1) The document discusses the author's A2 media studies coursework which was a music video they created for the song "Hey There Delilah" by The Plain White T's. 2) The music video uses both linear and interweaving narrative structures to tell the story of a heartbroken male artist recording his latest single in the studio while also showing flashbacks to his inspirations and experiences for the song. 3) The author analyzes how they used techniques like camerawork, editing, sound, and mise-en-scene to represent the narrative and emotions of the protagonist and relate to the target audience according to various narrative theories.

1. NARRATIVE ESSAY
I am going to discuss theories of narrative in relation to my A2 media studies coursework
which was a music video for The Plain White T’s alternative rock song“Hey There Delilah”.
The target audience for my music video was males (60%) and females (40%) between the
ages of 18 to 25. The music video I have created conforms to the narrative style of
interweaving and linear in which I represented the male artist to be heartbroken recording his
latest single in the studio (linear). This is along with interweaving with flashbacks to his
inspirations and experiences for the song lyrics he has written. I will highlight how I used
camera, editing, sound and mise en scene to create meaning within narrative of my chosen
song. Tim O’Sullivan stated that music videos narratives it should offer a way of telling a
story which could even be relatable to our personal lives which arguably is successful within
my video.
The music video I have created mostly conforms to the idea of Edward Brannigan who
defined narrative as “a way of organising spatial and temporal data in to a chain of cause and
effect with a beginning, middle and end that embodies a judgement about the nature of
events”. This is due to the performance sequence in my music video being linear; acquiring
all these necessary factors to create a beginning, middle and end. My music video follows
Brannigan’s quote as the narrative is based on cause and effect of the male artist’s lover
leaving him. Furthermore Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of equilibrium, disequilibrium, new
equilibrium has also been highlighted when observing the narrative structure as a whole
having the artists become more excepting of the situation and change in circumstances.
When considering the narrative I developed I felt it was particularly fascinating and supported
Tzvetan Todorov theory of equilibrium, disequilibrium, new equilibrium in relation to the
artist’s mental state about his romantic situation. This is due to the start of the song
commencing with the artist’s facial expressions and emotions of melancholy through the
extreme close up shots of his eyes and sad smile. This enhances his loss that is clearly shown
during my music video with the black and white editing throughout the performance. The
black and white edit has a low, soft contrast to give the video a mellow, drained effect
emphasising the emotions of the artist. Furthermore, the lighting used was spot lights placed
behind the artist enhancing his facial feature to focus that the lyrics are based on his personal
life. The ‘black and white’ effect on the video not only contrasting the dream like state with
vivid colours but to illuminate that within the narrative his feelings are clear and honest
almost ‘black and white’ to audiences. Hence allowing the audience to be able to personally
relate to the narrative; due to the majority of people going through ‘heart break’ or separation
from an individual they love. This is due to the narrative being about a male who has
separated from the one he loves, writing a song about their past and future; having flashbacks
about his fond memories.
Tim O’Sullivan relates to my music video due to suggesting “media text offers a way of
telling stories about ourselves” relating to my main character within the video and the relation
to the target audience. The male protagonist is expressing his emotions which arguably
numerous people have also felt during a period of their lives this presented in the diegetic
sound “tonight you look so pretty, yes you do”. Furthermore when I considered the female
character within the video and her choice of clothing I styled her in indie style clothing as
well as use a light edit with vivid colours. This also relates to Tim O’Sulliva n’s quote due to
the female audiences being able to relate to the female’s situation, being able to understand
that she is so special to someone. The vivid colours I used conveys a clear contrast between
the reality and flashbacks, keeping the audience interested with the quick cuts to show how
clear they are for the artist. Moreover, the audience being able to relate due to the clothing
being simplistic and accessible that the audience would typically wear. This fitting with the
genre also due to alternative rock being known for not follow latest styles.

2. Overall I believe that in my A2 media studies coursework I generated a music video that is
polysomic, which could be decoded as a male defying his stereotype and showing his strong
emotions to a female he loves. Hence, counteracting the stereotype of males to be emotionless
and seen as only the protector but encouraging males to do the same and not worry about
social attitudes. When considering the mise en scene of the video the various busy locations
suggests the amount of memories the artist has as well as being typical ‘date’ locations for
couples such as aquariums and walks in woods.