This document provides templates and guidelines for analyzing music videos, including: 1) Sections for documenting basic video information, the star/artist's projected image, how the record company markets the artist, and recurring themes. 2) Guidance on analyzing the target audience, relationship between lyrics and visuals, and intertextual references. 3) Notes on evaluating elements like editing, special effects, and transitions. It also includes descriptions of common narrative structures like Freytag's pyramid to help outline plot points.

1. Video Analysis Template
Name
Class
Date
G324 Pre-production – Video Analysis
Video Information
URL of Video
Artist / Band
Title of song
Genre
• Is the video primarily narrative, performance, concept or a combination?
• Give a brief plot outline and explain the narrative structure of the video – (see notes)
• Give a brief account of the production context – (3rd album/ image change/ etc)
• Give a brief description of the technologies used in making this video.
Star/ Artist
1. What image of the star/band is being projected by this video? Using film language,
explain this projected image. Is the image, youthful? Rebellious? Feminist? Sexually
magnetic / explicit etc? Anti authoritarian? Aggressive? Disregarding social values?
Conspicuously consuming drugs, etc? Success against the odds? Creative?
Conventional? Etc…Using Film Language, describe the most important elements of
the video for the narrative and explain your reasoning.
2. How is the Record company trying to “sell” this artist/band?
3. How does this relate to previous videos? Change of image, direction etc?
4. Are there recurring motifs or themes emerging within this video / over a series of
videos?

2. 5. Explain how people ‘represented / stereotyped’ in this video and the possible effects
on the audience
Audience/s
6. Give a brief explanation of the ‘target audience/s’ for this video and (using film
language) explain why this ‘target audience’ would find the video appealing / identify
with characters.
7. Explain how the target audience is meant to feel viewing this video and justify your
reasons
Lyrics/music
1. What is the relationship between the Lyrics and the visuals? In which ways are the
lyrics portrayed, amplified or even contradicted?
2. Do the lyrics have positive or negative connotations? Colloquial language?
3. Does the artist sing with an accent?
Intertexuality
1. Does the video reference other videos? Icons? Other stars? TV? Film? What effect/s
are the producers/artist/ trying to project?
Editing
2. Is the editing rhythm appropriate?
3. Is there an obvious use of CGI/special effects/ etc?
4. Does the video use unusual transitions?
Video Stills
(Take some screen-grabs of the significant elements of this video and explain why you think
they are important for your planning.)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Notes on Basic Narrative structure
(based on Wikipedia material)
1. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis

3. Although he never used the terms himself, the triad thesis, antithesis, synthesis is often used to describe the
thought of German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel.
The triad is usually described in the following way:
• The thesis is an intellectual proposition.
• The antithesis is simply the negation of the thesis, a reaction to the proposition.
• The synthesis solves the conflict between the thesis and antithesis by reconciling their common truths,
and forming a new proposition.
2. Freytag’s Pyramid of Narrative Structure
Freytag's pyramid
Plot is often designed with a narrative structure, storyline or story arc, that includes exposition, conflict, rising
action and climax, followed by a falling action and resolution.
[edit] Exposition
Main article: Exposition (literary technique)
Exposition is the beginning of the plot concerned with introducing characters and setting. These elements may
be largely presented at the beginning of the story, or may occur as a sort of incidental description throughout.
Exposition may be handled in a variety of ways—perhaps a character or a set of characters explain the
elements of the plot through dialogue or thought, media such as newspaper clippings, and diaries. In the case of
film, an analogous usage of television, discovered video tape, or documentary may be used.
[edit] Rising Action
Main article: Conflict (narrative)
Rising Action is the central part of a story during which various problems arise, leading up to the climax.
Conflict is the "problem" in a story which triggers the action. There are five basic types of conflict: Person vs.
Person: One character in a story has a problem with one or more of the other characters; Person vs. Society: A
character has a conflict or problem with society; Person vs. Himself or Herself: A character struggles inside
and has trouble deciding what to do; Person vs. Nature: A character has a problem with some element of
nature, (e.g., a snowstorm, an avalanche, the bitter cold); Person vs. Fate: A character has to battle what seems
to be an uncontrollable problem.

4. [edit] Climax
Main article: Climax (narrative)
The climax is the high point of the story, where a culmination of events create the peak of the conflict. The
climax usually features the most conflict and struggle, and usually reveals any secrets or missing points in the
story. Alternatively, an anti-climax may occur, in which an expectedly difficult event is revealed to be incredibly
easy or of paltry importance. Critics may also label the falling action as an anti-climax, or anti-climactic. The
climax isn't always the most important scene in a story. In many stories, it is the last sentence, with no
successive falling action or resolution.
[edit] Falling action
Main article: Falling action
The falling action is the part of a story following the climax. This part of the story shows the result of the
climax, and its effects on the characters, setting, and proceeding events. Critics may label a story with falling
action as the anti-climax or anti-climactic if they feel that the falling action takes away from the power of the
climax.
[edit] Resolution
Main article: Dénouement
Etymologically, the French word dénouement is derived from the Old French word denoer, "to untie", and from
nodus, Latin for "knot". In fiction, a dénouement consists of a series of events that follow the climax, and thus
serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense
of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Simply put, dénouement is the unraveling or
untying of the complexities of a plot. Be aware that not all stories have a resolution.
[edit] Plot devices
Main article: Plot device
A plot device is a literary technique used by authors to forward the plot of a story.
[edit] Plot outlines
A plot outline is a prose telling of a story to be turned into a screenplay. Sometimes called a one page (one page
synopsis, about 1 - 3 pages). It is generally longer and more detailed than a standard synopsis (1 - 2
paragraphs), but shorter and less detailed than a treatment or a step outline. There are different ways to do
these outlines and they vary in length.
In comics, an outline, often pluralized as outlines, refers to a stage in the development where the story has been
broken down very loosely in a style similar to storyboarding in film development.
The pencils will be very loose (i.e., the sketch rough), the main aim being to lay out the flow of panels across a
page, ensure the story successfully builds suspense and to work out points of view, camera angles and character
positions within panels. This can also be referred to as a plot outline or a layout.