A2 Media

1. Tame Impala - Let it happen
Narrative Music Video analysis
Although containing many aspects of a conceptual music video, Tame Impala’s Let It Happen
follows “a chain of events in a cause and effect relationship occurring in time” and hence according
to Bordwell and Thompson has a narrative. I believe that the video follows the plight man who
suffers from a heart attack while in an airport, the video quickly decaying into unease and
confusion as it shows his following hallucinations and confusion as he struggles with his reality.
Despite the airport staffs attempts to revive him his condition only appears to get worse until he
eventually allows himself to ‘let it happen’ and flies away ‘into the light’.
Interestingly the music video only has one main character. According to Vladimir Propp all types of
media contain 8 different character types and in this case I feel the protagonist of the narrative
acts mostly as the hero who initially tries to seek escape from the confusion that is occurring
around him (caused by the heart attack that he may or may not even be fully aware of). However
over the course of the video his mission changes as his perspective changes until he now seeks
peace and to be at rest. This change is demonstrated both through the facial expressions of the
actor (as he transitions from a state of pain and panic to a more tranquil mood highlighted by a
medium close up of his face as he falls through the sky) and a change from atmospheric low key
lighting with high contrast (creating a mood of anxiety) to high key warm lighting as he falls from
the sky. Through this change I think it could be suggested that the protagonist is his own
dispatcher, sending himself on his own mission of acceptance towards the end. The airport staff
also act as the helper to the protagonist and although unsuccessful attempt to provide the hero
with aid (through resuscitation).
This change in mood is also reflected by Tzvetan Todorov’s work which suggests that all narratives
start in a state of equilibrium, falling into a state of disruption which is eventually resolved to
create a new state of equilibrium. In this narrative the initial state of equilibrium is the protagonist
arriving at the airport, although the low key lighting and erratic acting already creates an
atmosphere of anxiety which foreshadows what is to come. The state of disruption occurs as the
protagonist suffers from the heart attack and continues throughout most of the video. This is
shown through the confused, scared and pained expressions of the protagonist and the large
number of strange, unpredictable and disturbing events that occur through the video (such as the
talking sandwich and a plane crash that none of the other passengers seem to notice). Finally after
the failed resuscitation the protagonist arrives at a new equilibrium, distinct and arguably
preferable to the one that he arrived from in the first place.
Although I don’t feel there are many binary opposites (an idea suggested by Claude Levie-Strauss)
present in this narrative (mostly due to the presence of only one distinct character) I feel the
reoccurring theme of peace and tranquillity contrasting with anxiety and fear is very prominent in
this video. Also similar to this is the contrast between reality (in which the protagonist is
unconscious and suffering from a heart attack) and delusion (in which the protagonist appears to
be conscious but suffering from completely unrealistic hallucinations). Roland Barthes also said
that narratives can be broken down into 5 codes to make more sense to the audience. Due to the
abstract nature of the video there is little referential code present in the video as it isn’t set in
reality and hence doesn’t entirely follow normal conventions however semantic code (particularly
in the form of the emotional expression of the protagonist) plays a large part in demonstrating the
mood and hence narrative of the story. This abstract nature also relies heavily on the enigma code
as most of the video can be considered a large puzzle to the audience as to what is truly occurring
to the protagonist in reality. Action code also plays a large role in the narrative as most of the
events occur through action as there is no dialogue. This is supported through symbolic code
where the use of colours and metaphors such as ‘going in to the light’ play an important role in
explaining the events of the narrative.
Music Video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFptt7Cargc