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OUR NARRATIVETHEORY

L INK IN PARK - PAPERCUT

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

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Closed Structure:Definite ending – clear conclusion for the audience

Our music video has a closed narrative structure. The ending of the video is obvious as the protagonist of

the video is no longer in it. The ending shows Shaun’s darkness finally over coming him and he is no longer

innocent or existent. This doctor has driven him to the brink of madness which has lead to something

tragic, which is ironic as doctors are supposed to help you. The audience is left realizing that Shaun’s

character is gone as at the end no longer see him and we see Adam walking away from the grave.

Our music video has a linear structure. This means it has a beginning, middle and end. The beginning of

the music video being when the guy wakes up and see’s the doctor, the middle being the part walking

down the street and the bridge scene, and the ending being the graveyard sequence.

Single strand Single strand = one narrative thread

Our music video has one narrative thread running through it. The video shows a guy waking up in the

morning and seeing a doctor in his house. He decides to leave his house, where he is still being followed

by the doctor and ends up underneath a bridge where the doctor is waiting for him. The doctor hands

him a lollipop which the guy takes but then stands on which angers the doctor causing him to continue

following him to a grave yard. In the grave yard we see the doctor and the guy enter but only one ends

up leaving (the doctor)

Linear structure:

ANDREW GOODWIN

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Andrew Goodwin believes that narratives consist of three forms;

illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

Illustration – this is where what the audience sees on screen match the lyrics and what the song is about.

Amplification – this is where what the audience sees on screen has some relevance to the lyrics and the meaning of the song, however

puts a more surreal and imaginative twist onto it.

Disjuncture – this is where what the audience sees on screen has no obvious link to the lyrics or what the song is about and has a more

abstract take on it.

Our music video is an amplification video. The video has ideas of

paranoia which is what the song is about but doesn’t show it in an

obvious way and takes a slightly more surreal approach to it through

costume and mise en scene.

BARTHES

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Barthes believes that the audience is made to interpret the series of codes within the

narrative of a music video. He believed there were 4 main codes;

Action, Enigma, Symbolic and Cultural.

Action Code – this is where the can see a straight forward narrative and don’t need to look into any deeper.

Enigma Code - this is where the narrative has some sort of hidden meaning behind it and the audience are made to ask questions about what is happening.

Symbolic Code - this is where the audience can interoperate what the narrative is about through symbolize used in the music video.

Cultural Code – this is where the narrative shows culture awareness.

The code used in our music video is the symbolic code. Through the music video the symbolism of darkness and paranoia is reflected through the mise

en scene (the dark lighting), editing (fast cuts) and performance (being

followed and the movements of the morph suit guy)

TODOROV

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Todorov believes that narratives start off as everyday life to set the scene

(Equilibrium), which then moves on into something which changes this situation

(Disruption), which then leads into a climax that see’s someone trying to solve

the problem (Conflict) which then leads to the problem being sorted

(Resolution) and creating a new everyday life that will never be the same (New

Equilibrium).

Our music video starts off with a guy waking up and living life normally by going

downstairs and watching TV (Equilibrium). He then constantly see’s this doctor

in his house (Disruption) and leaves the house to go for a walk and clear his

mind (Conflict). By the end of the video he no longer exists as the darkness

has taken over him.

As you can see, our music video skips the Resolution and New Equilibrium, as

the problem is never sorted and the protagonist ends up being overcome with

darkness.

LEVI-STRAUSS

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Levi-Strauss believed that music video narratives contained conflict through binary

opposition. Our music video contains the following binary opposites that are circled

out of the many possible types of opposition that can be found in a music video:

Love – Hate Black – White Man – Nature

Light – Darkness Peace – War Protagonist –Antagonist

Movement – Stillness Civilized – Savage Young – Old

Control – Panic Strong – Weak Man – Woman

Wealth – Poverty Mankind – Aliens Humans – Technology

Ignorance - Wisdom