Draft music video

Mise en scene planning-COSTUME

How is Todorovs concept of narrative explored in the music video for Teenage Dirtbag by Wheetus?

The music video for Teenage Dirtbag by Wheetus follows a teenage boy’s journey through a school day, focusing on his crush on a girl who doesn’t know who he is, the day ends at the school prom where the girl offers him tickets to see iron maiden. This journey is explored through a linear episodic narrative.  According to Todorovs theory of narrative, the first part of a linear music video like Teenage dirt bag is Act 1 where the first equilibrium is established, in Teenage dirt bag this is from where the boy is biking to school to where the band are playing the song in a school hall. After this there is an inciting incident which disturbs the balance of the narrative, in this case this is boy’s bike being ran over by the boyfriend of the girl he has a crush on. This inciting incident makes room for act 2 and the disequilibrium which follows on the story. This is introduced from this point on to where the location changes to the school hall for the prom. According to Todorov, this disequilibrium follows a struggle to get/achieve something, in this music video this is a struggle for the boy to get a girl, because she has a boyfriend. This narrative structure is clearly followed through the focus on the girl’s boyfriend through the lyrics and the camera shots. Following the disequilibrium, a new equilibrium comes into play, during this, the struggle is resolved. In this case, the struggle to get the girl is resolved in a denouement by her offering “tickets to see iron maiden”.

Roland Barthes theory of narrative codes can also be applied to this music video. The 3 part Todorovian narrative structure creates a pro-airetic code where the audience sees the opening of an action and wants to see the close. In this case, the opening action is his bike being knocked over by the girls boyfriend, this event means that the audience are keen to watch on as it signals a new chapter in the video. Another example of pro-airetic code in the Teenage Dirtbag music video by Wheetus is when the main boy makes eye contact with the girl in the corridor. This is an example of pro-airetic code as it makes the audience keen to see what will happen next as his dream of getting her attention has just been hinted at. Act 3 (the new equilibrium) creates a resolution to the boys struggle to get the girl as she invites him out. Compared to the previous events of the music video this is unexpected and creates an ideological close as this is exactly what he wants. This ideological close satisfies the audience as they see a clear closure to the struggle they witnessed and it meets their expectation of media texts and stories for there to be a beginning, middle and end. The song “teenage dirtbag” is an extremely well known, mainstream song and music video. This un-niche style means that the audience do not expect to watch a particularly academically thought provoking piece of media text. Therefore, the clear 3 part Todorovian structure suits the audience and their expectations well and gives them what they’re used to, in turn satisfying them. 

Narrative timeline

During the planning for my music video I created a narrative timeline detailing the makeup of the song (which instruments are used and when and when the lyrics feature) in order to visually plan the timings and features of the song. This helped me to produce my shot list and story board in a more coherent way. It also ensured that I had a plan for the whole of the song so that I did not have nay gaps in the music video.

Genre- Shared codes and characteristics

Annotated lyrics

Initial concept

“Your Light”-MEGA Initial concept

In the music video that I am creating for “Your light” by MEGA, my concept will base around building up a character profile of a female artist on her way to a band performance. 

The narrative will show a female (playing the artist) in a plain room with a dull colour pallet to represent the way she feels before she finds the light described in the lyrics. Once the lyrics begin at 0:27 it will then move onto her walking moving into a forest/park (to reflect the nature imagery in the lyrics) finally moving through inner city streets and suburban areas (to fit with the conventions of the contemporary soul genre). She will appear to be singing the song in order to make sense of her character by establishing her as the main vocal artist. I will achieve this through lip sync when it comes to editing. Throughout these shots I will cut to clips of a band playing the instruments in the song but she will not arrive until the end of the video where she will join the band, pick up a guitar and begin to sing with the band. I will use a mixture of different shot types and uses of cinematography including adapting the rule of thirds by placing the main character in all sections of the screen at different moments. I will use a majority of close up shots to draw attention to detail so that the characters profile can be built up in depth, focusing on the clothes worn, small movements and the location surrounding her.

I have drawn influence from many other music videos and short films. For example, Daughters music video for “Still” which focuses on a female character and successfully constructs an idea of her identity through close ups of her shoes, jewellery and photos in her bedroom. Influences for the narrative of walking includes Amy Winehouse’s music video for “Tears dry on their own”. This particular video inspired me to place the character in all 3 sections of the screen according to the rule of thirds in order to make space for other people to walk past in pairs or groups and add the notion of the female being alone in comparison. I also looked at Keaton Henson’s music video for “Lying to you” which is of a different genre but has a very similar narrative as it also features a girl walking through a suburban area. This video has given me the ideas to use a range of shot types (although mainly close ups) in order to keep the simple narrative interesting, and also allow me to demonstrate my knowledge and ability to explore different shots.

I took influences and inspiration for the style of clothes that I am going to use from artists shared by MEGA on her soundcloud as well as artists of a similar genre and style to what MEGA wears in her photos.