Narrative structures.

Narrative - telling a story through something.

The structure of a narrative:

 

We looked at Titanium as an example of a narrative which is connected to the song. We can see how the video uses fast forwards and backwards whenever the song slows down or speeds up, or whenever the beat drops something important happens.

Todorov 5 step narrative structure. 

Todorov looked at fairy tales for the search of narrative. The narrative is a number of actions in chronological order. There is a clear beginning and end.

1. The narrative starts with an equilibrium (a state of physical balance).
2. An action or character disrupts the equilibrium.
3. A quest or restore the equilibrium begins.
4. The narrative continues to a climax.
5. Resolution occurs and a new equilibrium is established.

Andrew Goodwin

States that the traditional structure of a narrative does not apply to pop music videos.

1. Pop videos are built around the song.
2. The pop video uses the singer as both narrator and a character.
3. The singer often looks into the camera to give us the feeling of being 101 with them.  

Pop videos rely on repetition. Often the video repeats images in the way the song repeats choruses or lines. Pop songs, and therefore videos, do have a form of closure and ending. The 3 minute single that a video is based on must end and this is often reflected in the structure of the music- it builds to a climax or to a constant repetition before fading away.

 Videos can be autonomous from  the music they spring from The visualization of a song may be beyond the original meaning. Sometimes the video provides a visual pleasure that encourages repeated viewing which therefore promotes the music. Videos may also promote other commodities such as films. Therefore it can be said that there are three types of relations between songs and videos: illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

1. Illustration: the video tells the story of the lyrics. Dance is also used to express the mood in the song.
2. Amplification: the images amplify the lyrics as a narrative may be used to convey a deeper meaning that would not be picked up from the lyrics alone. The artist/s may take fictional roles within the narrative.
3. Disjuncture: connection between the lyrics and video or where the video contradicts the lyric. 

 We looked at My chemical romance as an example of the 3 aspects. The lead singer is shown to play 3 scenes at the same time, the whole theme of the video is war and people dying so it automatically gets us involved and emotionally attached to the characters.