Sunday, 30 October 2016
Thursday, 6 October 2016
Evaluation of "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam using the narrative theories.
I decided to chose the video for the song "Jeremy" because it fits into the rock genre that I am planning on doing my music video from(specifically 90's rock, when it was at its best) and because its has a very aggressive twisted story a lot like how I plan to portray my song.
The first theorist I would like to talk about is Vladimir Propp who refers to the consistent use of specific characters in a story such as the hero, villain, princess ...etc. And within this video there are many of these characters which overlap into each other as well for example the boy Jeremy which the video is about could be considered the Hero because he is the protagonist which this story is based upon however he could also be considered the/one of the villains because he ends up fighting his problems by shooting his school class of students. However this story/video is full of villains/antagonists because its about a boy who has lots of problems because his parents abuse him and his peers bully him and he then becomes a killer so really the whole story is based upon villain esc characters hurting a child so much that he in turn becomes a villain also in the process of getting revenge. But these villains could also be thought of as dispatchers and helpers in a sense that they(parents) sent him on the journey Propp talks about in his theories by causing him pain through neglect but if the end idea of the story was to make him a killer then they(peers) also were the helpers in creating this story because they helped him become who he became.
The next theorist I would like to talk about is Tzvetan Todorov who talks about the cycle in narratives where there is an equilibrium and the equilibrium is broken and the restoration of balance is what the story is revolved around. In this video there is no clear restoration of the broken equilibrium however I personally believe that in some sense there is because, the equilibrium is broken when Jeremy doesn't receive attention or affection from his parents, and the continuum of destruction of the equilibrium is where he is consistently bullied by his peers in class. To which the resolution of the problem or repair of damage as Todorov refers to is him shooting them which is followed by the new equilibrium which is Jeremy as a murderer.
Following that is the theorist Roland Barthes which says that narratives are communicated through different codes, such as the "action code" which in the video "Jeremy" there are many actions from him self expressing through massive aggressive drawings at the start to then fighting with other class mates although that is explained through the song lyrics more than film to the conclusion of the narrative where he shoots his class peers. Another code which Barthes talks about is the "Semantic code" , and within this video there are many different characters/archetypes that are being shown for example of a boy who gets abused and bullied then shoots up his school which wasn't irregular in the 90's in America. Or the characterisation of the parents that don't really care which starts a chain reaction of self destruction within their child. Or the horrible class mates which didn't think anything of their actions because they are children which also contribute to the pain and suffering of the receiver(Jeremy). The last code I would like to talk about is the "Symbolic code" which features massively throughout the course of the video from him aggressively self expressing through art forms half naked alone in the forest which is already showing signs from the start of him experiencing problems to him fighting with class mates who pick on him, which is another problematic sign. Then it all concluding with his pain and anger amounting so much that he shoots up his class mates in school which signifies so many things like the level of neglect and bullying that he was experiencing at that time.
The first theorist I would like to talk about is Vladimir Propp who refers to the consistent use of specific characters in a story such as the hero, villain, princess ...etc. And within this video there are many of these characters which overlap into each other as well for example the boy Jeremy which the video is about could be considered the Hero because he is the protagonist which this story is based upon however he could also be considered the/one of the villains because he ends up fighting his problems by shooting his school class of students. However this story/video is full of villains/antagonists because its about a boy who has lots of problems because his parents abuse him and his peers bully him and he then becomes a killer so really the whole story is based upon villain esc characters hurting a child so much that he in turn becomes a villain also in the process of getting revenge. But these villains could also be thought of as dispatchers and helpers in a sense that they(parents) sent him on the journey Propp talks about in his theories by causing him pain through neglect but if the end idea of the story was to make him a killer then they(peers) also were the helpers in creating this story because they helped him become who he became.
