Digital Storyboard

Digital Story Board Templates

Above is the first template I created to make my storyboard but once I made it I didn't think I would have enough room to show exactly what I wanted in each shot as I am quick limited for space. So I created another template, as shown below, which will show one shot for each page. This gives me a lot more space and freedom when creating each shot and I am able to show my intentions more clearly. Therefore I am going to use the template shown below to create my storyboard because I think it will be more beneficial for me.

3 Textual Analysis'

Music Video Inspirations

When thinking of what I wanted to do for my music video I looked at a wide variety of different music videos and shown below is a list of different music videos with aspects that I would like to include in my music video.

Britney Spears feat. Madonna - Me Against the Music 

When watching this music video I liked this shot a lot because it shows both of the artists together but they are separated by a wall. I want to end my music video with this shot because I think it will be very effective to bring both of my artists together at the end to show that they are feeling exactly the same.

Girls Aloud, Sugababes - Walk This Way
This music video uses the same technique as shown above by having two rooms shown in one shot so I may use this long shot as well in my music video. My music video is going to be set in two separate windows with an artist in each so I think it might be good to use this shot in my music video to show the similarities between their lives. Also when both of the artists are singing together, such as the chorus, this would be a good shot to show as it enables the audience to see that both of them are now singing.

Sia - Chandelier   
When watching this video I thought that a location similar to this one would be suitable for my music video and it is the location that I had in mind because it is quite mysterious and should be quite accessible for me to find. I wanted an abandoned, empty room which is shown in the image above so this music video has helped me visualise more clearly where I want my music video to mainly be set.

One Republic - Counting Stars
I really liked this technique when watching this music video because it doesn't have any resemblance to the lyrics or the video but it looks very effective and professional. So I would like to include this in my music video however I don't think I would be able to do this because it would be quite dangerous as I'd have to place water onto an electric bulb which is a hazard as I could get electrocuted so I think I will avoid doing this as it could harm me or others. Although I would love to include this in my music video because I think it would fit in well and would look very good.
I also like location for this music video because it is similar to what I want for my music video. I think it is set in a run down basement with furniture scattered everywhere and paint peeling off the walls. I like this location as it matches the style that I want for my music video

Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle Theory was developed in the 1920s and 30s and implied that the mass media has a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. In the 1940s and 50s the mass media were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour changes. Several factors contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including: the fast rise and popularisation of radio and TV and the emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising and propaganda. This suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by 'injecting' them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. It could also show a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver or it could suggest that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. It expresses the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot of media material 'shot' at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information. The theory assumes that what we see or hear we believe and consume. The theory assumes that we are brainwashed in to believing the media messages.

However this theory is less valid now as nowadays we have more sources such as social media and television.

Example:
In the 1930s a radio broadcast of 'War of the Worlds' was performed like a real news broadcast to heighten the effect of the story, people listening thought it was real and assumed Mars had come to invade the world (as played in the short video). This demonstrates a passive audience and how an audience believes what they hear in the new and how quickly this can turn into misinterpretation.

Cons:

• very out of date and invalid now
• not all people consume media in the same way
• not everyone watches the new
• audiences are not simply passive (more up to date theories have proved this)

Narrative Analysis of An Existing Music Video (Mariah Carey - We Belong Together)

This music video proves Kate Domaille's theory (2001) to be correct as it fits in with one of the 8 narrative types that she states, which is Tristan and Iseult. This narrative type is about a love triangle where the man loves the woman, but unfortunately one or both of them are already spoken for, or a third party intervenes. This links well with this music video because the narrative of this music video is of a woman who has recently broken up with a man, and she is stood on her wedding day ready to marry another man but she is still in love with her ex-boyfriend but in the end she leaves her fiancé at the alter and runs back into the arms of her true love. This links with the Tristan and Iseult narrative type because there is two men who love the woman and it is her job to decide who she wants to end up with.

