Our music video for Linkin Park's "Papercut" has a closed narrative structure with a definite ending where the protagonist is overcome by darkness. It has a linear structure with a beginning, middle, and end. The video also has a single narrative thread following a man who is paranoid and followed by a doctor. Through symbolic elements like dark lighting and fast cuts, the video amplifies the song's themes of paranoia in a surreal way. Binary oppositions like light vs darkness are used to create narrative conflict.

1. OUR NARRATIVE
THEORY
LINKIN PARK - PAPERCUT
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2. NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
Closed Structure:
Definite ending – clear conclusion for the audience
Our music video has a closed narrative structure. The ending of the video is obvious as the protagonist of
the video is no longer in it. The ending shows Shaun’s darkness finally over coming him and he is no longer
innocent or existent. This doctor has driven him to the brink of madness which has lead to something
tragic, which is ironic as doctors are supposed to help you. The audience is left realizing that Shaun’s
character is gone as at the end no longer see him and we see Adam walking away from the grave.
Linear structure:
Our music video has a linear structure. This means it has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning of
the music video being when the guy wakes up and see’s the doctor, the middle being the part walking
down the street and the bridge scene, and the ending being the graveyard sequence.
Single strand
Single strand = one narrative thread
Our music video has one narrative thread running through it. The video shows a guy waking up in the
morning and seeing a doctor in his house. He decides to leave his house, where he is still being followed
by the doctor and ends up underneath a bridge where the doctor is waiting for him. The doctor hands
him a lollipop which the guy takes but then stands on which angers the doctor causing him to continue
following him to a grave yard. In the grave yard we see the doctor and the guy enter but only one ends
up leaving (the doctor) 2

3. CRAIG DAVIS
Craig Davis believes that narratives consist of three forms; illustration,
amplification and disjuncture.
Illustration – this is where what the audience sees on screen match the
lyrics and what the song is about.
Amplification – this is where what the audience sees on screen has
some relevance to the lyrics and the meaning of the song, however
puts a more surreal and imaginative twist onto it.
Disjuncture – this is where what the audience sees on screen has no
obvious link to the lyrics or what the song is about and has a more
abstract take on it.
Our music video is an amplification video. The video has ideas of
paranoia which is what the song is about but doesn’t show it in an
obvious way and takes a slightly more surreal approach to it through
costume and mise en scene.
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4. BARTHES
Barthes believes that the audience is made to interpret the series of codes within the
narrative of a music video. He believed there were 4 main codes; Action, Enigma,
Symbolic and Cultural.
Action Code – this is where the can see a straight forward narrative and don’t need to look
into any deeper.
Enigma Code - this is where the narrative has some sort of hidden meaning behind it and the
audience are made to ask questions about what is happening.
Symbolic Code - this is where the audience can interoperate what the narrative is about
through symbolize used in the music video.
Cultural Code – this is where the narrative shows culture awareness.
The code used in our music video is the symbolic code. Through the music
video the symbolism of darkness and paranoia is reflected through the mise
en scene (the dark lighting), editing (fast cuts) and performance (being
followed and the movements of the morph suit guy)
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5. TODOROV
Todorov believes that narratives start off as everyday life to set the scene
(Equilibrium), which then moves on into something which changes this situation
(Disruption), which then leads into a climax that see’s someone trying to solve
the problem (Conflict) which then leads to the problem being sorted
(Resolution) and creating a new everyday life that will never be the same (New
Equilibrium).
Our music video starts off with a guy waking up and living life normally by going
downstairs and watching TV (Equilibrium). He then constantly see’s this doctor
in his house (Disruption) and leaves the house to go for a walk and clear his
mind (Conflict). By the end of the video he no longer exists as the darkness
has taken over him.
As you can see, our music video skips the Resolution and New Equilibrium, as
the problem is never sorted and the protagonist ends up being overcome with
darkness.
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6. LEVI-STRAUSS
Levi-Strauss believed that music video narratives contained conflict through binary
opposition. Our music video contains the following binary opposites that are circled
out of the many possible types of opposition that can be found in a music video:
Love – Hate Black – White Man – Nature
Light – Darkness Peace – War Protagonist –Antagonist
Movement – Stillness Civilized – Savage Young – Old
Control – Panic Strong – Weak Man – Woman
Wealth – Poverty Mankind – Aliens Humans – Technology
Ignorance - Wisdom
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