1. NARRATIVECASESTUDY:HOW ARE NARRATIVETECHNIQUESEMPLOYEDIN ‘YOUNG,DUMBAND
BROKE’BY KHALID.
‘Young,Dumb and Broke’ isa track releasedin2017 byKhalidfromthe album‘American Kid’.The
rack hit number22 on the charts at itspeakand remainedin the topcharts for9 consecutive weeks
followingitsreleaseandhe issoonto headline agiginLondon.Khalid,throughhismusicvideos,has
the tendencytoportray a narrative combinedwithartistshots.Thiscentraliseshimwithinthe
narrative makingitmore personal tohimself.Aswell asthis,the involvementcomplieswithone of
Goodwin’spointsthatrecordlabels(inthiscase RightHand) benefitfromshotsof the artist,utilising
thisand adaptingitto create a relatable narrative toaccompany the song.
The videoisshotin a school whichinstantlyengagesthe audience asitisa time that isexperienced
by mostpeople.Throughthis,the narrative becomesfarmore intimate withthe audience. The initial
ideagiventothe audience isthatKhalid’scharacteristhe voice of the studentbody,enforcedbythe
cuts to differentstudents,creatingasingle strandnarrative
withreplicatedbranches. Yetanenigmaispresentasthe
lyricssuggestthatmaybe Khalidisaddressingsomeone
followingshots of differentgirlswithreference to“loveto
give”. ComplyingagaintoGoodwin’stheoryof how the
videolinkstothe lyrics,butinthisvideo, done inan
enigmaticandhiddenway. Levi Straussidentifieshow music
videosshouldengage the audiencewith meaningandinterpretation –heavilyaddressedinthis
videoasthe narrative couldbe a collectiveaddressto“high schoolkids”or an indirectlove address
to a special subject.The videopresentsaparallel narrativethroughthis –in the aspectthat at the
verystart of the video,acinematicsequence wishesthe teensluckforthe future.Khalid’sfuture
couldbe addressedinthissongto impressagirl and
convince herthat there isnothingwrongwithbeing“young,
dumb and broke”to be successful.Regardingsuccessin
general,‘yearbook’shotsare editedintothe videotoadda
congratulatoryenigma,enforcingthe ideaof how Khalidis
exploringhisfuture andapplyingthattothe otherhigh
schoolerstodevelopamulti strandnarrative of whichthe
viewercanexplore forthemselvesandplace themselvesin
the ‘yearbook’alongside the otherstudents –againreinforcingLevi Strauss’analysationonhow
musicvideosshouldhide narrativesandmeaningstobe exploredbythe audience. Allthe shotsin
the videoof studentsare close upswiththe studentbeingcentralisedinthe composition which
depictstheirsignificance andcontrol intheirownlives,aswell ascreatingcharterwhoaren’t
strugglersorresignedfromsociety.Khalid,inthe video,isclearlythe mainnarrative of the story,yet
some aspectsof the videocanbe inferredthathe isn’tthe mainnarrative inthe whole of society.
The shot of him onthe football pitchconnotesvenerability
yethisdancingcouldsuggestthat he isoblivioustoitand
isn’tfearful of how unsecure he maybe.Yetthe highangle
camera shotinfersthathe is powerlessinthe sensethathe
isso vulnerable,conveyinganideaof oppressionand
weakness.However,itcouldactas an inspirationto
engagedaudiencesastheycouldsee thisasa message to
not be afraidif you aren’tsopopularor if you feel insecure
insociety/don’tknowyourplace.Furtheremphasisinghow anyone shouldbe happynomatterwhat
situationtheyare in. The moral of the videoseemstobe that friendsandhappinessare valuable in
2. life andthatdiversionfromthese keyaspectscancause failure.Inthisshot,Khalidandhisfriendare
shownholdingwatergunsina waythat looks‘posy’or
‘gang-like’,thisfullydeconstructsthe ideaof actual guns,or
evenweapons,tomake gangsseemcommonforgrandees.
The ideathat theyare waterpistolsagingconformsanidea
that happinessandjoyshouldbe harmlessandwithoutany
sense of danger.Aswell asthis,the shotfocusesonKhalid’s
experience withhisfriendsinwhichhe seemsnomoor
happythan he doesinshotswhere he isalone.Therefore,
reiteratingmypointonhowhappinessshouldbe everywhere nomatterwhatsituationyouare in.
A similarnarrative isconveyedinFosterthe People’s‘Pumped up Kicks’ where amix of band and
narrative shotsidentifiesthe bandasmore than justa band, andmore like brothersorbestfriends
whotheydo everythingwith.The narrative shots containsome home footage andrecordingssolely
for the musicvideo togenerate thisidea,the ideabeingthathappinesssproutsfromhavingpeople
there foryou all the way,and that successisn’tjustbased
on talentorthe titlesgiventoyoubyschool ‘yearbooks’,as
itsmore basedonwhoyou are andyour individualityaway
fromhegemonicstructures. Thisshotalone conveysanidea
that the band membersmaybe dark/unhappyattimesyet
the composure of the shot,withthe sun inthe background
couldconnote that happinessandlightisalwaysthere
whenyouneedit.
To conclude,the musicvideo‘Young dumb and Broke’ byKhalidpresentsacomplex narrative
structure to the audience withauniversal ideaof hope andsupport.Withemphasisonhow the
audience,mainlythose whoare more of a consumer,can learnthathappiness isa virtue and
importantto enjoymentinlife,nomatterhow smart,wealthyorage youare.I can use aspectsof
thisinmy musicvideointhe sense thatnarrative can be constructedto benefitthe audience,and
benefitawideraudience. Althoughappealingwoalarge audience intentionallycanbe hard as
societypreference issogreatlydiversenow,the producersof thisvideomanage toaccomplishitas
they includedthe actorwhoplays‘Kel’ inthe hit90’s show ‘keenan and kel’ whichin itself will
appeal tothe slightlyolderaudience whousedtowatchthe show. Usingnot onlynarrative
structuresbutalso editingandcameraworktodepictthe charactersin waysthat allow the videoto
conformto Levi Strauss’theoryof inference.