According to Sven Carlsson's theory (1999) this music video is a conceptual clip as the clip shows something else during the video, besides lip-syncing or dancing, because there is a narrative involved. This clip is a narrative/performance clip because there is a narrative to this video, which is the wedding part, and then this cuts to shots of Mariah Carey lip-syncing to the lyrics very emotionally, as if she is saying them to someone.

Tzvetan Todorov theory (1977) can be applied to this music video because this theory stated that each music video follows a specific structure which is Equilibrium -> Disruption -> Quest -> Resolution -> Re-Equilibrium. The equilibrium in this music video is of Mariah Carey and her boyfriend breaking up and then the disruption is when Mariah Carey ends up marrying someone else. The quest is then when her ex-boyfriend turns up and wants to get her back, with the resolution being Mariah Carey going back to her ex-boyfriend and the re-equilibrium is when her and her ex-boyfriend drive off in the car ready to start a new adventure/relationship. This proves Todorov's theory to be right as I am able to apply it to this music video.

Pam Cook's theory can also be applied to this music video because she states that the standard Hollywood narrative should have: linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution; a high degree of narrative closure and a fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence. So for this music video the cause is Mariah Carey marrying another man but the enigma resolution is when she decides not to marry the other man and return to her true love. There is a high degree of narrative closure as it is solved at the end of the video. There is a lot of verisimilitude in this music video as it is based on everyday events such as wedding days which makes this narrative a lot more believable towards the audience.

Stuart Halls Reception Theory

Genre Theories

Genre is a critical tool that helps us study texts and audience responses to texts by dividing them into categories based on common elements.

Barry Keith Grant (1995) said that they are divided up into more than specific categories that allow audiences to identify them by their familiar and what become recognisable characteristics.

Steve Neale (1995) stresses that "genres are not 'systems' they are processes of systematization" i.e. they are dynamic and evolve over time.

Generic characteristics across all texts share similar elements of the below depending on the medium:

• typical mise-en-scene/visual style
• typical types of narrative
• generic types i.e. typical characters
• typical studios/production companies
• typical personnel (directors, producers, cast etc.)
• typical sound design
• typical editing style
• important elements, less important elements, elements of minimal importance

NOTE: Comedy and animation are not genres they are styles or treatments! 

Jason Mittell (2001) argues that genres are cultural categories that supplies the boundaries of media texts and operate within industry, audience and cultural practices as well. In short, industries use genre to sell products to audiences. Media producers use familiar codes and conventions that very often make cultural references to their audience knowledge of society.

Genre also allows audiences to make choices about what products they want to consume through acceptance in order to fulfill a particular pleasure.

Rick Altman (1999) argues that genre offers audiences 'a set of pleasures' which are as follows:

• emotional pleasures - the emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response
• visceral (physical) pleasures - 'gut' responses
• intellectual puzzles - trying  to unravel a mystery or puzzle

The main strength of genre theory is that everybody uses it and understands it: media experts use it to study media texts; the media industry uses it to develop and market texts; and audiences use it to decide what texts to consume.

The potential for the same concept to be understood by producers, audiences and students makes genre a useful critical tool. Its accessibility as a concept also means that it can be applied across a wide range of texts.

Christian Metz in his book Language and Cinema (1974) argued that genres go through a typical cycle of changes during their lifetime:

• experimental stage
• classic stage
• parody stage
• deconstruction stage

Music video is a medium intended to appeal directly to youth subcultures by reinforcing generic elements of musical genres:

• music videos are postmodern texts whose main purpose is to promote a star persona (Dyer, 1975)
• they don't have to be literal representations of the song or lyrics
• they are called pop-promos as they are used to promote a band or artist

David Buckingham (1993) argues that 'genre is not...simply "given" by the culture: rather it is in a constant process of negotiation and change'.

David Bordwell (1989) said that 'any theme may appear in any genre'.

Uses and Gratifications Theory