narrative

Bordwell and Thomspon 

•Bordwell and Thompson (1997) offer two distinctions between story and plot which relate to the diegetic world of the narrative that the audience are positioned to accept and that which the audience actually see. They based this on Russian film theory:

• Fabula (story) is all the events in the narrative that we see and infer. The fabula is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied.

•Syuzhet (plot) everything visible and audibly present before us. Syuzhet is considered to be the order, manner and techniques of their presentation in the narrative .

Tim O'  Sullivan 

•Tim O’Sullivan et al. (1998) argues that all media texts tell us some kind of story.

•Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves – not usually our own personal stories, but the story of us as a culture or set of cultures.

•Narrative theory sets out to show that what we experience when we ‘read’ a story is to understand a particular set of constructions, or conventions, and that it is important to be aware of how these constructions are put together.

O’Sullivan et al suggest,narratives have a common structure, starting with the establishment of plot or theme.

Key terms

The narrative of a music video is the main structure of a story Diegesis; The fictional space and time applied by the narrative which is the world that the story takes place in.Verisimilitude; Literally – the quality of appearing to be real or true. For a story to engage us it must appear to be real to us as we watch it (the diegetic effect). The story must therefore have verisimilitude -following the rules of continuity, temporal and spacial coherence.

The method of Todorov

•Stage 1: A point of stable equilibrium, where everything is satisfied, calm and normal.

•Stage 2: This stability is disrupted by some kind of force, which creates a state of disequilibrium.

•Stage 3: Recognition that a disruption has taken place.

•Stage 4: It is only possible to re-create equilibrium through action directed against the disruption.

•Stage 5: Restoration of a new state of equilibrium. The consequences of the reaction is to change the world of the narrative and/or the characters so that the final state of equilibrium in not the same as the initial state.

Sven Carlsson 
 suggests that music videos in general, videos fall into two rough groups: performance clips and conceptual clips.
When a music video mostly shows an artist (or artists) singing or dancing, it is a performance clip.
When the clip shows something else during its duration, often with artistic ambitions, it is a conceptual 
Carlsson developed a mythical method of analysis of music video - centred on a "modern mythic embodiment" . 

Viewed from this perspective the music video artist is seen as embodying one, or a combination of "modern mythic characters or forces" of which there are three general. The music video artist is representing different aspects of the free floating disparate universe of music video. Carlsson In one type of performance, the performer is not a performer anymore, he or she is a materialization of the commercial exhibitionist.

How does this theory imply to my chosen music video?

In my chosen music video, the narrative consists of a diegesis which gives us the story of a couple that are facing money problems. The young man then decides to join the army to help them both out with their problems which causes them to have an a argument. However the narrative then leads to see the young man preparing to go to war and the young woman waiting for him at home. The plot of my music video is to produce the audience with a piece of media text with a story that takes a turn for the worst when they couple are struggling with money. The audience wouldn't expect the man to turn to the armed forces however in the view of his persona that is the best way to help out the couple with their struggles. As the audience we wouldn't expect the man to join the army. However the lyrics to the song paint an a story of about the main singer's father who died when the singer was a young boy. The lyrics refer to the guy following the father's footsteps and viewed his father as precious and important to him. This could connote the fact that the story tells us that the young man joins the army, in remembrance of his father.
Todorov is used in my chosen music by showing at the start of the video where they are relaxed and talking about the future, staying together which creates irony in the music video for the ending of the song. Stage 2 of todorov when the young man joins the army and stage 3 when the notices the change of the behaviour of the couple when the woman finds out he has joined the army and everything changes. Stage 4 showing the young women waiting for the man to come home and as she does everyday things we see him fighting in a warzone. Stage 5 of todorov shows the young woman reminiscing the time she spent with the man, after which we presume as his death because she's on her own after he said he wanted to stay with her forever. This music video specifies in both of Carlsson's idea of the 2 clips to a music video. My chosen music video has both the performance of the band and the narrative side in the video.