media theory
Traditional Media theories
Todorov's narrative theory-
Narrative is basically the media term for story telling, so narrative structure is the way that story is told. This media theory refers to the theory that storylines follow a certain structure and never stray away from this. Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory has 5 main stages...
Stage 1- A state of equilibrium is established
Stage 2- There is disruption to that equilibrium, through actions of something external, generally from the villain.
Stage 3- There is recognition from the characters about that disruption, thus beginning to set goals to resolve that disruption.
Stage 4- There are obstacles that need to be overcome to fix that disruption, again brought upon by the villains, to restore order again.
Stage 5- There is now a new equilibrium, and the situation is ultimately resolved.
Todorovs narrative theory isn't necessarily suited to music videos, as the narrative of music videos is far less complex than the narrative of traditional film.
An example of Todorov's narrative theory in music videos is in the Eminem song "Stan", in which Eminem plays an alter ego called Stan, who is abusive to his pregnant girlfriend and wants a reply from Eminem after sending him many letters, even having a shrine for Eminem in his basement.
The disruption comes when Eminem doesn't reply to the letters, due to them getting lost in the postage facility, fuelling Stan's obsession with Eminem
Propps character types-
This media theory talks about the different character types that are common in media storylines. Once again, Star Wars A New Hope, mirrors this media theory, as all the 7 character types that Vladimir Propp lists in his theory are present in this film.
First of all there is the villain, this character gives a struggle to the hero and represents everything that is bad about the world that the film is set. In Star Wars this is obviously the role of Darth Vader.
The hero is the character who the audience roots for and normally the person who we follow through throughout the story, and they are in constant conflict with the
The donor is the character who provides training to the hero or helps them in some way. In starwars this is the role that Obi Wan plays, he gives Luke his light sabre and shows him how to use the force, which ultimately provides Luke with the means to blow up the death star at the end.
The dispatcher is the character who sends the hero on their journey, via a message, R2D2 tells Luke that Princess Leia (the hero) and sets off stage 3 of Todorov's narrative theory, making Luke realise he can take action.
The helper in Starwars is Han Solo, who provides them with the means of a space ship to rescue princess Leia in the death star. However Han Solo is also an anti hero, as he is only in it for the money that he is gong to be paid by Obi One and Luke, this means he "lacks conventional heroic traits" such as idealism, courage or morality.
semiology or semiotics
This theory was wrote about by Roland Barthes, semiotics means the study of signs and symbols. signs consist of a signifier, a word, and image, etc. The denotation of a word is its literal meaning, for example a rose denotes a red flower. The connotation of a word is the ideological meaning of it, the myths, if you like, which the item is associated with. A red rose is associated with romance, and would probably be in a music video of a love song. The beauty of a rose also connotes promise and new beginnings, but is contrasted by the thorns, suggesting a darker side, possible loss of hopelessness.
Other examples of semiotics include 5 pointed stars, which have multiple semiotic meanings, being the symbol of judaism, but also representing hell, or the devil, through a pentagram.
structuralism
structuralism was explored by the theorist Levi Strauss. Levi Strauss was a French Anthropologist and binary opposites were what he worked on. This means 2 opposite statements that are used in a statement, such as good vs evil, light vs dark etc, and that when it comes to media, opposing themes or characters build the narrative
Stage 2- There is disruption to that equilibrium, through actions of something external, generally from the villain.
Stage 3- There is recognition from the characters about that disruption, thus beginning to set goals to resolve that disruption.
Stage 4- There are obstacles that need to be overcome to fix that disruption, again brought upon by the villains, to restore order again.
Stage 5- There is now a new equilibrium, and the situation is ultimately resolved.
Todorovs narrative theory isn't necessarily suited to music videos, as the narrative of music videos is far less complex than the narrative of traditional film.
An example of Todorov's narrative theory in music videos is in the Eminem song "Stan", in which Eminem plays an alter ego called Stan, who is abusive to his pregnant girlfriend and wants a reply from Eminem after sending him many letters, even having a shrine for Eminem in his basement.
The disruption comes when Eminem doesn't reply to the letters, due to them getting lost in the postage facility, fuelling Stan's obsession with Eminem
Propps character types-
This media theory talks about the different character types that are common in media storylines. Once again, Star Wars A New Hope, mirrors this media theory, as all the 7 character types that Vladimir Propp lists in his theory are present in this film.
First of all there is the villain, this character gives a struggle to the hero and represents everything that is bad about the world that the film is set. In Star Wars this is obviously the role of Darth Vader.
The hero is the character who the audience roots for and normally the person who we follow through throughout the story, and they are in constant conflict with the
The donor is the character who provides training to the hero or helps them in some way. In starwars this is the role that Obi Wan plays, he gives Luke his light sabre and shows him how to use the force, which ultimately provides Luke with the means to blow up the death star at the end.
The dispatcher is the character who sends the hero on their journey, via a message, R2D2 tells Luke that Princess Leia (the hero) and sets off stage 3 of Todorov's narrative theory, making Luke realise he can take action.
The helper in Starwars is Han Solo, who provides them with the means of a space ship to rescue princess Leia in the death star. However Han Solo is also an anti hero, as he is only in it for the money that he is gong to be paid by Obi One and Luke, this means he "lacks conventional heroic traits" such as idealism, courage or morality.
semiology or semiotics
This theory was wrote about by Roland Barthes, semiotics means the study of signs and symbols. signs consist of a signifier, a word, and image, etc. The denotation of a word is its literal meaning, for example a rose denotes a red flower. The connotation of a word is the ideological meaning of it, the myths, if you like, which the item is associated with. A red rose is associated with romance, and would probably be in a music video of a love song. The beauty of a rose also connotes promise and new beginnings, but is contrasted by the thorns, suggesting a darker side, possible loss of hopelessness.
Other examples of semiotics include 5 pointed stars, which have multiple semiotic meanings, being the symbol of judaism, but also representing hell, or the devil, through a pentagram.
structuralism
structuralism was explored by the theorist Levi Strauss. Levi Strauss was a French Anthropologist and binary opposites were what he worked on. This means 2 opposite statements that are used in a statement, such as good vs evil, light vs dark etc, and that when it comes to media, opposing themes or characters build the narrative
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