1. Analysing Narrative in Music Videos How could you use these theoretical terms/
concepts to analyse the narrative of your music
Terms for describing Narrative video?
Narrative/ story/ plot
Syntax of the plot Like the road along which she cycles, the repeated questioning of the lyrics, and the endless
Protagonist empty echoing sighs of the vocals, the Bat For Lashes’ What’s a Girl to Do? video uses a
Antagonist narrative structure that is relentlessly linear to illustrate the tone of desperation, isolation
and personal anguish. The narrative of the video exists in a timeless and placeless space,
Climax/ crescendo devoid of anchorage to reality, and in this dream-like journey the video rejects narrative
expectations such as equilibrium-disequilibrium-new equilibrium, emphasising instead a
sense of purposelessness and disassociated, introspective emptiness.
Equilibrium – Disequilibrium – New Equilibrium
Enigma Code – Drives narrative by an unanswered question
Proairetic/ Action code – Drives narrative through anticipation of an action’s resolution
Linear
Non-linear
Circular Coldplay’s The Scientist utilises a reversed narrative
Parallel narrative structure, playing events in reverse, and the video uses
Convergent narrative this unusually narrative structure to create an enigma
Interweaving narrative which the audience are keen to see answered.
Impressionist narrative
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Time and narrative
The video ‘No Surprises’ by Radiohead utilises imagery of technology and
• flashbacks/ flashforwards contemporary life in order to create a sense of disconnection and alienation.
• real time The glittering, flickering lights near the start of the video look like stars,
• reversal evoking a sense of magic and wonder. However, this quickly turns to a much
• dream sequences more bleak and empty image of cold strip-lights which is emphasised by the
blues and the desaturated flesh-tones. The ‘drowning’ of the protagonist, as
• repetition well as the bloated face that is created by the refraction of light against the
• different characters' POV water, creates a sense of dehumanisation, and this is emphasised further by
• ellipsis the idea of the protagonist as trapped by (and finally escaping from) the
• pre-figuring of events that have not yet taken place water and the glass tank. In this way the video seems to be a metaphorical
exploration of ideas of 21st Century alienation and pre-Millenial tension.

2. The video for ‘Virtual Insanity’ by Jamiroquai utilises a loose narrative structure that draws out
the tensions and darkness of the song. The dancing protagonist (the singer Jamiroquai) is shown
trapped within a padded cell, dancing and performing in an elaborate and visually flamboyant
manner during each verse, whilst the movement to the choruses are each accompanied by
cutaways (to which the camera eerily tilts, rather than cutting) of cockroaches, ravens/ crows
and, towards the very end, a puddle of blood emanating from the position of the camera/
viewer. These cutaways increase in intensity and metaphorical darkness, building on the song’s Marilyn Manson’s vide Tainted Love (released as a single
refusal to give way to another chorus and instead using bridges and middle-eighths. This creates from Not Another Teen Movie) begins with a familiar scene
a narrative structure whereby the video becomes more intense and more symbolic of a fragile of an all-American teen party, complete with cheerleaders
mental state, thus reflecting the title of the song. The video rejects entirely any sense of a final and jocks. This initial equilibrium is immediately disrupted
‘new equilibrium’; instead it slides into an increasingly dark and dangerous state. by the visually-contrasting ‘goths’ who the antagonist
Manson leads into the teen party. This disequilibrium
continues throughout the video, being emphasised as the
party slips into greater ‘debauchery’ with the onset of each
chorus, until towards the end most characters have moved to
REM’s video for ‘Losing My Religion’ uses multiple narrative strands ‘the dark side’ and a new equilibrium is established: that of
that interweave and share thematic values to create a final climax. the dominance of goth imagery. Towards the end of the
video, Manson is no longer outsider, is instead king, and in
this way the video utilises the narrative structure to establish
a sense of the outsiders becoming dominant. The appeal to
The video for ‘Two Weeks’ by Grizzly Bear utilises an impressionistic the audience is clear: …
narrative of disconnected images to create an abstract film that illustrates
and amplifies some of the lyrics, ideas and emotions from the song. These
images, however, are framed within two connected images at the very start
and end, where a metal bar/ pole is shown snapping. The enigma caused
here (What is the pole? Why is it snapping? What are the symbols on the
pole?) are answered at the very end of the video
Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’ video, directed by Anton Corbijn, utilises abstract and
non-literal narratives which are different for each verse and are disconnected from one
another in order to create a sense of disconnection and moral emptiness. The iconography
of crucifixions, black and white, hospitals and good/ evil evokes a sense of morality and
also of death. With Kurt Cobain performing mani(a)cally in the foreground and the
blurred images of the rest of the band in the background, the directors also creates
metaphors for isolation and alienation.