Narrative in Music Promos

Narrative in music promos

Todorov came up with the narrative theory that a typical music video would tend to follow.

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of equilibrium
3. Recognition
4. An attempt to repair the damage
5. New equilibrium

Synaethesia

“ A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of sound produces the visualisation of a colour”

In songs narrative is rarely complete and therefore often fragmentary. Fragmentary narratives may help the audience want to watch more to figure out what’s happening.

Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin came up with the theory of there being three different types of narrative that are seen in music videos, Illustration, Amplification and Disjuncture. Here I will go into more detail on which one is, showing examples from Artists  music videos.

Illustration:

The promo illustrates what the song is about, doing what the lyrics are saying being very literate in each clip. For this example I have used the music video for Vance Joy's song "Riptide". This music video has a lot of examples for the illustration theory that is used in every clip. In this particular scene the lyrics say 'and they come unstuck' as this is being sang two ice lollies are being pulled apart or 'unstuck'. This is a perfect example of the Illustration theory with the clip being so literate like the whole music video. The illustration technique works well and allows the viewers to understand the lyrics and relate more to them than just random clips.  This results in viewers feeling more connected to the song and artist and so more views and re-watches.

Amplification:

Amplification is where one concept from the lyrics has been developed into the music video. A Key word or idea from the lyrics develops into the concept of the promo.For this example I have used Coldplay's song 'The scientist'. Throughout the music video we see Chris Martin walking in reverse, this has clearly been done to go with verses like 'oh lets go back to the start', oh take me back to the start'. Amplification is good to highlight certain parts of a songs lyric; to amplify its meaning and bring a deeper aspect to the song. This may result in people re watching the video to understand it in more detail.

Disjuncture:

Disjuncture means the promo bears no resemblance to the lyric or its meaning; abstract; often seen as unconventional/ arty videos. Creates a new range of meanings for the song. For this example I have used Foster The People's song 'Call it what you want'. This music video uses weird and completely random clips that have nothing to do with the lyrics of the song. Disjuncture is great for creating an interesting video which catches the audiences eyes and makes them want to watch again. However using this technique can have a negative effect, making all the attention go to the music video instead of the song.