Written Essay

Look Closely At Your Product, Video And Print Artefacts, Deconstruct Them Utilising Theoretical Concepts. You Should Consider :-

Narrative

Representation

Audience

Post Modernity

The concept for my groups R'n'B music video was to follow a strong narrative that created interplay with the lyrics of the song and enabled the audience to relate to what they were seeing and hearing. During the research process we found that slow R'n'B tracks, especially by female artists, told by a story that would evoke emotion and be familiar to the audience. When story boarding the filming of the video, we focused upon the lyrics and where possible matched the scenario to what was being sang. This concept is known as Todorov's Narrative Theory and we wanted our video to follow this particular structure, as it creates fluidity and gives a strong sense of meaning to the song and final product.

Narrative theory interlinks with Propp's character theory as every narrative consists of character types with different roles that are recognisable and relatable to the audience. Our video consists of three dominant female characters who not only portray the 'hero' role but have elements of villainy. The ultimate villain of the piece however is the male character who is pursuing the three women for personal gain. The image we created for our group was that of a female empowerment, independence and sexiness. Although at first they are all seeing this guy behind each others backs, in the end they realise he's to blame and they would be better off without him. The 'hero' character is who the audience identifies the most with and likes and aspires to. We want young teenage girls to be able to relate to 'Pulse' and realise it is okay to be strong and independent and without the need of a man.

As mentioned before, the representation of our all female group isn't stereotypically the view portrayed of women in other media texts. However, female artists in R'n'B are shown as sexy, strong and dominant young women through costume, gesture and framing. As a group we decided to conform to this convention and use the theme of 'girl power' just like previous girl bands such as Destiny's Child.

The costume in our print products is provocative and creates a glamorous and sexy image that appeals to both men and women. For our CD Cover and advert the band is framed centrally and in the forefront to highlight dominance and the image of them selling the product. In the video this dominance will be enforced not only when the band is shot together but when the male character is present. Framing will be very important as the focus will be on the female artists with the male character never shot alone or for long periods of time and when shot be in the background. The costume also challenges the representation of women as it doesn't portray the dowdy, mumsy image on other media forms. The band are shot on sexy black dresses, with glamorous make-up and big hair to highlight their sexuality and sell the product.

The audience and how they consume our products is very important and we have utilised the uses and gratifications theory in our work. This theory concludes of the views audiences' have on personal relationships and personal identity. The relationship between the female artists and male character evokes emotional interaction between those in the video and the audience. It creates a view of the women and how they fit into the world, which we haven't conformed to, as our artists portray female independence. We want our young female target audience to identify with the group through a direct mode of address. What they see through our products should be a reflection of themselves and past experiences.