Music Videos

Narrative
1. A story that features in the lyrics or is suggested by them.
2. Structured - beginning, middle and end.
3. Suggests links to a story.
4. Can promote a film by including clips from said film.
  1. "Flashlight" by Jessie J promotes Pitch Perfect 2 in it's music video.
5. Todorov's theory of equilibrium.
  1. 5 stages
    1. 1 - A State of Equilibrium
    2. 2 - A Disruption of Equilibrium
    3. 3 - A Recognition That There Has Been A Disruption
    4. 4 - An Attempt TO Repair The Disruption
    5. 5 - A Reinstatement Of The Equilibrium.
6. Props theory of narrative.
  1. 7 Characters
    1. The Hero
    2. The Villain
    3. The Donor
    4. The Helper
    5. The Princess
    6. The Dispatcher
    7. The False Hero
Themes and Symbols
1. Common themes dependent on music genre.
  1. Heavy metal music videos are often performance dominated, such as "Tears Don't Fall" by Bullet For My Valentine.
2. Symbols used to build meaning.
3. Montages used to create meaning, sometimes contradictory in nature.
4. Lighting used to suggest mood.
  1. Low key lighting used in the "Tears Don't Fall" music video also helps to set the depressed and angry mood of the song.
5. Fast paced.
6. Pictures usually support lyrics but sometimes contradict them.
Performance
1. Can be live recordings or filmed in a studio.
2. Intercutting between performance and images/ story needs to make sense.
3. The artist does not have to be a part of the story - they can be merely an observer or not present at all.
  1. Ed Sheeran's "All of the Stars" presents Ed as being an observer of the story he is depicting within the song.
Other
1. Majority are fast paced due to being short.
2. They can use inter-textuality with films and TV.
3. Sometimes mimic other film and TV genres.
4. Visually stylish - 'artistic' mise-en-scene.
  1. In his "The Nights" video, Avicii uses portable GoPro cameras to capture elements of his carefree lifestyle in a variety of artistic ways which links directly to the lyrics and message of the song.
5. Cutting related to rhythm of the music.
6. Experimental use of camera/ editing including the rules of continuity often being broken and jump cuts being used.
Evident Purpose
1. To tell a story.
  1. "Family Portrait" by P!nk tells the story of her parent's divorce and the way it affected her.
2. To promote single/ album.
3. To promote the artist/ band.
4. To create, adapt or feed into "star image".
5. To entertain an audience.

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Music Videos

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	Created by JustAlexC over 9 years ago