GM - Narrative theory in music vids

Narrative theories generally do appear in music videos. The narrative in music videos can be put into three main theories for analysis: Todorov (equilibrium, disequilibrium, new equilibrium), Propp (each character has a purpose - hero, sender, villain, reward etc), Strauss (the exploration of binary opposites).

An example of Todorov's theory in existing music video is in Hero by Enrique Iglesias.

Equilibrium - Enrique Iglesias and the girl (Jennifer Love Hewitt) are together and happy.

Dis-equilibrium - The car they are travelling in breaks down and they are attacked by a group of men.

New equilibrium - Enrique Iglesias dies however he knows that Jennifer Love Hewitt is safe away from the men.

A number of features within a music video help determine the theory. These include camera angles (close ups, low angles etc symbolise a hero as someone we look up to), mise-en-scene (rain for a sad scene).


Hero - Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Love Hewitt from TeamJayceeTy on Vimeo.