Tuesday, 19 January 2016

(TASK 11) Media Evaluation Preparation - A summary of theory

Media Theory – Goodwin (1993)

v He looks at music videos as a category of media product, not a genre.

v Believes the authorage implies that the artist literally stamps his/her visual style on the video, making it recognisable to audiences. Therefore the producer does not have authorage according to Goodwin. Can authorage change? Yes

v Goodwin’s suggestions regarding analysing and considering in relation to music video and its relationship with the audience:

v The mood of the video (how the music, lyrics and visuals combine to produce a feeling)

v The narrative structure (the extent to which the video tells a clear time-sequenced story or is non-linear with flashbacks etc.)

v The level of realism/fantasy of the settings/environments

v Standard themes .e.g. love and sex, loss of innocence, political or social agendas

v Importance of performance – do certain genres of music use performance more than others?

v Modes of sexuality – the female as mother or whore, androgyny and the blurring of dress codes, representations of homosexuality

v Nature of music videos as an ‘authored’ text – do what degree is the music video about the performer/artist

v The music – what do we hear and how does it relate?


Structuralist Narrative Theory – Claude Levi-Strauss

-         Narrative theories help us to look for common structures or patterns in music videos.

-         Interested in binary oppositions. He noted how many narratives involve a tension between two opposing ideas/characters. Good V Evil, Civilisation V Wilderness, Wisdom of age V impulsiveness of youth, Masculinity V Femininity. Such oppositions help to drive a narrative forward and maintain audience interest.

-         Opposition is deeply ingrained in our culture.

Roland Barthes’ Codes

-         We code-break when we watch things. Narrative works with different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it. Action codes (things easily understood, give information) and enigma codes (mystery, withholds information) involve the sequencing of narratives. The audience gets pleasure from information and the withdrawal of information.

No comments:

Post a Comment