Sven Carlsson - (Narrative Essay)

Sven Carlsson
3 areas of narrative structure

Sven Carlsson suggests that music videos and videos in general fall into two rough groups. These groups are performance clips and conceptual clips. When a music video mostly shows the artist singing or dancing, it is classed as a performance clip. On the other hand, when the clip shows something else during its duration, whether this be a story, often with artistic ambitions, it is a conceptual clip. 

Performance clip

• If a music video clip contains mostly filmed performance, then it is a performance clip. A performance clip is a video that shows the vocalist in one or more settings. 
• Common places to perform include the recording studio and the rehearsal room. However, this performance can take place absolutely anywhere. Walking down the street is one of the main music videos cliches, and this is very common in rap videos. 
• The performance can be of 3 types: song performance, dance performance and instrumental performance. 
• Almost every music video includes song performance, and some combine song and dance performances.

Narrative clip

• If a music video clip is most appropriately understood as a short silent movie to a musical background, it is a narrative clip. A narrative clip contains no lip-synchronised singing.

Art clip

• If a music video clip contains no perceptible visual narrative and contains no lip synchronised singing then it is said to be a pure art clip.
• The main difference between a music video art clip and a contemporary artistic video is the music.
• While the music video uses popular music, the artistic video more often than not uses more modern, experimental music, such as electro acoustic music. 

Carlsson developed a mythical method of analysis of music video, centered on a 'modern mythic embodiment'. Viewed from this perspective the music video artist is seen as an embodying one, or a combination of modern mythic characters or forces, of which there are three general. The music video artist is representing different aspects of the free floating disparate universe of the music video.

• In one type of performance, the performer is not a performer anymore, he or she is a materialisation of the commercial exhibitionist.
• Another type of performance in the music video industry is that of the televised bard. He or she is a modern bard signing banal lyrics using television as a medium. The televised bard is a singing storyteller who uses actual on-screen images instead of inner, personal images. The greatest televised bards create audio-visual poetry.
• The third type of performer is the electronic shaman. Sometimes, the shaman is invisible and it is only her voice and rhythm that ancor the visuals. He or she often shifts between multiple shapes. At one moment, the electronic shaman animates dead objects or have a two-dimensional alter egos, much like in cartoon comics. Seconds later he or she is shifting through time and so on.