Theorists

Tzvetan Todorov who was born on March 1, 1939 in Sofia is a Franco-Bulgarian philosopher. He has lived in France since 1963 writing books and essays about literary theory, thought history and culture theory.
Todorov main theory proposed a basic structure for all narratives. He simplified the idea of narrative theory while also allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium. He stated that films and programmes begin with equilibrium or status quo, a calm period. Then agents of disruption cause disequilibrium, a period of unsettlement and disquiet. This is then followed by a renewed state of peace and harmony for the protagonists and a new equilibrium brings the chaos to an end.
Throughout the course of my media video this theory is definitely present. The lost sense of the two characters would show a ‘disturbance’ which is then lead on to the following events of the video which are then resolved and shown with a clear running motif of a rose.


Andrew Goodwin is another media theorist who’s work I am interested in and I plan to use this as part as research to create my own music video. Andrew Goodwin’s theory unlike Tzvetan Todorov is that music videos have six key features:

- There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
- There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.
- Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music video style and iconography
- Record companies will demand a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist
- Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking. Some examples are screens within screens, cameras, mirrors, etc.
- there are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.

I agree with Goodwin’s theory in certain respects as I think that the majority of music videos contain these 6 key features. Although considering Goodwin developed his theory in the 70’s a lot of modern videos go against this but definitely use at least two of his features within a successful video. When creating my music video I hope to use at least three of these features as I think they are key to making a successful video.