Representation Theory Evaluation

1. Representation
This presentation will aim to show how
my music video uses, challenges or
develops the Narrative theories
surrounding music videos.

2. Intertextuality
Intertextuality involves creating meaning by
means of another text. Julian Kristeva states
intertextuality as ‘the shaping of a texts meaning
by another text’. Intertextuality is a huge part of
many postmodern media texts, and it’s use can
significantly alter a persons interpretation of a
media text such as a music video.
In terms of my video, there are many different
examples of intertextual references. For example,
I use Duct Tape in the video which is an
intertextual reference to the documentary DVD
film ‘The Duct Tape Messiah’ which details the lift
of the late folk singer Blaze Foley. It is also an
intertextual reference to the original song by
Kings of Leon ‘Reverend’. This is because that
song was supposedly written about the lift of
Blaze Foley.

3. Hozier – Take Me To Church
Hozier take me to church was a big influence on my music video. I used many
visual features from within that video and tired to apply them to my own
video. For example, the close up of the church fence and the reverend was an
idea that was inspired from this video. The screenshot of Hozier’s video is on
the left.
Though the use of the bars is not identical, I felt the bars help to represent
the confinement in which the characters feel within themselves. They can
also be a visual symbol of prison, suggesting society views that characters as
in the wrong. Hozier’s character is gay, meaning he could be behind the bars
to highlight his religion views this as wrong. Developing this idea, my
Reverend is filmed on the outside of the bars,, highlighting how he is
separated from his religion because of his smoking and alcohol tendencies.

4. Hozier’s video also provided me with inspiration for the silhouette like shot.
This lead me to the conclusion that shots such as the one in Hozier’s video
and the one in my video represent how the story/plot of the video is not
specific to an individual, but how it’s generalizable to a mass number of
people.
Furthermore, Hozier's video also represents smoking as a possible escape to
the protagonists problems. If the protagonist is worried about receiving abuse
due to his sexuality or in the case of my video worrying about being accepted
into his religion, then smoking is portrayed as a possible escape/coping
mechanism.

5. Radiohead - Daydreaming
Many narrative music videos are often concluded my the protagonist
walking away from the camera. My video meets this convention,
however it also includes footage of the protagonist waking away from
the camera during the video too. People often question the relevance
of this, and some people are actually very critical about the use of this
kind of footage in the early and mid sections of the video. Upon seeing
Radiohead's music video for their song Daydreaming, I began to
understand the representations of such shots. I concluded that these
shots in which the protagonist is followed from behind or walks away
from the camera is representative of them going on a journey. In most
cases, this journey is both literal and metaphoric. For example in
Radiohead’s video, the character is embarks on physical journey as he
walks from location to location. However the journey is also symbolic
of someone daydreaming as it is fragmented and doesn’t always make
perfect sense. In the case of my video, my character too embarks on a
literal journey as he walks to the church. However he is also embarking
on a mental journey to solve the inner confrontation he feels.

6. Within the walking sequence, a
pub named ‘The Monks Walk’ is
visible. This represents the
metaphorical journey the
reverend undergoes whilst also
being somewhat ironic because
it’s what’s physically happening
on the screen too. Monk has
connotations of a religious
figure, whilst walk has strong
connotations of a journey.

7. Ted – The Film by Seth McFarlan
Ted provided inspiration for my video. This is
because a teddy bear is universally associated
with feelings of love, youth and innocence.
However, the film Ted completely subverts
these conventions. In a similar way, a
religious figure is usually represented as
wide, innocent and morally correct, yet my
portrayal goes against these conventions.
Ted’s rebellious side is reinforced through
iconography such as recreational drugs and
drinking. In a similar way, my video uses
these conventions to emphasise the
distinction between the portrayal of my
reverend, and the portrayal of a stereotypical
reverend.

8. Feminism & The Portrayal of Women
Laura Mulvey (1975) argues that the dominant view within media texts is
masculine. The female body is portrayed to create erotic pleasure for the
male (voyeurism).
In my music video, there is no such portrayal of women, because there are no
female characters within the production. However, even if there was, I would
have avoided using this convention because I feel society is increasingly
coming to terms with equal rights for both males and females, and the
objectification of women is not as prominent or as acceptable as it was 50
years ago.
In a video which relies so heavily upon youth culture, no references to sex is
somewhat surprising. However, I felt adding a female character or at least a
masculine POV would decrease the empathy the audience feel towards the
protagonist, and I didn’t want to risk diverting attention away from the
message I was trying to highlight within my video.

9. Stereotypes
Stereotypes are said to enhance realism. O’sullivan defines a stereotypes as a
process of categorisation and evaluation. Stereotypes are shot hand for
narratives because they supposedly show us the basic representations within
a media text.
Baring this in mind, my video challenges stereotypes to deliberately make the
audience question their preconceptions. However, it could be argued that as
the video progresses, the portrayal of the reverend become more in tune
with what audiences would perceive as stereotypical. This is because at the
end of the video, the reverend can be seen in church and referring to his bible
and crucifix.