riptide - narrative sides and conventions

1.     Are there any elements of coherence in the narrative? (Potential theories/ideas to use: Todorov and Postmodernism) 

2.     What ‘message’ does the video contains? Refer to Barthes in your notes.

3.    It is a convention of music videos to have song lyrics interpreted on screen. The overt way the lyrics are interpreted in this video challenges this convention. Analyse the opening line: “I was scared of dentists and the dark” explain how this interpreted on screen and analyse the semiotics (Barthes)of images, which accompany the lyrics. 

4.    This overt graphical representationof the lyrics is repeated throughout the video. Make a list of the other overt interpretations of the lyrics.

Lyrics	Image

5.    There is a reoccurring montage used at the start of the chorus of a woman running before it cuts to a close up the sea. What ideas are being communicated by the use of this montage?

Chorus 1
Chorus 2
Chorus 3
Chorus 4
Chorus 4
	Challenge:  What significance does the movement of the waves have in relation to the previous shot?

6.    The opening shot uses cinematic style credits and information about the music is presented with a title at bottom of the screen. This title is similar to a “billing block” which is often seen on film posters or in trailers. Explain why this style might have been copied for film and summarise audience response it creates. Is the video presenting itself as a short film or a music video? How could this be related to the type of music video it is?

7.    The video has intertextual referencethe western, Thriller and Horrorgenres(particularly Wes Anderson films). List the intertextual references you can spot and analyse the semiotics of each.