The next theorist I would like to talk about is Tzvetan Todorov who talks about the cycle in narratives where there is an equilibrium and the equilibrium is broken and the restoration of balance is what the story is revolved around. In this video there is no clear restoration of the broken equilibrium however I personally believe that in some sense there is because, the equilibrium is broken when Jeremy doesn't receive attention or affection from his parents, and the continuum of destruction of the equilibrium is where he is consistently bullied by his peers in class. To which the resolution of the problem or repair of damage as Todorov refers to is him shooting them which is followed by the new equilibrium which is Jeremy as a murderer.
Following that is the theorist Roland Barthes which says that narratives are communicated through different codes, such as the "action code" which in the video "Jeremy" there are many actions from him self expressing through massive aggressive drawings at the start to then fighting with other class mates although that is explained through the song lyrics more than film to the conclusion of the narrative where he shoots his class peers. Another code which Barthes talks about is the "Semantic code" , and within this video there are many different characters/archetypes that are being shown for example of a boy who gets abused and bullied then shoots up his school which wasn't irregular in the 90's in America. Or the characterisation of the parents that don't really care which starts a chain reaction of self destruction within their child. Or the horrible class mates which didn't think anything of their actions because they are children which also contribute to the pain and suffering of the receiver(Jeremy). The last code I would like to talk about is the "Symbolic code" which features massively throughout the course of the video from him aggressively self expressing through art forms half naked alone in the forest which is already showing signs from the start of him experiencing problems to him fighting with class mates who pick on him, which is another problematic sign. Then it all concluding with his pain and anger amounting so much that he shoots up his class mates in school which signifies so many things like the level of neglect and bullying that he was experiencing at that time.
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Narrative theory.
Bradwell&Thompson - A chain of events in a cause and effect relationship occurring in time.
Branigan(1992) - A way of organising spatial and temporal events into cause-effects chain of events with a beginning, middle and an end that embodies a judgment about the nature of events.
Narrative theory analyses the way in which media texts communicate meaning about the events, narrative theory can be applied to range of different media including film, TV, photographs and magazines. Narrative analysis of internet based media is more problematic, though may still be relevant. For example, you could consider how someone's Facebook profile creates a narrative about their life.
Vladimir Propp(1928) - a Russian theorist suggested that there are a limited number of characters that share a function. These are ...
The villain
the hero
the donor, who provides a object with magical property.
the helper , who aids the hero.
the princess
her father, who rewards the hero.
the dispatcher, who sends the hero on his way.
the false hero.
Tzvetan Todorov(1969)
1. Equilibrium
2.Disruptions
3.Recognition of the distribution
4. An attempt to repair the damage
5. New equilibrium
Roland Barthes (1960s)
He recognised these five codes...
1. Action code - which refers to the events taking place thorough some action eg. a fight.#
2. Referential code - which refers to the information and explanation
3. Semantic code - which refers to the characters and characterisation
4. Enigma code - which is a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved.Works to delay the story ending pleasurably.
5. Symbolic code - which refers to connotations of signs.
Claude Levi-Strauss (1972)
He examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, belifes and myths of a culture. These are usually expressed in Binary Oppositions.
Allan Cameron( 2008) - Modular narratives.
Anachronic - modified flashbacks/flash-forwards
Forking path - Alternative versions of the story.
Episodic - Collections of stories joined by a common theme
Split screen - Spatial rather than temporal lines
Postmodern Narratives
characteristics of Postmodern Narratives :
Irony, playfulness, black humour
Intertextuality
Pastiche
Metanarratives
Extreme self-reflexivity/ self awareness
Temporal distortion
Hyper reality
Narrative analysis
Narritive analysis involves considering how a range of elements including mise en scene , editing, camerawork, sound as well as events create meaning for an audience.
Theorist : Examples:
Propp
Todorov
Barthes
Levi-strauss
Branigan(1992) - A way of organising spatial and temporal events into cause-effects chain of events with a beginning, middle and an end that embodies a judgment about the nature of events.
