• Time, space & theme
• Films & music videos are linear & sequential
• Stories have a beginning, middle & end
• Tztevan Todorov – tripartite narrative structure = equilibrium, disruption, new equilibrium
• exposition, inciting incident, climax, resolution, denouement
• Vladimir Propp = set character types & functions
• Stock characters
• claude levi-strauss = binary oppositions
• kernels and satellites
• Story: Someone falls in love w someone because they like their music
• Plot: Someone listens to music & falls in love w the musician’s music & voice, then they meet but the musician doesn’t like them.

• Time
• Space
• Theme
• Linear
• Sequential

Tztevan Todorov 3 part structure:

• Equilibrium
• Disruption
• New equilibrium

Exposition/ Climax/ Denouement

Vladimir propp– set characters

• Hero
• Villain
• Victim

• Time 
• Space 
• Theme 
• Linear– start at the beginning and move forward
• Sequential– part of a sequence 

Stories have a beginning middle and end 

Video has to have storyline and beginning and the middle and the end 

 TZTEVAN TODOROV – 3 part structure – Tripartite narrative structure 

• Equlilbrium
• Disruption
• New Equlilbrium 

Not boring 

Starting incident climax resoloution new equlilbrium 

FREYTAGS PYRAMID 

Exposition climax and denoument

Claude Levi-Strauss (Binary Oppositions)

This theory suggests that NARRATIVES (=myths) are STRUCTURED around BINARY OPPOSITIONS eg: good v evil c

creates narrative as a structure of key (oppositional) themes that underpin action and dialogue to develop a set of messages that the audience are able to decode and understand.

Vladimir Propp (Character Types and Function)

suggests that stories use STOCK CHARACTERS to structure stories.

1. Hero
2. Helper
3. Princess
4. Villain
5. Victim
6. Dispatcher
7. Father
8. False Hero

Spheres of Action

Turner ‘these are not separate characters, since one character can occupy a number of roles or ‘spheres of action’ as Propp calls them and one role may be played by a number of different characters’

http://mymediacreative.com/narrative/4/

Tztevan Todorov (Tripartite narrative structure): 

BEGINNING / MIDDLE / END 

• Equilibrium 
• Disruption 
• New equilibrium 
• the stage of equilibrium 
• the conflict that disrupts this initial equilibrium 
• the way / ways in which the disruption looks to find new equilibrium 
• the denouement and/or resolution that brings about a new equilibrium 

This structural approach could also be referenced to Freytag’s Pyramid exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, and denouement as illustrated below. 

Roland Barthes: Proairetic and Hermenuetic Codes; 

• Proairetic code: action, movement, causation 
• Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development 

moving image products are either based around ‘doing’ / ‘action’ or ‘talking’ / ‘reflection’. 

FLASH BACK – common tool used in moving images. About time jumping ahead and back

enigma code – puzzle something to resolve

light , shade in terms of creativity

key to narrative structure

• time
• space
• theme
• linear
• sequential

Todorov tripartite narrative structure

• equilibrium
• disruption
• new equilibrium

exposition / climax / denouncement

Vladimir Propp

different types of stock characters

• hero
• villain
• helper
• victim
• false hero
• dispatcher

spheres of action

• preparation
• complication

• Time, Space and Theme
• Always some sort of narrative structure
• Linear, start at the beginning and follow a linear pattern, from the start to the end
• Sequential
• Stories have a beginning, middle and end but doesn’t need to be linear, the end can be at the start
• plot, how it’s organised and what’s put together to make a whole piece/story
• Music video to start in black and white and finish in colour
• Equilibrium, disruption, new equilibrium – Todorov
• Propp – videos/stories can be broken down into characters: Hero, helper, princess, villain, victim, dispatcher, father, false hero. Spheres of action
• Claude Levi-Strauss – Binary oppositions, need diversity and opposites
• Seymour Chapman – video can be broken down into two different things, main/big thing (kernels), won’t really work if one is taken away. Satellites are the less important thing so it won’t matter if they are taken out
• Disruption in video – main character gets shown that being isolated isn’t a bad thing and you can experience good things while being alone. Images of loneliness/sadness before this disruption
• Exposition, Climax, Denouement, there’s a resolution at the end
• Day to day life often works in binary opposition and not just in stories due to opposites within society
• 31 functions that play a role in organising character and story into a plot can be narrowed down into: (Spheres of Action) Preparation, complication, transference, struggle, return, recognition
• Narratives often structured around binary opposition
• Enigma code (something to resolve, puzzle)
• Light and shade is important in terms of creativity and important for narrative

time – how the progression of time works in the narrative (linear, nonlinear). Beginning, middle, end etc

space – the type of location wherein the music video is in. This usually changes. It is common for music videos to incorporate shots from a different area in space and possibly time

theme – music videos run from a solid theme which normally affects the mood of the video.

linear – the progression of time that follows a strict beginning-middle-end structure. For example, if you have a linear music video, the music video will go beginning-middle-end

sequential – the progression of a story that follows a ‘one after the other’ event sequence

story – the lowdown of what the music video is about

plot – how the story is organised

music video plot

Song idea

How does this follow Todorov’s narrative structure?

Beginning Equilibrium

Disruption

• character throws rocks?

New equilibrium

Music video film settings

• town
• beach?

binary oppositions

• low contast setting vs colour

music video theme

• isolation (from society)

kernels & staellites

• kernels – important mv features
• satellites – minor mv features