Applying Bordwell & Thompson's Theory
Although Bordwell and Thompson never came up with a complete narrative theory they did suggest the idea that a chain of events within a media text cause effects occurring in space and time and the narrative presents this idea in terms of time and space shown using flashbacks and speeding up or slowing down time.
The central idea behind Beyoncé's music video to show the ugly side of beauty, to show what goes on behind the scenes and to show the audience the part that they wouldn't usually see, almost like a backstage pass. In order to do this the audience are presented with different views of the girls which juxtapose one another. They are presented on stage in a way that they seem happy and confident and they seem to be able to achieve such natural perfection. Usually the audiences view would stop here however the producers take us backstage, into the dressing room and also into Beyoncé's house to give us an idea of the story behind the girls and what goes on in their life off-stage.
The narrative is not presented in chronological order which, in my opinion, shows the emotions of women in the video much more effectively as the shots of them happy against the shots of them being sad show a huge contrast in emotions and effectively shows how unhappy working in this industry has made them and the sacrifices they have made in order to be accepted by the society and audience surrounding this industry. This shows that the 'Pretty Hurts' music video accepts the idea that was put forward by Bordwell and Thompson as the video is constantly going from when time to another for example showing the girls onstage and then flashing back to them preparing to compete in the dressing room. On stage the girls look well-behaved, classy, beautiful and lady like but backstage they argue and fight, pick at their smaller imperfections and got through silly procedures in order to look good on stage, an example of this is the close up shot of Beyoncé applying Vaseline to her teeth in order to make them shine, something that will no doubt be a very unpleasant thing to do. By putting these shots one after the other the producers achieve their intended purpose for the video, to show that the beauty industry isn't as glamorous as it may seem as the two locations contrast from one another taking the audience from one extreme to another in a short space of time.
Applying Sven Carlsson's Theory
Sven Carlsson said that there were 3 main areas of narrative structure, these are:
- Performance
- Narrative
- Conceptual/Abstract
Carlsson's theory suggests that binary oppositions drive forward the narrative of the music video, for example a video shot in black and white might suggest another era, or represent a song with a dark or sad theme.
Music videos that follow the narrative structure of performance mainly show an artist singing (performing the song), or include choreography such as an acting scene or dance routine - this type of narrative structure is most common in genres of music most appealing to a younger audience such as pop.
Music videos that have a conceptual narrative structure have a deeper meaning and/or are symbolic of something meaning they are more likely to be consumed by an older, more mature audience who are more likely to recognise the meaning intended by the producers of the music video, as a result of this, this style of narrative structure is seen mostly in genres such as indie and rock.
The music video for 'Pretty Hurts' follows both the performance and the conceptual narrative structure suggested by Sven Carlsson. A key convention of a conceptual video is location change which is seen at least 4 times in the music video.
1. On stage
1. On stage
2. In the dressing room
3. At home
4. At rehearsals
Another convention of the music video that suggests it follows a conceptual narrative structure is the deeper meaning behind the song which is portrayed mainly through the lyrics of the song which is unusual for a song within the genre of pop, Beyoncé, is however, an artist who although does appeal to a younger audience, also appeals to women of a similar age to her as her songs are inspired by her life experiences therefore they may have gone through similar things to her and can therefore relate to and empathise with the lyrics of the song.
The video includes both diegetic and non-diegetic sound. In music videos non-diegetic sound is conventional and is what an audience expects to hear as it is the song that goes with the video, however diegetic sound, such as speech, is unconventional although is becoming increasingly popular in music videos either at the beginning, middle or end, artists now often include a small acting scene in the video to set the scene for the audience to either add to the meaning or create a deeper meaning that isn't necessarily obvious without the visual aid of a music video or through the lyrics of the song alone. This is an additional reason as to why the video has a conceptual narrative structure, elements of the music video help to generate a deeper meaning for the audience and gives dialogue and imagery exclusive to the music video that the audience would not be aware of it they only listen to the songs audio.
Applying Tim O'Sullivan's Theory
Tim O'Sullivan suggests that media texts tell us some kind of story about ourselves, not personal stories but the story of us as a culture/set of cultures.
This theory applies to the music video I have chosen as it shows the audience the pressures that young girls will put themselves through in order to feel accepted by society. This shows that as a society our expectations for women to look and behave a certain way and to be a certain size or shape and wear a certain kind of clothing puts unnecessary pressure on young women and causes them to go to extreme lengths to as long as they get the outcome they are aiming for which tends to be an unhealthily small body size, an example of this in the music video is when we see one of the women dip a cotton wool ball in orange juice and then eat it, this is clearly a way of making herself feel full without actually consuming any real food that could make her gain weight and the audience can immediately make links between the girls skeletal frame and this unhealthy eating habit.
