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2. Throughout the process of producing my music video and ancillary
products, I found that using forms and conventions of real media products
was incredibly useful and benefited me massively. Using the work of
theorists such as Andrew Goodwin and Vladimir Propp really helped to
ensure my narrative had a concise and clear structure. Reviewing
professional music videos and ones made by other previous A-level
students was also very beneficial. They allowed me to take inspiration for
my own product but also see what was achievable and what wasn’t under
my own circumstances. I analysed many of them carefully and decided
what looked good and what didn’t so I knew exactly what to include in my
product to ensure it was of the highest possible standard that it could be.

3. Before I began to brainstorm ideas for
my music video, I decided to review other
products from professional artists and former
A-level students.
I focused on a variety of different genres
and artists from pop music and ‘Adele’ to
indie rock and ‘Foals’ which enabled me to
see patterns within the genres. For example,
indie rock videos tended to include lots of
shots of the artist and heavily relied on a
performance element. On the other hand, pop
videos from artists such as ‘Katy Perry’ and
‘Taylor Swift’ usually contained a narrative
including the artist as one of the characters
(usually the protagonist). I took inspiration
from these examples and decided to include
a narrative in my own product. I also decided
to not include a performance element
because after reviewing the other products, I
felt that if I were to include one it would just
disrupt the flow of the narrative.

4. As well as looking at professional examples, I also looked at products
from previous students who had also created a music video for their media
coursework.
The reason I did this was because I already had a few ideas for my
music video however my resources in terms of locations and props were
sometimes limited. Looking at past products helped me to realise which of
my ideas would be achievable and which wouldn’t.

5. An example of this is that one of my initial ideas was a
boxing match between a bully and a victim. The idea was that
the victim would challenge the bully to a boxing match and then
I would show his training up to the fight where ultimately the
victim would knock out the bully.
However after reviewing past products and taking note of
the locations and props they used, I realised that it would be
very difficult to find a gym with a boxing ring in and then get
permission from them to use it for filming. I also pictured that
when the victim knocked the bully out, there would be a crowd
who cheered and celebrated when this happened. I knew this
would also be incredibly difficult to organise so I decided to go
with my other idea of the poker game.

6. I reviewed many music videos and found that the ones that I
enjoyed the most had two things in common; they both had a
strong narrative and the shots they used were framed very well.
This is evident in my own video as I carefully planned the shots
I was going to use in order to ensure that I showed a large variety
to keep my audience interested and engrossed in my product.
I also decided to change the narrative of my product half way
through the process of creating my music video. After I filmed the
first scene, I was very pleased with how the footage turned out and
wanted to maintain this standard right the way through to the end of
my product. I felt that my narrative didn’t have enough depth and
structure to do this so I changed it and added more events and
locations to ensure I maintained the high standard I set out to
achieve.

8. Vladimir Propp was a narrative theorist who invented the
concept that every storyline should contain the following
character types:
 Hero
 Villain
 Dispatcher
 Helper
 Princess
 Father
 Donor
 False Hero
In my product, I used some of the character types that
Propp created however, I also challenged his theory by not
including some as well.

9. I believe that I did use Propp’s theory in my music video however rather than using it
exactly how he said to, I actually developed and subverted it by using more than one
character type for one single character.
This can be seen in my music video through the character of the protagonist as I
believe that he fits the role of the hero and the villain. My narrative is based around the
protagonist’s life and the audience are taken on a journey with him. This means that
naturally, they will establish a connection with him and will feel emotions such as empathy
for him. Because of this connection, they will support him even when he does something
wrong because the audience feel he is doing it for a reason and so will take the
protagonist’s side and route for him. The protagonist is also trying to rescue his marriage
with his wife which is similar to what Propp said about the hero ‘wedding the princess’. It
is for all these reasons that the protagonist can be recognised as the hero however, I can
also justify why in many ways he is also the villain.
Throughout the entire music video, the problems that the protagonist faces are all
consequences of his own actions. He wouldn’t need to be at the poker game if he had a
proper job however we see in the music video that the protagonist is lazy and can’t pay
his bills which is why his wife falls out with him. Although he does do the right thing in the
end by not taking the money, this doesn’t take anything away from the fact that he
wouldn’t even be in the difficult situation if it wasn’t for his selfish ways. This means that
he’s causing problems for himself and only has himself to blame for his failures. Propp
stated that the Villain sets out to prevent the hero from achieving his goals and so this is
why my protagonist fits the role of the hero and the villain.

10. My narrative only consists of 6 characters and Propp’s
theory states that there are eight different character types
so I was unable to include all of them in my product.
Another reason for this was because many characters I
used were similar such as all the poker players and so
again this prevented me from using all of Propp’s
character types.
I feel that Propp’s narrative theory applies more so to
films than it does to music videos because music videos
are so short which means there’s not enough time to fit all
eight character types in. This also means that the
narratives in music videos aren’t very complex so
characters such as the ‘False Hero’ and the ‘Donor’ aren’t
commonly used and this is why I decided not to include
them in my music video.

