Bordwell and Thompson (1997) offer two distinctions between story and plot which relate to the diegetic world of the narrative that the audience are positioned to accept and that which the audience actually see. They based this on Russian film theory:
The fabula (story) is all of the events in the narrative that we see and infer. The fabula is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied.
The syuzhet (plot) is everything visible and audibly present before us. Syuzhet is considered to be the order, manner and techniques of their presentation in the narrative.
The audience are positioned to accept and that which the audience actually see. This is based on the Russian Film Theory:
In their theory there are 4 different sections they focus on; Graphic, Rhythmic, Spatial & Temporal editing.
Graphic editing is all about the mise-en-scene, what we are shown on the screen, thinking about the pictorial qualities within a video.
- Patterns, light and dark, colour similarities and differences.
- Can be used to create 'smooth continuity' or abrupt contrast.
- Graphic match - shots link together.
- Graphic continuity - Point of interest stay the same throughout cuts.
- Graphic discontinuity - Everything keeps on changing, plays around with juxtaposition.
Bordwell and Thompson never did come up with a complete narrative theory but their ideas were alright.
They believed that a chain of events within a media form causes effects on a relationship occurring in that time and space and the narrative shapes this material in terms of time. This can be portrayed through using effects to show the time by using flash backs, forwards, slow motion and speeding up.
Rhythmic/Spatial editing is:
- Maintaining continuity through thinking about the space where the event takes place.
- Continuity is the key thing.
- Cross cutting (parallel editing) is effective in spatial editing- it displays something taking place at the same time, but in a different location, to something else.
Temporal - The unfolding of time
This is all about continuity and how the video footage manipulates time.
So the order of events can be manipulated = the story/plot can change to interrupt the normal order of time through the use of flashbacks and flash forwards.
The duration of events can be altered through the use of ellipsis.
You also need to consider the frequency of events- If the event is repeated it can become a powerful way of building tension and audience expectation.
Rhythmic editing will show that each shot cuts on length according to the beat and tempo of the music. Different shots will give different effects.
In the Katy Perry ‘California Gurls’ music video the initial structure is based around the length of the song. Through the cinematography we are able to see the intended narrative from the producer of the music video. Through such things as close ups, for example when we get the close up of the board game we immediately realise that the narrative is going to be based around a game. Close ups are a huge success in pop videos due to the popularity of the artist. The costumes of the girls help us to interoperate the theme of the board game, so as the girls are dressed in sweets and the board game suggests through the text ‘Candyfornia’ and ‘Sugar Daddy’ we interpret the sweet message. There could be some intertextual references used in the music video from the likes of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ as ‘California Gurls’ also strives to create a strange narrative story, the video has been edited so we are aware of the background story of the song and Katy Perry uses costumes changes to portray how long her journey across the board game is taking her.
Sven Carlson - 3 Areas of Narrative Structure
Sven Carlson suggests that music videos fall into three groups; performance, narrative and conceptual/abstract. If we were putting this particular music video into a category it would fall under narrative as the audience can easily follow the message and ideologies of the video. The narrative is about how Katy Perry is breaking the rules of the game but not conforming to them, the audience see how the girls as a group have authority over Snoop Dogg and in the end become the leader over him, instead of him having power over them. We see this through the lyrics and how the actions of Katy Perry reflect them.
Tim O’sullivan - Culture and Society
Argues that all media texts tell us some kind of story and it is through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves-not usually our own personal stories but ones about us as a culture or set of cultures. The narrative theory shows that what we experience when we ‘read’ a story to understand a particular set of instructions or conventions and it is important to be aware of how these are put together. There is an obvious relationship between the visuals and lyrics of the video, as when Katy Perry is climbing the candy stick, ice cream, clouds and an icing imitation of Hollywood surround her. This demonstrates a sense of surrealism, as the idea of a world made out of candy would be thought as a dream. This connects the lyrics with the visual as it reassures the audience that everyone would love to live in such a perfect illusionary world.