This comes as a result of constantly being told that they are not good enough or not skinny enough and being compared with the other girls around them as well and eventually they get to a point where no matter how thin they get they will never believe that it is good enough and they will be in a constant battle with not only themselves but each other as well and so it is a viscous cycle of hatred and jealousy with others as well as themselves - this, I believe is the central idea within the music video and is shown when we see a girl, who looks almost skeletal, pulling at her skin as though it is excess fat and she is still not happy with her size however the audience can see that this girls is already unhealthy that if she becomes any thinner than she already is then she will be causing herself serious health risks.
Applying Pam Cook's Theory
Pam Cook's theory puts forward the standard 'Hollywood Structure" which consists of:
- linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution
- a high degree of narrative closure
- a fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence
Pam Cook's theory applies to the music video in some ways however also rejects certain factors of the theory in other areas. The video is an accurate representation of an existing, working industry in society thus creating verisimilitude through coherence of space and time as mentioned in the 'Hollywood Structure'. Other points of the music video which create verisimilitude and make the video an accurate representation of the industry it is about is the acting from the people featuring in the video as they successfully create an unhappy mood surrounding the music video and this is general mood surrounding the industry from not only the people involved but also mirrors the negative comments as well as the negative and unachievable expectations society has.
The areas of Pam Cook's theory which are rejected by the music video and do not apply, in my opinion, is both the first and second point to do with cause and effect and having narrative closure, two things that I do not think this video has. Although the music video has a narrative in that it tells a very detailed story and has a very meaningful message, when it comes to narrative structure the video does not conform to a particular structure or theory because the video goes back and forth between locations and is not presented in chronological order. In my opinion, it is much easer to apply a narrative theory to a TV programme as that shows cause and effect much more explicitly as they have the aid of diegetic sound to help portray the plot and their emotions however the only way I can think that cause and effect links to this video is, as mentioned before, the pressures put on young girls from society to look and behave a certain way causes them to take drastic action towards being accepted, this has negative effects both mentally and physically on the girls as they are damaging their bodies and they are putting themselves at serious risk by doing such things as not eating properly. This, however, I do not feel is what is meant by the point linking to cause and effect mentioned in Pam Cook's theory because the video does come to a resolution which is what the theory suggests and this is also another reason as to why I think this theory applies more to films and TV programmes rather than music videos.
Pam Cook's theory applies to the music video in some ways however also rejects certain factors of the theory in other areas. The video is an accurate representation of an existing, working industry in society thus creating verisimilitude through coherence of space and time as mentioned in the 'Hollywood Structure'. Other points of the music video which create verisimilitude and make the video an accurate representation of the industry it is about is the acting from the people featuring in the video as they successfully create an unhappy mood surrounding the music video and this is general mood surrounding the industry from not only the people involved but also mirrors the negative comments as well as the negative and unachievable expectations society has.
The areas of Pam Cook's theory which are rejected by the music video and do not apply, in my opinion, is both the first and second point to do with cause and effect and having narrative closure, two things that I do not think this video has. Although the music video has a narrative in that it tells a very detailed story and has a very meaningful message, when it comes to narrative structure the video does not conform to a particular structure or theory because the video goes back and forth between locations and is not presented in chronological order. In my opinion, it is much easer to apply a narrative theory to a TV programme as that shows cause and effect much more explicitly as they have the aid of diegetic sound to help portray the plot and their emotions however the only way I can think that cause and effect links to this video is, as mentioned before, the pressures put on young girls from society to look and behave a certain way causes them to take drastic action towards being accepted, this has negative effects both mentally and physically on the girls as they are damaging their bodies and they are putting themselves at serious risk by doing such things as not eating properly. This, however, I do not feel is what is meant by the point linking to cause and effect mentioned in Pam Cook's theory because the video does come to a resolution which is what the theory suggests and this is also another reason as to why I think this theory applies more to films and TV programmes rather than music videos.
Applying Todorov's Theory
Todorv's theory suggests this narrative structure - there is both an antagonist and a protagonist within the equilibrium (diegesis), disruption is caused within the narrative, they then go on a quest to find a resolution concluding in a re-equilibrium.
Again, I do not think this suggested narrative structure applies to my theory as I believe it is intended more for television and film rather than music videos as the narratives shown within this media format are sometimes unclear if the video has more of an abstract style. Although Beyoncé takes the role of the protagonist in her own video, in my opinion there is no their character who is significant enough to take the role of the antagonist, nor is there a need to go on a quest to find a resolution in the video as there is no disruption and the video does not conclude with an equilibrium.
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