Narrative Theory - Andrew Goodman

"music Videos are simply an extension of the lyrics" -Andrew Goodman

How could you prove/ disprove this?
I can watch music videos without the actual music playing, I can then see if the songs story is conveyed effectively. This can also be done in reverse order.

I can look for several examples that can support this as well as some videos that do not match he song at all.

What does it mean?
this quote means that music videos are created to expand the message that is being conveyed by the song. it means that a good music video should make sure that it does two basic things. Firstly it should use the story of the song and the lyrics to piece together a visual story for the viewer to take in. a good music video would create a larger story than just what you can hear in the song. The second thing that it needs to do is to match the song, a good music video should use the same themes and tone as the song so that it seems like they actually fit together, the video should also try to keep to the same pace as the song, matching the beat.

What is the main idea behind this?

the main idea behind this is that to create a fitting and functional music video, all you need to do is look to the lyrics, they will provide all the ideas and themes that you could need for your video. it is also saying though that the lyrics are just a platform for the music video to launch from and expand the story.

How significant is this?
this theory is fairly significant as reading it gives you a solid baseline on how to start building music videos for a song. it also greatly helps with analysing existing music videos and determining how successful they were and if they could be improved.

what evidence can you already present for this?

I have several examples that work with this theory. the first is Micheal Jackson's "Bad" which may not seem to have much of a story on its own, but when combined with the full 20 minute music video gives the song a whole new meaning and uses the lyrics to create a full story . Another example that supports this is "relax" by Frankie goes to Hollywood. This excellent song is accompanied by a music video that is built off of the lyrics and helps to explain exactly what they mean, the video uses the lyrics to reveal the hidden homo-erotic messages of the song.

do you agree with this? explain your answer

I definitely agree with this theory, a music video has to built using the lyrics to branch out into a bigger story which is my interpretation of exactly what this quote means. many videos created, simply disregard the lyrics and try to create their own themes and stories, these videos are rarely successful.

Skills Review

Research and Planning

In my last year of work I have gathered a fair amount of experience in researching themes and styles for my film. I also learned a lot about planning out a scene as well as the locations and shots that will be used

Using Conventions From Existing Media Texts

I spent a lot of time on my previous project looking at media conventions. I used many of the conventions from my chosen genre in my work. There are several areas in which I used these conventions such as: the costume, soundtrack,titles and the shot types used.

Digital Technology

I have worked with several digital technologies in the past. On my previous project, I used a video editing software to cut down and merge all of my clips, as well as editing and adding sound. I also got a decent amount of experience using the digital video camera

Post Production

I have spent a lot of time post production on my previous project altering the soundtrack, changing the timings of the scene and re-arranging the clips

Creativity

I consider myself a very creative man, in my previous production many problems arose once I put my ideas into practice. I speant a while coming up with solutions to these problems. I think that this process allowed me to be more creative with my work

Lipsynching task

I was tasked with lip syncing to a pre-selected song, we had to keep in time with the music while also thinking about framing and  composition techniques



another group then reviewed our work. and created a presentation detailing all of the techniques that we've used as well as the good and the bad of our final product.

Composition and Framing

In this task I had to take four photographs that made use of several composition techniques but also represented a theme. my theme was Alone-ness and Togetherness.

Here is my first set

I am happy with most of these pictures although they do not employ many composition techniques. my favorite of the fur pictures would be the bottom right picture as it makes use of space to get across the theme of alone-ness.








To improve upon the set of pictures that I had collected, I researched more composition techniques that I could use and then set out to collect more pictures to improve my overall collection.

                                                                Here is my second set

I have replaced only one of my pictures as the new one makes use of perspective to give the new photograph a different feel which could help the representation of togetherness.









During the course of this task I learned about the different composition techniques that existed and how they could be used to represent a theme and create a feel for a photograph. I also learned about how these techniques are essential for making a picture visually interesting.

In this task I think that I did a good job when creating the feel of Alone-ness in photographs, I manage to employ a few techniques as well as properly representing my theme. my togetherness pictures did not go as well as I found it difficult to include technical skills as I was representing my theme. In my second collection I was able to include perspective although had trouble finding a second togetherness picture which employed any composition techniques.

To improve these I would attempt to use depth of field to highlight certain parts of the frame. or to create a feel of isolation.