Todorov - Narrative Structure
O'Sullivan's theory relates to Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory (1997). His theory is split into five stages which represents the narrative in a chronological set of events. Stage 1 is when the equlibrium is stable, in the narrative all is stable as antagonist Snoop Dogg introduces us to the board game whilst saying in the introduction, "Greeting loved ones, let's take a journey". This leads to stage 2 when the equilibrium is disrupted as protagonist Katy Perry is on her quest to free the queens. In stage 3, Snoop Dogg recognises the disruption and Katy discovers what she is capable of. The equilibrium is re-created in Stage 4, when the Candymania Queens reach the destination of where Snoop Dogg is playing the game and they take over. In Stage 5 there is a new equilibrium, of which the girls are in charge and Snoop Dogg is burried under the sand as he has lost the game and has a lower status.
Pam Cook - Natrative Development
According to Pam Cook (1985), the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have a linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution. This applies as each time Katy Perry moves in the game of frees the queens it has an effect, until the enigma resolution at the very end when she has succeeded. It should also have a high degree of narrative closure, and a fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence. In the video, the location of Candymania isn't very realistic as it is more like a dream world, the gummy bear army also isn't realistic as they don't talk (or swear). Although, the beach and the palm trees are there applying to the lyrics, which creates verisimilitude and the girls wear bikinis, so this mise en scene is a lot more realistic.
The music promotional video of California Gurls by Katy Perry was structured by the song lyrics. Tim O'Sullivan (1998) argues that all media texts tell a story. California Gurls conforms this as there is a strong narrative throughout the conceptual clip (Sven Carlsson, 1999). Within the narrative there is performance as Katy Perry lip syncs. However not every lyric is sung throughout the narrative as the story is told. This creates verisimilitude as Katy Perry would not be singing as she is on her quest to save the 'Candyfornia Queens'. Tim O'Sullivan also suggests that each media text has a common structure. There is an establishment at the beginning of the plot/theme which is the very first shot of the board game which establishes the iconography. There is in a development of a problem/enigma, in this case, Katy Perry rescues the queens creating an increase in tension, this results in a resolution of the plot when the queens are freed and have a higher status than Snoop Dogg.
In the narrative, Claude Levi-Strauss' (1958) theory of binary opposites applies. There is a theme of bad vs. evil throughout, which shows that that Vladimir Propp (1928) was correct in concluding specific characters that are in most media texts. In this case the villain is Snoop Dogg and the hero is Katy Perry, also the other queens are the helpers. Kate Domaille (2001) stated that every story ever told can fit into one of eight narrative types. Each of these narratives has a source, an original story upon which the others are based. I discovered that California Gurls applies to two of these narrative types. The first is Candide, the indomitable hero who cannot be put down, of which is Katy Perry as she is indestructible and fierce. The second narrative is Cinderella, the dream that comes through, in this case Katy dreams of freeing the queens and does so but with her own physical power rather than a wish.
Joseph Campbell (1949) suggests that there is an underlying structure of iconography, themes and concepts in media texts. By watching the video without listening to the lyrics, we simply see the idea of this game that Snoop Dogg is playing and how Katy Perry becomes mischievous to be free. Although when hearing the lyrics, we actually find out that it's about how great California is. I discovered that Katy Perry wrote the song out of jealousy of the attention the East Coast of America was getting after Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys was released. She was at a party watching people drink 'gin and juice' swaying under the 'palm trees' when she realised that the West Coast deserves more attention, which refers to the lyrics in the song. She said to NME, "I hope when people listen to the song it makes them want to get the next plane to California". Hence the lyrics 'West Coast represent, now put your hands up' and 'I know a place, where the grass is really greener', she is talking positively hoping to persuade everyone how great a place it is. This is the underlying meaning of the narrative, which explains the beach in the video.
Joseph Campbell (1949) suggests that there is an underlying structure of iconography, themes and concepts in media texts. By watching the video without listening to the lyrics, we simply see the idea of this game that Snoop Dogg is playing and how Katy Perry becomes mischievous to be free. Although when hearing the lyrics, we actually find out that it's about how great California is. I discovered that Katy Perry wrote the song out of jealousy of the attention the East Coast of America was getting after Empire State of Mind by Jay Z and Alicia Keys was released. She was at a party watching people drink 'gin and juice' swaying under the 'palm trees' when she realised that the West Coast deserves more attention, which refers to the lyrics in the song. She said to NME, "I hope when people listen to the song it makes them want to get the next plane to California". Hence the lyrics 'West Coast represent, now put your hands up' and 'I know a place, where the grass is really greener', she is talking positively hoping to persuade everyone how great a place it is. This is the underlying meaning of the narrative, which explains the beach in the video.
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