms of its narrative? (Circle one)

Not At All (Disjuncture*)

To Some Degree (Amplification**)

Relatively Closely (Illustration***)

Very Closely (Almost Literally)

Word For Word (Literally)

*Disjuncture - Contradiction between lyrics and imagery

**Amplification - new layers of meaning added to the song

***Illustration - not always literal

11. Are you a fan of acoustic music?

                  Yes                      No

12a. in an acoustic music video, would you suggest that use of camera filters (i.e. black and white, sepia etc) would be an effective tool to draw in the audience? 

                  Yes                       No

12b. If you answered Yes to question 12a, why does this effectively draw in an audience?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12c. If you answered No to question 12a, why does this not effectively draw in an audience?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. Explain what you would you expect to see (in terms of effects, movements, positioning etc) in a video containing acoustic sound?  (Would you expect disjunctured*, amplified** or illustrated*** visuals?)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Disjuncture - Contradiction between lyrics and imagery

**Amplification - New layers of meaning added to the song

***Illustration - Not always literal

14. Traditionally, music videos require several close ups of the star role of a music video (i.e. artist (lead singer) or character). Is this something that you particular enjoy in a music video?

                  Yes                       No                     Occasionally 

15. Typically, music videos centralise a female character, often this can be highly provocative. Is this you agree with the provocative use of women, or are opposed to? And why? 

                  Yes                       Opposed To

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratifications theory is an extremely popular approach to understanding mass communication. It is primarily focused on the perspective of the consumer, rather than a message.

The ideology of uses and gratifications is that audience members are not passive, but do take an active role in the interpretation and integration of different media types and their own lives. The theory suggests that audiences are responsible for the way in which media acts in terms of meeting the consumer needs, putting full control to the audience.

Theory Model

When we choose a media form, uses and gratifications must fulfill one of the following;

• Identity - the ability to recognise the product or individual in front of you.
• Educate - the ability to acquire information, knowledge and understanding.
• Entertain - consumers should enjoy the product that they are consuming, and also a form of escapism, allowing us to forget our worries momentarily.
• Social Interaction - media types have, for a long time, held the ability to produce a topic for conversation within the audience, i.e. who was voted out of Britain's Got Talent.

Uses and gratifications can be seen in many a media types, including music selection. The modern day consumer chooses their music not only depending on the mood they are in at the time, but in order to display some form of belonging, and to some degree, empowerment, or other socially conscience motives.

Internet

Developments in the internet over the past decade have dictated our perception of the uses and gratification theory. The reason for this comes in many forms, including the use of search engines, social media, video streaming and wiki's.

• Search Engines - Online search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing have allowed us to access any webpage on the internet, which allows us to move closer to our idols or role models.
• Social Media - Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace have allowed us to socialise whilst online, allowing a great deal more connectivity and togetherness. MySpace especially has impacted on the music industry, because, it allows artists to share videos of themselves to the world, to be discovered, and since many have including Adele.
• Video Streaming - YouTube, BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 on Demand are just a few video streaming sites that allow us to access entertainment whenever we please. YouTube inparticularly   has allowed us to access a world of established, as well as the up and coming, artists, and many, like MySpace, have been discovered via YouTube, and went on to become global hit, such as Justin Bieber. 
• Wiki's - Wikipedia, is the worlds online encyclopedia and is jammed full of wiki's (online information pages) on millions of topics, it is also completely free and can be corrected/updated, as well as being 100% accessible, 100% of the time.