Evaluation Question 1

Theories of narratives are not uncommon in the media world, and with my music video "Stuck In The Ghetto" Tzvetan Todorov's theory which states that a media text has a equilibrium then involves a disruption, a resolution into a new equilibrium. This theory cannot be applied to my music video as it only documents a problem that is always unresloved, the music video lists continued problems, the equilibrium in sense, is a problem, even though it is paradoxal, there Todorov's theory is cancelled. In addition to this my text is ploysemic, the dominant/prefered reading of the video is the struggle of a young man, trapped within his hostile community, where life is a struggle, everbody is continuosly struggling, however, the oppositional reading is that the protagonist is better off than most, able to visit his friends whiles others work and indulges in alcohol without worry, and is probably claiming of the government, a similar reading to that of the tv series "benefits street", but less engaging. 

Also Vladimir Propp's character roles also do not apply to the music video as there are only two characters throughout the video, there is only a protagonist. The music video follows the narrative of the protagonist, with only a glimpse of another character who has a minimalist role in the music video.

Binary opposites is the theory produced by Claude Levi-Strauss, he theorised that media texts can be put together through conventions such as gender stereotypes and religious beliefs. He classified two types of characters, dominant and subordinate. the dominant reading includes: Male, White, Middle classed, Middle aged, Hetrosexual, and Able-boddied, and  the Subordinate reading is: Female, Other ethnic groups, Working class, The young, old, Homosexual, bisexual, Disabled. This applies to

The most relevant hypothesis to my music video is Andrew Goodwin's video thoery: One way I applied his theory is seeing the sound, the song "Stuck In The Ghetto" by Tony Henry is very mellow. With light guitars and a sombre lower bass line, the song portrays a distinctive mood. Sadness.

Furthermore the narrative and performance of the video is a key feature. The narrative is a young man struggling on a day to day basis, which many people can relate to. It reveals him performing to the camera, expressing his betrayal and sadness at the world the character lives in, with reference to not being able to get a job, even though he has a degree. The performance by the actor in the video shows passion yet does not overwhelm the video so much so that the mellow mood is still kept.

The "star image" is the only sub-convention that is not highlighted in my music video. The actor is hiding away from the lime light rather the showing the viewer his claim to stardom. This is due to the fact that this ties into the genre of the song, most soul singers/artists are soft people, with a warm heart. If star image theory was not displayed in a pop or rap music video, it would seem more odd.

"Stuck In The Ghetto" visuals are constantly relating to the songs lyrics, the lyrics of the song automatically drove us to come up with the idea that we did because the lyrics are so meaningful therefore we thought we could elaborate on the lyrics via a music video. With constant reference to lyrics such as: