How useful are ideas about narrative in analysing music videos? Refer to CSP “Ghost Town” and “Letter to the Free” in your answer.

I believe that the narrative within a music video is important as it gives understanding story line. The theorist Todorov looks into the narrative theory and how all narratives should follow a structure of a beginning equilibrium (start), a disruption (middle) and a new equilibrium (end). Another theorist who looks at narratives, is Levi Strauss. He proposed a theory of binary opposites and how the majority of narratives within media, such as books, films, contain opposing main characters. Lastly, the theorist Vladimir Propp, who talks about media having 7 different character types.

Looking at the music video ghost town, it has an equilibrium, disruption and a new equilibrium. It starts with the band driving along the road, set in east London, giving off a ghostly atmosphere. The middle shows the band suddenly drive out of control, representing the employment state, and how it has become a large problem, as unemployment rates in the UK were rising significantly. For the end of the music video, it shows the band throwing rocks along the water on the beach, representing the calmness that has been resonated, and how everything has returned back to normal, suggesting the economic state has retuned back to normal.

On the other hand, with the music video letter to the free, its equilibrium starts with a slow-motion scene of a prison, with an unusual black box. this represents an infinite symbol of black lives. When the symbol appeals again at the end of the video, it gives us a constant reminder of the message black lives should always matter.

Linking back to the question, narrative is useful when analyzing music videos, as it allows the audience to capture the perceptions and messages. As using just a speaker to convey a message can be difficult, so applying narrative to music videos is important.