Friday, 23 August 2013

Linking Narrative & Genre Theory to 'Invisible Empire' - KT Tunstall

Narrative Theory
In terms of this music video, I really don't think it has any narrative at all as it is based on solely performance, as I analysed the acoustic music video. 

As this is a video based on performance only, it allows the audience to be drawn into the way the song is structured, rather than the narrative structure. So, if I was to base the song as a the narrative, i'd say that that in itself doesn't actually have a structure either, however it really does work. Although it doesn't hold any narrative, the way that it has been filmed does fit with the lyrics, as the CU's of the guitar work well when there is fingerpicking happening.

So this video does subvert expectations of a beginning/middle/end because it is solely based on performance, however the actual music video for this song is very strange! It does have a beginning, as she is galloping along the seafront in her armour, dressed as a knight, possibly preparing for battle. 



I think that the song does have narrative, however I think it is a metaphor mainly for her fathers death and how she is fighting against the world and her feelings with her "invisible empire", however the video does show her fighting alone. 

Much like my video, the lyrics fit well to the narrative. When she sings "I wear a rusty crown" this is shown:



So this links a lot to Todorov's theory because there is a beginning/middle/end and there is an equilibrium (galloping along the beach, happy), disequilibrium (fighting, where she could get hurt), then new equilibrium (she won the fight and is now ruling).

In the end, she is shown as a ruling kind of figure as she won the battle and defeated the bad guy (sort of like a metaphor for feeling/devils and demons).

Propp could link into this also as KT was the hero and the villain was the person she defeated and although that was quite explicit, it could also be implicit because I didn't notice it to start off with, which just proves that Propp's theory is also apparent whether it is clear or not.

Barthes' codes can also be brought into this music video because there is action and the enigma that is apparent here is when the audience are unsure what is happening at the start with the beach setting and the flame, which is dragged out until KT reaches battle and they realise that she is fighting with her 'invisible empire'. The semic objects of the armour do suggest that she is a knight, however the symbolism is much deeper than that as the audience realise that she is fighting against her thoughts/feelings.

Genre Theory
I would define this song as more of a metaphor, rather than a song based around trying to make a narrative journey. I personally link that more middle-aged people would listen to this song, as it's more grown up and deserves to be appreciated, due to it's underlying metaphor. It may also give the audience hope/faith to carry on if they've had a family member/friend pass away.

I chose to analyse this song because I think that it was really beautiful and captured the songwriting element, as I knew that it was written by KT. This really linked in well with my music as I have also written all of my songs, so it was really nice to appreciate her work and break it down into simpler terms.

I don't think think this is what the audience would expect, because I certainly didn't expect it, however when you do look at the deeper meaning and know the background of the album and song, then the audience are able to appreciate the meaning and the metaphor. I did show this to a few family members and it wasn't what they expected either, however they said that it did fit into KT's persona and style, however they weren't sure of it when it first started to play.

After reading into KT's life and the background to the song/album, I think that the song is a metaphor for her fathers death, however as I analysed the acoustic version, the whole black and white persona linked to the dark atmosphere and the moarning stage that she must be currently going through. Also the out of focus shots and the changing, disjointed nature of those could also link in with the whole metaphor idea. This also links in with my video as the narrative was shown in black and white because it was quite dark and rebelish, which isn't the right way to act, thus kind of showing a 'dark side'. So, the whole idea of the equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium links in well with the interpretation of the song as this kind of tells the story of her mourning process and the feelings in which is she going through and dealing with and how at the end she battles through them and ends up conquring them, showing she is an extremely strong character and can get through the toughest times. This allows the target audience to really begin to engage with KT's personal life, if they know her background, however even if they don't, it shows that she is able to get through anything and anyone can get through hard situations if they put their mind to it. This gives a large sense of hope to her fans/target audience, which is a lovely feeling.

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