Narrative Theories

In this post I will show some theories in how narrative can be used in a music video.

Levi Strauss believes that in media there are 'binary oppositions' - these are: Good and bad, rich and poor, eastern and western world, love and hate.

In our media video we have the themes of good and bad. Our main characters spend the video trying to portray themselves as 'the bad guys', but by never doing anything very bad. The things they choose to do are less bad than a stereotypical bad guy (such as messing around in a library), so it shows that the bad guys are also good. The audience in the video should have to decide if the characters are good or bad guys.

Barthes believes there are 5 things that get an audience's attention in media. These are:

the enigma code-audience is intrigued to solve the problem

the action code audience is excited to solve the problem

the semantic code audience is directed towards an additional meaning

the symbolic code audience assumed characteristics based on costumes

the cultural code audience finds a meaning in the words/text/lyrics

23rd of the Feb

Today we are capturing our video onto the mac computers.

We shall also begin editing today, and seeing if there is any more footage we need to shoot.

If there is, we shall probably film it next week.

TODAY

Today we shall be beginning to edit our video. We shall do this in a team of Jake, Ed and myself. It will be done using final cut pro on Jake's macbook pro.

We're all very excited.

Digipak Analysis - I Might Be Wrong (Live Recordings)

This is the digipak for "I might be wrong (Live recordings)" by Radiohead
The front cover of the album is very unassuming, using dull colors and having the name of the album and name written in a very fine print on the side of the album, modestly. This may be because Radiohead are a popular band, and people seeking out this album will already know what they are looking for. Also featured on the cover is the Radiohead icon/logo, a crying little devilish creature. This may help fans spot the album as it grabs the attention before the album name or band name do.

This is the album from the back, folded out. Traditionally, the track listing features on the back of the digipak, but not in this case, when the words on the back aren't the track names (I am not sure what they mean, possibly lyrics?). This is challenging conventions, and is a brave thing for Radiohead to do - however their musical reputation for being adventurous doesn't make little things like this so surprising.

This picture shows the inside of the album, folded out. It is again very minimalistic, and continues with the house colors and themes displayed around the album - dull colors, and artwork that seems like a old (or fantasy) city. The Radiohead mascot/logo/icon appears again very small and hard to see on the central panel here, many times and in changing poses.

This digipak seems to have been made more for old fans than for new fans, and doesn't have a lot on it to catch the eye of new audiences.

Digipak Analysis - Only Revolutions

This is the digipak design for the album "Only Revolutions" by Biffy Clyro.
The cover is very simple and eye catching (pictured top). This design reoccurs throughout the digipak. The tracklist is on the back of this, and it again a simple theme, listing them in order down the centre of the image.
The digipak folds out to reveal 2 more images of flags, and a slot for the disk and booklet to go into. I didn't like this design as I felt it may damage the disk not having it properly protected. The booklet includes lyrics and pictures of the band. The CD uses a different flag image but still sticking to the same theme as the rest of the digipak.

Actors

In our video we shall be using the acting talents of Will Lloyd, Jake Vaughan and myself. This is because we feel these actors suit the characters we want to portray in the video, and also the availability of these actors is good because they ar
e in our video group.

The pictures of our actors are shown below, from left to right, they are Will, Jake, and me.