Narrative theory analyses the way in which media texts communicate meaning about the events, narrative theory can be applied to range of different media including film, TV, photographs and magazines. Narrative analysis of internet based media is more problematic, though may still be relevant. For example, you could consider how someone's Facebook profile creates a narrative about their life.
Vladimir Propp(1928) - a Russian theorist suggested that there are a limited number of characters that share a function. These are ...
The villain
the hero
the donor, who provides a object with magical property.
the helper , who aids the hero.
the princess
her father, who rewards the hero.
the dispatcher, who sends the hero on his way.
the false hero.
Tzvetan Todorov(1969)
1. Equilibrium
2.Disruptions
3.Recognition of the distribution
4. An attempt to repair the damage
5. New equilibrium
Roland Barthes (1960s)
He recognised these five codes...
1. Action code - which refers to the events taking place thorough some action eg. a fight.#
2. Referential code - which refers to the information and explanation
3. Semantic code - which refers to the characters and characterisation
4. Enigma code - which is a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved.Works to delay the story ending pleasurably.
5. Symbolic code - which refers to connotations of signs.
Claude Levi-Strauss (1972)
He examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, belifes and myths of a culture. These are usually expressed in Binary Oppositions.
Allan Cameron( 2008) - Modular narratives.
Anachronic - modified flashbacks/flash-forwards
Forking path - Alternative versions of the story.
Episodic - Collections of stories joined by a common theme
Split screen - Spatial rather than temporal lines
Postmodern Narratives
characteristics of Postmodern Narratives :
Irony, playfulness, black humour
Intertextuality
Pastiche
Metanarratives
Extreme self-reflexivity/ self awareness
Temporal distortion
Hyper reality
Narrative analysis
Narritive analysis involves considering how a range of elements including mise en scene , editing, camerawork, sound as well as events create meaning for an audience.
Theorist : Examples:
Propp
Todorov
Barthes
Levi-strauss
Analysis of Alanis Morissette You Outta Know
Analysis of You Outta Know – Alanis Morissette
The music video starts off by showing Alanis Performing
dressing in very dark clothing with the audience nearly unable to see her face
, then through various camera and editing effects such as a shaky camera, jump
cuts and close ups which shows her moving aggressively all immediately show
Alanis performing to be distorted and aggressive. Her backdrop is all in the
desert which could be expressing underlying messages because it’s a very hot,
dangerous bleak place and the whole song is lyrically about expressing her
anger for her partner leaving her which relates the visuals to the song through
the aggressive editing techniques and costume with the hot bleak background.
Then approximately half way through the song she is shown getting changed from
a completely black outfit into a white one which makes this video have
narrative elements on top of it being a mostly performance video because of
this transition she goes through to try and express her emotions. The chorus is
always shown to be performed with the rest of the band in an derelict concrete
building in the desert which reinforces the relation of visuals to the song and
once she has shown the transition into the white outfit there is a montage that
follows when the song takes a calmer tone showing her running around with all
of the shots being primarily white and this could therefore be expressing her
recovery from the breakup she is talking about in her lyrics. Then right at the
end of the song she is shown in a colourful field that is full of plants and
her getting into a blue blazer which still combined with the aggressive editing
and narrative story shows a particular star image of her evolving over the time
of the video by changing her costume three times throughout the song.
Monday, 3 October 2016
Preliminary task. Jean Ralphio & MouseRat
For the front cover of Mouse Rats album snake juice I decided to liquefy a line on the picture that went through all three members of the band on Photoshop to make it stand out but such a simple technique worked really well I think. I also used two different versions of the "Gothic" text on Photoshop to do the text for "Mouserat" and for "Snake juice" which I wasn't sure about at first but I believe that they work with the picture as a whole and also work well with the rock genre.
For the back cover I did a few different edits because I couldn't find the right font for the text and I am still not completely satisfied with it now but it was the best one I could find. In hindsight I would have liked to make it still look better but I then outlined the text with a maroon colour to try make the white colour of the font stand out more but it still doesn't quite look right. I much prefer the work I did on the front cover rather than the back.
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