NARRATIVE THEORY
In order to make both my ancillary texts and main product link effectively, they all adhere to aspects of narrative theory. Despite not actually having a clear narrative running throughout my video, it still has key elements of narrative theory. Sven Carlsson (1999) claims that music videos fall into two categories; performance and conceptual, and my video is entirely conceptual. A conceptual video can have either a clear narrative or abstract base, and my video is completely abstract yet the basic meaning behind it is still clear; the love between two people. My video follows Carlssons theory as it does have a very loose visual story, but fits comfortably into the conceptual category. My ancillary texts all feature elements from my video, and it could be argued that the three products combined also follow the conceptual category, especially in the digipack as the silhouettes such as the guns have an ambiguous meaning but relate to the album in some way. Another theorist, Michael Shore (1984) states that music videos are made up of recycled styles, and in some ways my video and products conform to this. Although my product is original, I followed most conventions of an indie video, such as the location I used, and took inspiration from other videos. The shots which were in reverse were inspired by 'Breezeblocks' by Alt J, and the black and white feature from Arctic Monkeys 'R U Mine', so in theory, elements of my video have simple been taken from other videos. My product rejects Todorov's equilibrium model, as he states a narrative contains a beginning, a disruption and a resolution which my video does not feature as it is not a clear narrative conceptual video (Carlsson).
AUDIENCE THEORY
Bulmer and Katz, who put forward the uses and gratifications theory, state that the audience are motivated by a desire to fulfill, or gratify certain needs. The model is broken down into 4 different needs; surveillance, personal identity, personal relationships and diversion. Personal identity is the most important feature in music videos, and mine is no different. Although I didn't create a strong personal identity for my artist the age and gender may help the audience identify with the performer, and as she appears on all 3 of my products its helps to make the combination effective. It is not particularly conman for an indie artist to become a huge role model and inspire children everywhere, but the personal identity element is still prominent. Stuart Hall's reception theory states that media texts are encoded by the producer, which means that whoever creates the text fills it with messages and values, and then the text is decoded by the viewers. This is entirely true, as all 3 of my products are my own work, so any subtle messages that my products contain will have been created by me. When I created both my ancillary texts and video, due to the fact I did not have a clear narrative, I did not intend to create any values or messages. However the basic theme running throughout the video is obviously to do with a relationship, but people could decode this in different ways.
REPRESENTATION THEORY
In terms of representation, in order to make my combination of products work together ffectively, I had to completely adhere to/reject certain theories. Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory is entirely rejected in my products, as not only am I completely against the sexualization of women in the media, there was also no need for any of it in my products at all. My products all do not conform to this theory, and is a perfect example that just because my product features a female performer, she does not need to be sexualized. Tessa Perkins states that in order for a stereotype to exist, it has got to have some truth within it, and this is true when it comes to my products. Usually, 'indie' artists conform to a stereotype when it comes to appearance, usually wearing vintage and unusual clothing in dark colours, along with simple hair and make-up. Both my performers in my video, and then the image of my female performer on my ancillary texts, conform to this stereotype as both are wearing dark clothes, with my female performer wearing slightly more unusual clothing, with her hair worn down. By ensuring that all 3 of my products adhere or reject to certain theories makes them work together as a combination very successfully.
REPRESENTATION THEORY
In terms of representation, in order to make my combination of products work together ffectively, I had to completely adhere to/reject certain theories. Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory is entirely rejected in my products, as not only am I completely against the sexualization of women in the media, there was also no need for any of it in my products at all. My products all do not conform to this theory, and is a perfect example that just because my product features a female performer, she does not need to be sexualized. Tessa Perkins states that in order for a stereotype to exist, it has got to have some truth within it, and this is true when it comes to my products. Usually, 'indie' artists conform to a stereotype when it comes to appearance, usually wearing vintage and unusual clothing in dark colours, along with simple hair and make-up. Both my performers in my video, and then the image of my female performer on my ancillary texts, conform to this stereotype as both are wearing dark clothes, with my female performer wearing slightly more unusual clothing, with her hair worn down. By ensuring that all 3 of my products adhere or reject to certain theories makes them work together as a combination very successfully.
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