Narrative theory describes approaches to understanding narratives or storytelling. The main theorists discussed are Claude Levi-Strauss, Vladimir Propp, and Tzvetan Todorov. Levi-Strauss focused on binary opposites like day/night structuring texts. Propp identified 32 character categories in folk tales, like hero and villain. Todorov proposed 5 stages to writing a narrative: equilibrium, disruption, realization, attempt to repair, and restoration of equilibrium. The document discusses applying these theories to a music video by using opposites, including defined characters, and employing flashbacks with an unconventional ending.

1. Narrative Theory

2. What is Narrative?
Definition: ‘giving an account of any occurrence or storytelling’
The Main Narrative Theorists :
1) Claude Levi- Strauss and Binary Opposites:
This theory was first developed by a structuralistic philosopher named Claude Levi- Strauss. His interest is oppositions was
how he first noticed that oppositions tend to structure texts. For instance, night/day, good/bad, black/white.
2) Propp: A man named Vladimir Propp identified 32 basic categories for characters that he recognised to have cropped up in
most folk tales he studies including:
-Hero
-Villian
-False hero
3) Todorov: Tzvetan Todorov suggested the five conventional stages to writing a narrative:
-Equilbrium
-A disruption of this equilibruim by an event
-An realisiation of this disruption
-An attempt to repair the damage of this disruption
-A resortation of equilibrium

3. How this relates to my
Products
In my music video, when constructing the narrative I will think carefully about including
elements of Levi’s proposal of using binary opposites by having the video take place in
different times of the dat perhaps, day/night.
This could also be illustrated in the digipak design and magazine cover as I can use
different colours to represent opposites (coming together like what my track is about), by
using complementary opposite colours of the spectrum on the products to appeal to the
audience e.g. black/white
There will be definite characters in our music video, and as the lyrics suggest the female
artist will be the ‘victim’ ; ‘I can’t live without you’ , while the male featuring artist is the
‘superhero’;‘Let me be your superman’
Finally, while including elements of Todorov equilibrium theory, I will use flashbacks editing
in between the performance scenes to linearly tell a simply story of the two characters
meeting up with each other, without using match cuts to let this narrative be too
straightforward, coming across more like a film. I am also thinking to challenge and distort
this theory by ending at the beginning, by using the same shot reversed to show their was
no actual development in the relationship or resolution, contradicting the song which is
untypical of R&B music videos to end sad.