A description of narrative theorists which are relevant to our music video

1. S
Narrative theorists

2. Andrew Goodwin
S In his book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’ Andrew Goodwin points out
characteristics and features that can be found in music videos.
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characters. (e.g. stage performance in metal videos,
dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.
(Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual
reflects that of the music. (Either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and
the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).
5. There is a frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors,
stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)
7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).
During our music video we will try to
include plenty of these characteristics
to make the video look as professional
at possible. We also want to make sure
the level of quality matches that of
those within the same genre, such as
Bastille, Avicii and The Foals. The
song we have chosen is generally
upbeat which enables us to
demonstrate genre characters through
stage performance. Also the
relationship between lyrics, visual and
music will demonstrate a similar link as
the all male band will be shot with
close-ups to show the audience the
emotion behind each performer. Notion
of looking will be incorporated into the
music video, as the artists will be
looking into the camera lense at certain
points. Iconography will be styled
appropriately across the band to
maintain an indie rock genre.
Intertextual reference to Bastille “The
Things We Lost in the Fire” and
Kasabian “eez eh”.

3. Steven E Carlsson
S Carlsson believes that videos are ‘modern mythic characters of forces’. He has developed the theory are two types of music
video:
S Performance: the artist/band is shown dancing/singing throughout
S Conceptual: The audience watch something beyond the artist which has artistic ambitions.
S Our music video will be mainly performance as there will be minimal conceptual shots, except for a handful of cross cuts to
break up the performance video content. Lip syncing will carry the performance alongside the playing of instruments, (2
guitars/drum kit and a vocal singer). We will also make sure the modern aspect of Carlsson’s theory is recognised in our music
video through the location and the stylish design of the artists which we are a group have allocated to a group member who is in
charge of that aspect of the filming process.
S Within the different types of videos, he has developed the different types of performance. These being:
S Commercial Exhibitionist: where the artist sells themselves as an exhibition
S Televised bard: where a singing storyteller uses on screen images
S Electronic shaman: this is commonly used when the artist doesn’t have the correct ‘image’.
S The above concepts are exactly what we will be focusing on as we will be producing a performance based music video. It was
include plenty of exhibitionist elements, displayed by each of the five band members involved, primarily attempting to sell the
lead vocal singer as he is the central face of the band. The story telling aspect is also very relevant as we are attempting to
create a performance based music video with lyrics relevant to a narrative story behind one of the band members real life
experiences.

4. Steve Archer
S Archer’s theory states that there should be a strong and coherent
relationship between narrative and performance. He says that
bands/artists should cut between narrative and performance
regularly and a carefully choreographed dance might be part of
the performance.
S As a group we have decided to maintain the performance side of
this theory offered by Steve Archer, whilst dismantling the narrative
within into a much smaller part of the music video. Only small
cross cuts will be seen in the video between the actual
performance and relevant quirky narrative shots. The main focus
behind the narrative is the lyrics and portraying them through the
emotion in the band members faces , this creates more of a
genuine narrative for us as its based on a real life event.