This document discusses different approaches to narrative in pop music videos. It notes that pop videos are built around songs, which do not usually have traditional narrative structures. The singer acts as both narrator and character, often looking at the camera to involve the viewer. Pop videos also rely on repetition of images and familiarity through radio play and television airing. Finally, pop videos reflect the structure of the songs they are based on, usually building to a climax and ending to mirror the 3 minute format of a single.

1. Petya

2. • Goodwin, unlike Todorov, believes that the traditional
narrative analyses can’t be applied to pop videos. This
isn’t because pop videos are trying to be avant-garde, but
it’s rather because the way they approach narrative is
from a different view than the way novels and films do.

3. • 1) Pop videos are built around songs, and songs don’t
usually pose traditional narrative structures
• 2) The pop video uses the singer both as a narrator
and as a character
• 3) The singer often looks directly at the camera. This
extension of performance, often referred to as ‘breaking
the 4th wall’, is used to involve the viewer at home with
the performance.
An example of ‘breaking the 4th
wall’ in the music video Bat For
Lashes - "What's A Girl To Do?"

4. • Pop videos rely on repetition. Often the video repeats
images the same way the song repeats its choruses or
lines. Also, the use of intertextuality, created from one
song making reference to another media text (e.g. a song
repeating the rhythms of another song) helps us recognise
the genre and have certain expectation. Lastly, the song
will be played on the radio, the video will be played on TV
and there could be an advertising film or TV tie-in, making
the son very familiar through repetition.
• Pop songs, and therefore their videos, 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.

5. • Pop songs, and therefore their
videos, 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.
• For example, in the music
video of The Streets - Fit But
You Know It, firstly we see a
man walking on the street and
going in ‘Fotoswift’.
• During the music video, we see
images like this as they illustrate
exactly what the lyrics of the song
are.
• By the end, we go back to the man
walking on the street, which
creates the repetition as this is
also how the song started.

7. • This is where the video tells
the story of the lyric. Dance
is often used to express the
feelings/moods in the song.
• This occurs when the videos
introduce new meanings that
do not contradict with the lyric
but add layers of meaning.
• This is where there is
little/no connection
between the lyric and
video or where the video
contradicts the lyric.
• Example: Madonna
– Papa don’t
preach
• Lyrics during the
image: ‘Cause I
was always your
little girl
Example: Amy Winehouse – back to black
The artist uses
the image of a
funeral to
describe the end
of a relationship
and how she
feels.
Example: Michael
Jackson – Man in the
mirror
The song is about self-
realisation but the
video is full of radical
world events.