11. Andrew Goodwin stated a music video
should contain 6 elements and these were:
 Link between visuals and lyrics
 Link between visuals and music
 Demonstrates genre characteristics
 Close ups of artist
 Reference to looking/surveillance and
voyeuristic treatment of female body
 Inter textual references

12. Goodwin’s theory focuses on music videos which means it is very
specific so it comes as no surprise that I included elements of his theory in
my music video.
I included a clear link between the visuals and the lyrics which was
important for me because the lyrics of the song ‘Crazy’ tell a story and my
music video illustrates how I interpreted the lyrics and the story in my own
way. The artist Gnarls Barkley speaks about being ‘crazy’ constantly
throughout the song and actually mentions going crazy with someone else.
I came to the conclusion that he was implying that we can go crazy
because of how much we care for someone and this then leads to us
making stupid and careless mistakes. This is seen in my product when the
protagonist grabs the money and runs because he is so desperate to win
back his wife.
I also demonstrated links between the visuals and the music as well.
The tempo of the song is quite slow paced and in order to match this with
the events that occur in the narrative, I added a slow motion effect which
meant that the events were still intense and exciting but also matched the
speed of the song as well.

13. There were also elements of Goodwin’s theory which I decided to
not include. One of these was voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
The reason I didn’t include this was because it didn’t fit into the serious
tone of my music video and also wouldn’t fit into my narrative. I feel
that when Goodwin proposed this part of his theory, he only
considered certain genres which it would apply to. It’s seen all the time
in pop music videos however my genre is American soul which is
associated with dancing and its influence in the American Civil rights
movement. It would be very rare to see this element in an American
Soul music video and this is why I didn’t include it.
I also decided not to include close-ups of the artist or any
performance element in fact. The reason for this was that I wanted my
entire music video to tell a story and I feel that including a performance
element would have dismantled the narrative and disrupted the flow
which overall would have reduced the level of my final product.

14. Tzvetan Todorov created the theory of
equilibrium and stated that there were 5 elements
to it. These were:
1. A calm equilibrium sets the scene at the beginning
2. Something disrupts the equilibrium
3. The disruption is realised
4. An attempt is made to repair the disruption of
equilibrium.
5. Equilibrium is restored although changed by events
in the story.

15. I believe that my narrative fits all of the stages of
Todorov’s theory except for the final one.
There is a calm equilibrium at the start of the video
which is shown by the men playing poker. At this point
the audience do not know the protagonist’s situation
or what he is about to do. The equilibrium is then
disrupted by the protagonist taking the money and
then the audience are thrown back in time to see how
the protagonist got into the situation and so the
disruption has now been realised. An attempt is made
to repair the disruption when the protagonist later
refuses to take the money.

16. Todorov’s final part of his theory states that the
equilibrium is restored although changed by events
in the story. I believe that in some ways this is true
because the protagonist does the moral thing by
not stealing the money however, he still has to go
back to his wife knowing he’s got no money and
that he has failed her. This suggests that his
situation could actually be worse than it was before
and so it can be argued that the equilibrium is not
fully restored for the protagonist.

18. As you can see, I
used the rule of thirds
when composing this
image because my two
focus points are very
close to the middle
gridlines rather than
just being in the centre
of the image. This
makes the image look
more interesting and
gives equal attention to
both subjects rather
than one in particular.

19. My magazine advert
challenges the rule of
thirds because the artist
is right in the centre of
the advert. However, I
still believe this makes
the image visually
interesting and also
more powerful because
the close-up creates the
effect that the artist is
looking right at you
which will draw the
audience in and create
interest in the product.

20. As you can see in my magazine
advert, I clearly used the rule of the line of
sight. The viewer will look at the poster
and will first see the title ‘Restraining
Insanity’ which will create interest and
curiosity. They will then notice the artist
because I have positioned the image in the
primary optical area because he is the
main topic and focus of the advert. Finally,
the last thing the audience will see is
where they can purchase the album on
either Spotify or Apple Music and this is
important because it is the last piece of
information that they are given which
means it is the bit that they are most likely
to remember.

21. In conclusion, during the process of creating my
products, I have gained a good understanding of
the work of many narrative theorists and used this
knowledge to influence and structure my work. I
have also realised that I do not have to follow these
theories exactly and that some theories apply more
than others depending on the style of narrative. If I
was to do this entire process again, I would most
definitely use these theories to help me and I would
even look into other narrative theorists such as
Roland Barthes and Claude Levi-Strauss to further
develop my understanding and expand my
knowledge.