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

Within the Narrative theory, there are many theorists we can apply. An example is Todorov’s Tripartite which explores how all narratives should follow a structure of beginning equilibrium, disruption and ends with a new equilibrium. Another narrative theorist that can be explored is Levi-Strauss and his theory of binary opposites and Vladamir Propp, with his theory of media have 7 different character types, the hero, helper, princess, victim, dispatcher, father and false hero.

Each of the CSPs (both “Letter to the Free” and “Ghost Town” clearly follow Todorov’s Triparite Narrative Theory, and therefore have a clear beginning equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium. For example, this is shown in Ghost Town with the opening being the initial equilibrium of driving through the streets of the East End of London, showing how London has become a “ghost town”. The disruption is when the car that is being driven swerves out of control, which could be a message how the unemployment rates in the UK were rising upwards out of control and thus emphasising how the whole economy of the UK was out of control. However, the new equilibrium is found and that is when the band return to the car and are seen at the end skimming rocks on a beach, which could be a symbol of things returning back to normal, since previously the car was out of control, whereas now everything has been returned to normal.

Similarly, “Letter to the Free” also follows a tripartite narrative theory. The music video begins with a shot of the setting and then the focus on the black box, which could be interpreted as an infinite symbol of black lives and a constant reminder of the symbol behind the message that “black lives matter”. The disruption can be determined by Common being seen in a prison, playing music, demanding form “freedom”. It can be argued that the disruption of this music video can be the imprisonment of black lives. This also applies Levi-Stauss’ theory of binary oppositions because Common is singing about freedom, however in the music video, he appears to have no freedom because he is trapped in a prison. Finally, the new equilibrium of the music video is the empty shots of the prison and a zooming out close-up of a house, possibly Common’s house, with the outdoor shot symbolising freedom and the freedom he has finally got. Once again, the black box appears to once again remind us of the message of the song that black lives are infinite and are equal to any other skin colour.

Overall, it is very useful for music videos to follow Todorov’s tripartite narrative theory. Not only does following a narrative theory make the music video and context of the song more easier to follow, applying a narrative theory also means that you are able to capture perceptions and messages which can’t be expressed by people personally. For example, Ghost Town is talking about the economic crisis of London during the 80s, however, without the narrative theory of the music video, people could misinterpret the song and see Ghost Town as a place where nobody lives, which is the complete opposite (linking to Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary opposites) since people were living in London, it wasn’t a ghost town with no people, it was a ghost town because everyone was in their homes and not going out to work. Finally, narrative is important due to the old saying of “pictures paint a thousand words”. It can be very hard to convey a message by speaking it, however, using a music video can be a visual way to help convey a message, which is why applying narrative to music videos is an important thing to do

Using Todorov’s narrative structure, each music video can be divided and summarised into three parts:

Beginning equilibrium: everything is fine, life is ‘normal’

Disruption: bad thing happens that causes the plot to change. Hero goes on a quest to balance the equilibrium again

New equilibrium: world goes back to ‘normal’, although with some major changes.

Young Rising Sons – High

Beginning equilibrium: there are shots of happy scenes with the main character’s friends for the first 4 seconds before introducing the main disruption

Disruption: 4 seconds in, a man (the main character) is shown drinking alcohol from the bottle for a long while. The scene changes intermittently but at 10 seconds he looks upset and sings “in my heart is an emptiness”. These scenes where the main character is illuminated by red lighting are sandwiched inbetween shots with the main character having fu with friends, wearing sunglasses

New equilibrium: When the chorus says “if this is low i’m looking for high”, suddenly the main character in the red shots starts to smile and jump around. AT the end of the music video, he seems to be happier

Fickle friends – Say No More

Beginning equilibrium: the band is at gatwick airport. they are in the queue to drop off their luggage.

Disruption: the band boards a plane. This counts as a disruption as it causes the ‘plot’ to shift

New equilibrium the band leaves the plane and arrive in new york. Shots are shown of them having fun in their adventure

Goodbye, Goodbye – Tegan and Sara

The music video for this song doesn’t really follow a narrative structure due to the narrative progression being almost the same the whole way through

I like the homemade feel of this video and the minimalism used of something so simple as her skating being the video but fits well with the song to tell the audience what the songs about.

I like the filter used for the video and light colour palette and home feel the video has almost VHS vibes

(Here’s the link to take you to the video on youtube because the blog sometimes says the videos unavailable for some reason)  ↓ 

• https://youtu.be/wI8fL77-0e0?t=7

The peach pit video has the perfect idea for representing headphones for the company, and gave me the idea to do a spin on the initial idea I had for the video, by changing the tone, to show the bits of lockdown that arn’t so bad. I think by doing this, it will make it stand out more to other students work. This means I’m going to need to find a more upbeat un-copyrighted sound track. I think going forward I could ask my friends to participate by filming themselves little vlogs or them doing activities that keep them happy in lockdown, whilst also show casing the headphones in snips of the video.

The peach pit video gave me the idea to give the music video more of a homemade feel, by not giving it a serious tone but more fun and goofy look to the video I can link it to a previous CSP’s like the maybelline “BOSS advert”. It shows that videos that are slightly more goofy, and fun can be more memorable and therefor can help sell the headphones better.

showing a music video of isolation in a pandemic with the main points showing not people being defeated and anxious at this time but how there stay remarkably strong and pulling together and even helping one another get through this. so showing how we are all doing the best that we can in a time where, the best thing they can do is stay at home is different, and I think its a positive, and good approach to show how the youth are coping at this time.

I can make the main idea for the video being. Yes, we are in isolation and, yes we can’t meet as easily as we used to. But we can still be connected and show the brighter sides from all of this. So our whole isolation situation won’t be only seen in a negative light, but how our youth used the internet and other activities to stay sane and make the most out of quarantine. By showing the positive points and showing that people adapted and are trying their best in this situation the video can be more relatable to the viewers. And also by showing people taking a breather from this chaotic time with little things that help them and keep them happy in my music video it can give a sense of calm and make people smile. maybe the message I can convey and highlight are how amazing teens and younger people are doing and coping with this pandemic.

Also by making a video with a more home made feel, it can make filming and editing a lot easier because me and my friends won’t need to stage so much of the shots or need amazing lighting or great acting skills. it gives me the ability to be more creative and have more fun with the video by taking this approach .

Pastiche = The imitation of a particular style often in relation to artistic works. This relates to my creative production as I am using various existing music videos as inspiration and as style models for my own creative works.

Bricolage = The construction of something from a vast variety of things readily available, in relation to art or Literature. This relates to my creative production as I intend to take shots at lots of different locations that are easily assessable and readily available.

Intertextuality  = The relationship between two or more literary texts and how meaning are shaped in one text by another text.

Implosion = When an organisation, system or institute fails and collapses.

Cultural Appropriation = the adoption of an element of a particular culture into another by members of that culture.

The video is mostly shot in a dark street and often cuts to a shot of him alone in a club. This video really reflects isolation as joji is walking alone through a dark street at night and is alone at a club emphasising isolation or that he is different.

The beginning of this video the camera closes into the singer and shows the audience he is in a dark place and trapped in a tight box. with nowhere to move most of the video is shot within this box which shows he is alone and no one is there to help him.

This video is shot in bright day within a massive area however in the video it begins with just post malone and his car as if he is reflecting. The scenery in the back round really emphasises isolation as within all this land all their is that is their is post malone and his car.

Just like post malone khalid uses the same method within his video to emphasise isolation.