I don't know what my narrative style falls into. Obviously it depends on the vid, but probably mostly telling deeper and argument vids? I know I always need a narrative in my own vids, and I always need one when watching other people's vids to make it worthwhile. What that narrative is, however, can change from vid to vid. I think when I'm talking about "narrative", what I actually mean is "have a point". The vid needs to do more than just haphazardly throw clips together. Even when the clips individually match the individual lines of lyrics quite well, if they don't build up to any particular point then I can't get into it and don't consider it a good vid.
Not all new vidders start out this way, of course, though I do think it's something that a lot of new vidders struggle with because they don't quite understand the concept of a vid. At first it's more like "ooh, this one line in a song really literally fits my 'ship! Let me build an entire vid around that line as best as I can." And it's not until later that you begin to see the vid as one coherent whole that's supposed to be building toward something, and literal interpretation of each individual line may take a backseat to "how to make the narrative start in one place and end in another".
Looking over my vids this year, I've done a couple of argument vids (Piece of Me (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/211009.html), Climbing up the Walls (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/225625.html)). The narrative seems to follow a traditional argument, taking into account the particular nature of vidding. You set up your premises (Britney is moaning about her media status + the people around her + how she's represented in the media; look at these siblings getting 'cesty + explore the background as to why it could get this way), then you use these premises as strands of evidence that build up to the final conclusion toward the end of the vid.
What interests me is that this year I seem to have done a couple of vids that are structured very closely around there being different narrators to each lyrical segment. One of them is New Slang (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/225981.html) (three narrators through the course of the vid in clearly defined segments), and the other one hasn't been released yet, though it illustrates my point quite well.
I always pay attention to the assignment of the narrator: who is saying the lyrics at this part? Can we trust what they say? Does the POV change? bradcpu did a couple of great vids that deal with narratorship from VVC08: Creep (http://bradcpu.livejournal.com/61881.html) is a more straightforward example of multiple narrators, whereas Tear You Apart (http://bradcpu.livejournal.com/62250.html) is a great example of an unreliable narrator.
In Climbing up the Walls, there's been some debate about who the narrator is and whether it changes over the course of the vid. The majority interpretation is that it's the older sibling, at least most of the time. I agree with that reading, though I also had a deeper reading in mind. I think the narrator could be the idea of incest, telling the siblings that it'll always be a thought in their head, and they can't ever escape from it. I think this interpretation lies closest to the interpretation of the actual song - that a mental disease is whispering to the head it inhabits.
no subject
Not all new vidders start out this way, of course, though I do think it's something that a lot of new vidders struggle with because they don't quite understand the concept of a vid. At first it's more like "ooh, this one line in a song really literally fits my 'ship! Let me build an entire vid around that line as best as I can." And it's not until later that you begin to see the vid as one coherent whole that's supposed to be building toward something, and literal interpretation of each individual line may take a backseat to "how to make the narrative start in one place and end in another".
Looking over my vids this year, I've done a couple of argument vids (Piece of Me (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/211009.html), Climbing up the Walls (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/225625.html)). The narrative seems to follow a traditional argument, taking into account the particular nature of vidding. You set up your premises (Britney is moaning about her media status + the people around her + how she's represented in the media; look at these siblings getting 'cesty + explore the background as to why it could get this way), then you use these premises as strands of evidence that build up to the final conclusion toward the end of the vid.
What interests me is that this year I seem to have done a couple of vids that are structured very closely around there being different narrators to each lyrical segment. One of them is New Slang (http://obsessive24.livejournal.com/225981.html) (three narrators through the course of the vid in clearly defined segments), and the other one hasn't been released yet, though it illustrates my point quite well.
I always pay attention to the assignment of the narrator: who is saying the lyrics at this part? Can we trust what they say? Does the POV change?
In Climbing up the Walls, there's been some debate about who the narrator is and whether it changes over the course of the vid. The majority interpretation is that it's the older sibling, at least most of the time. I agree with that reading, though I also had a deeper reading in mind. I think the narrator could be the idea of incest, telling the siblings that it'll always be a thought in their head, and they can't ever escape from it. I think this interpretation lies closest to the interpretation of the actual song - that a mental disease is whispering to the head it inhabits.
Too long. Cont'd.