Monday 31 October 2016
Narrative (alt-J case study)
In what ways does 'Alt-J - Breezeblocks' use narrative devices and structure to construct meaning?
What makes this music videos' narrative structure quite unconventional from most is that the whole story is in reverse. This narrative device helps entice the viewer to keep watching until the end so they can make sense of a story. This music video (in chronological order of events) tells a story of how a man gets back home to find his wife tied up and silenced with duct-tape in a wardrobe. Another women then shows herself from behind and begins to attack him. This angry women presumably tied up the mans wife, and potentially had a relationship with him. They begin to have a violent fight, up until the end in which the man kills her with a breeze-block and she falls into a bath-tub.
Breezeblocks has a reversed linear narrative. Linear narratives will go in a straight line- or normally in chronological order. They are commonly easy to follow and understand when compared to non-linear. This makes
Here is a version someone created by reversing the original music video so that the story is told in chronological order of events:
Philosopher and literary critic, Tzvetan Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages:
1. a state of equilibrium (stability) at the start
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption
4. an attempt to repair the disruption
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium
This theory can be applied to Breezeblocks:
1. Women lying in the bath with a breeze-block weighing her down. (Equilibrium)
2. A man hits this women with a breeze-block. (An action that disrupts equilibrium)
3. Violent argument/fight scene between man and women. (Recognition there has been a disruption)
4. Man tries to help his wife who is tied up. (Attempt to repair disruption)
5. Man walks into his home. (Reinstatement/new equilibrium)
This narrative creates different levels of energy which corresponds with the song. For example at the start the bridge, the music becomes slow and most of the instruments drop out. At this point in the video it shows a close-up of a frighted women. This could have been used to heighten anticipation to the viewer.
Friday 28 October 2016
Sunday 2 October 2016
Initial concept - so far
For the last 2-3 lessons, my partner (Hammad) and I have been discussing concept ideas for the music video we are creating for 'f e v e r' by BlackBird.
The music video will likely be a narrative with possible moments for performance such as lip-syncing. The reason I think lip-syncing should be kept at a minimum is because the singers voice is very high-pitched- so much so, that some people have thought it was a female singer when really it is a male. So by having Hammad lip-syncing in the music video, some people may be confused when they think it is a female vocalist but a man lip-syncing.
Central idea:
The video will start in a house. The time of day is unknown at this point but can be depicted as being in the late evening. We would like the house to have ambient/available lighting by not having many artificial lights on and hopefully be able to use natural light coming through windows. By doing this we aim to establish an atmosphere that suggests anyone living in this house is lethargic or depressed. A slow and smooth tracking shot will move down the corridor and turn into a bedroom. The bedroom could be messy with clothes and bottles scattered around the room. Hammad is sitting on the bed on his phone and this is where the vocals come in. The first line is 'it's better, if you let go'. One idea we had for this part was to have a floating kinetic-visual come up as Hammad is texting this line to a girlfriend/ex-girlfriend. This effect can be seen in Sherlock and House Of Cards and I think it is a great way to present a text message in film/TV. Here is a video showing some examples:
After this happens we thought about the idea of the character getting up when the drums and synth enter in the song. The drums give the song more energy and drive so by having the character stand up, it is like he is finally going to do something more active. He could start picking up the women's clothing around the bedroom and putting them in a bag, along with a framed photograph of a girl. This photograph is going to be our framing device because it will follow Hammad throughout the video. The photograph could possibly also have Hammad next to the girl to make it clearer that they were in some sort of relationship.
Next, Hammad starts getting ready to go outside, this could be presented in 3-4 short clips such as putting on a jacket, tying up shoes and/or putting on hat for instance. It might be important for these shots to switch between slow-motion and real-time to keep up with the speed of the song because viewers may find this part uninteresting if it goes on for long.
This is our concept so far- and I will update this post when we have more ideas.
Update - 17/11/2016
After some consideration, we have decided to add another narrative to accompany the original concept. Our idea is to include flashbacks of a relationship between the main character and his ex-girlfriend.
The music video will likely be a narrative with possible moments for performance such as lip-syncing. The reason I think lip-syncing should be kept at a minimum is because the singers voice is very high-pitched- so much so, that some people have thought it was a female singer when really it is a male. So by having Hammad lip-syncing in the music video, some people may be confused when they think it is a female vocalist but a man lip-syncing.
Central idea:
The video will start in a house. The time of day is unknown at this point but can be depicted as being in the late evening. We would like the house to have ambient/available lighting by not having many artificial lights on and hopefully be able to use natural light coming through windows. By doing this we aim to establish an atmosphere that suggests anyone living in this house is lethargic or depressed. A slow and smooth tracking shot will move down the corridor and turn into a bedroom. The bedroom could be messy with clothes and bottles scattered around the room. Hammad is sitting on the bed on his phone and this is where the vocals come in. The first line is 'it's better, if you let go'. One idea we had for this part was to have a floating kinetic-visual come up as Hammad is texting this line to a girlfriend/ex-girlfriend. This effect can be seen in Sherlock and House Of Cards and I think it is a great way to present a text message in film/TV. Here is a video showing some examples:
After this happens we thought about the idea of the character getting up when the drums and synth enter in the song. The drums give the song more energy and drive so by having the character stand up, it is like he is finally going to do something more active. He could start picking up the women's clothing around the bedroom and putting them in a bag, along with a framed photograph of a girl. This photograph is going to be our framing device because it will follow Hammad throughout the video. The photograph could possibly also have Hammad next to the girl to make it clearer that they were in some sort of relationship.
Next, Hammad starts getting ready to go outside, this could be presented in 3-4 short clips such as putting on a jacket, tying up shoes and/or putting on hat for instance. It might be important for these shots to switch between slow-motion and real-time to keep up with the speed of the song because viewers may find this part uninteresting if it goes on for long.
This is our concept so far- and I will update this post when we have more ideas.
Update - 17/11/2016
After some consideration, we have decided to add another narrative to accompany the original concept. Our idea is to include flashbacks of a relationship between the main character and his ex-girlfriend.
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