GENERAL CONVENTIONS 1: Lyrics/Visuals; Narrative

Possible Influences

• Have lyrics link to whats happening (false paradise)
• Follow the narrative structure of Todorov to a certain extent (open narrative?)
• Lip syncing  during performance 
• Have certain proppian archetypes

VODCAST Summary:

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(JC) Bon Jovi - It's My Life:

The narrative of this video is that there is a teenager that is called by a girl at the beginning of the video and is so desperate to see Bon Jovi live he goes to extreme lengths just to get to the concert, such as jumping off bridges, through traffic and over police cars. Eventually he makes it to the concert. Along with this narrative there is also a live performance of the band. 

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Goodwin:

Andrew Goodwin created a definition of music video format which is not widely used, he identified 6 common characteristics, the first being how lyrics and visuals link. They don't have to directly link and can even be a complete opposites but having an opposition such as gloomy music with happy visuals creates a effect.  Its My Life has a fairly direct link from the visuals to the audio, the song is about living your life how you want and this is what is demonstrated in his attitude.

Propp:

As talked about in this post before in most videos that contain a narrative there is likely at-least 2 of the 2 archetypes for characters. This is displayed in this video with:

• The Hero (Protagonist) - The teenage boy trying to get to the concert
• The Princess - The girl the protagonist is trying to get too

The narrative to the video is not very complex however it does display many of the concepts and conventions we are researching for music videos.

Todorov's Narrative Structure:

Todorov's narrative structure can be seen to be demonstrated in the video but on a smaller scale, firstly, There is a state of equilibrium that can be seen, the teenager is shown sitting at his desk on the computer, everything is happening as it should be:

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Next, there is a disruption to the equilibrium, when the girl calls him it disrupts what he is doing
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The teen then recognises the disruption by leaving his house
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The majority of the video is the boy trying to get to the concert, this is the attempt to repair the disruption by getting to the concert the girl has told him about
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Lastly, there is a reinstatement of equilibrium, the boy reaches the concert and the problem is resolved.
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Lip-Synching:

In the video there are many examples of lip-synching, this is a very clear and obvious example of a link between the lyrics and the visuals.

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Narrative:

• Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis - Same Love
• Micheal Jackson - Thriller
• Arctic Monkeys - Why'd you only call me when you're high

(CS) - Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle

Possible Influences

• Have lyrics link to whats happening (false paradise)
• Follow the narrative structure of Todorov to a certain extent (open narrative?)
• Lip syncing  during performance 
• Have certain proppian archetypes

The music video I have analysed for this convention is Guns N Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
This video is mainly performance based but the little narrative there is expresses the theories of Propp and Todorov as well as Simon Frith.




Propp
If there is a narrative there will most likely be at least two of  the seven proppian archetypes. For more detail see this post.

• The main hero/protagonist is Axl Rose who is the lead singer of the band as well 
• The villain/antagonist is the city "jungle" he has ended up in

The narrative is very short in comparison to the performance. The narrative consists of close up shots shown from TV's and Axl Rose's reaction to all the tragedies happening on these TV screens.

Todorov 
Todorov's narrative structure is not obvious in this music video as in others with the narrative. However there is some narrative structure. For more details on Todorov see this post.

The narrative starts with a man (Axl Rose) who has signifiers (straw in mouth) from the mise - en - scene that suggest he comes from a farm area and arrives to the city or "the jungle". This is the state of equilibrium.     

The disruption to equilibrium can be considered when Axl Rose sees the televisions for the first time and realises what he has got himself into.

The recognition seems to be at the end of the narrative as Axl Rose shakes his head and walks away from the televisions which at the same time also seems to be the attempt to repair the disruption. 

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Frith
This music video follows Frith's concept of how a music video is formed. The concept was written in his Music for Pleasure: Essays in the Sociology of Pop. With the 3 basic formats of music video being concept, performance and narrative. This video is mainly performance based but it also has a narrative. Which was a very common convention for rock and heavy metal videos alike when this was track was released.

Lyrics
Lip syncing is almost a must in music videos especially in the performance. The performance in this video is seen as "live footage" as it is played at a concert in a concert hall with fans in the audience. Again this could be setup and staged so lip syncing to the lyrics needs to be accurate. Some shots you can see he is lip syncing but very faintly as the shot and camera angle is not directly on the lead singers face. This helps create verisimilitude. There are often cut away shots so the lip syncing to breakup the potential tedium of constant lip syncing.

Another common convention is when something is said in the lyrics it happens on the screen. This however is not shown in this music video.

(SS) - Lonely Cities - Tigertown

This is the first and most basic convention used in music videos. All music videos should have at least one of these

In my first example of this I have chosen the music video for Tigertown's Lonely Cities:



In this video we follow the story of a recently broken up couple. the setup is pretty clear as we see the two sides of the story but also performance. The basic narrative is that these two people just broke up and then the woman moved and they miss each-other but they try not to show it. The longer the music video goes on the more aware they become they are in a music video. and towards the end they leave the scene into the black area around the actual scene.

• There are numerous narrative theories, one of these being Vladimir Propp's character theory (I have a more in depth post on the narrative theories here). 
• In this video I struggle to apply this theory as I only see the two main characters as the 'Hero' and their separation as the 'Villain'. 
• However, Todorov's narrative theory is more obvious in this music video and can be applied much easier. 
• The state of equilibrium in the beginning is them together and very early on in the video them leaving each other is the disruption of the original equilibrium. 
• Then, them being sad in the video is the recognition of the disruption, and the attempt to restore equilibrium is them searching for each other. 
• Then the new equilibrium is the fact that they simply can't be with each other.

Additional Examples:

Macklemore ft Ryan Lewis - Same Love:

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• This video has both a narrative but it also uses imagery to match the lyrics of the song

Summary:

• Goodwin stated that the visuals and lyrics commonly have a link
• It doesn't have to be a direct link and can be a direct opposite representation
• Propp said there are 7 archetypes of character types the: Villain, donor, helper, hero, false hero, princess and dispatcher
• Todorovs narrative structure is that there is a state of equilibrium, a disruption to the equilibrium, recognition of the disruption, attempt to repair disruption and lastly reinstatement of equilibrium
• Often seen that the band is featured performing their song, this can be for a number of reasons:
• Budget
• Cheaper to film then a narrative
• Record company request for band to be seen as it can assist marketing