Narrative structure - our music video

The length of the song is 3:19. The lyrics consists 9 stanzas.

Protagonist : Main actor (Artist)
Antagonist: The sins he committed and the evil

Distruption: the main actor begins his journey (This disrups the equilibrium)

Quest: the main actor on his journey and seeking for forgiveness, due to the sins he committed

Revolution: the main actor make his journey and have been forgiven (This is the re-equilibrium)


The genre of the music video is in the area of alternative rock/new wave/indie. The theme for the narrative is religion.

We have decided that our music video will have a linear structure, therefore it will consists a beginning, middle and ending.

The narrative of our music video will be able a man going on a long journey (a pilgrimage, which takes place every October 4th), to ask for forgiveness due to the sins he committed.
The plan for this narrative is that the actor will be making a journey from Nogales to Magdalena. To make the music video more understanding to our audience, we have decided to use flashback of him committing the sins.

This is a Orpheus narrative - loss of something personal, due to the sins he have committed he has lost his sanity and family.


Directions from Nogales to Magdalena - http://www.vivacaborca.com/directions/nogales.html

Schedule - for this term (just before we break off for christmas)

November 1st - Animatic
8th - Video Shoot - upload video
15th - Video Shoot - upload video
22nd - Editing - re-shoot - 2 ancilary texts - digipak
29th - Editing - re-shoot - 2 ancilary texts - digipak
December 6th - Editing - ancilary texts
13th - Evaluation - YouTube
20th-22nd - Feedback - last minute change

Music Video Themes

Some music video have themes for more youthful audience such as...

• Teen angst
• Rebellion - conformity vs non-conformity
• Romance
• Sec/losing your virginity
• Nostalgia - for innocence youth
• Nihilism - the belief there is no future
• Coming of age rituals, the prom, falling in love
• Tribalism - popularity vs non-popularity
• Bullying

Other themes in music video

• War
• Crime
• Poverty
• Capitalism
• Racism

Art Clip

If a music video clip contains no perceptible visual narrative and contain no lip synchronized. Singing then it is a pure art clip. Abstract/contemporary.

Performance Clip

If a music video clip contains mostly filmed performance then it is a performance clip. A performance clip is a video that shows the vocalist(s) in one or more settings

Common places to perform are the recording studio and the rehearsal room. But the performance can take place anywhere, from the bath tub to the outer space. Walking down the street is another performance dinché, which is common to rap videos

The performance can be of three types

• song performance, dance performance
• instrumental performance - almost every music video include song performance
• some video combines song and dance performances

Narrative Clip

If a music video is most appropriately understood as a short silent movie to a musical background, it is a narrative clip. A narrative clip contains a visual story that is easy to follow. A pure narrative clip contains no-lip synchronized singing.

Rules of Narrative

Narrative Theory

Narrative is a series of actions and chain of events in a cause of event relationships occuring in time and space.

In video, time & space can be manipulated.

Narrative is a media term for story telling. Also elements of story is organised. Narrative is making sense of in the world story in which we live.

Digesis - Filmic world

Music video - follows lyrics for meaning - none classic narrative structure.

Narrative = Story & Plot




Narrative Theory of Kate Domaille ( 2001):

According to Kate Domaille (2001) every story ever told can be fitted into one of eight narrative types.

Achillies - The fatal flaw that leads to the of the previously flawless, or almost flawless person. E.g. Superman

Candidle - Hero can not be put down. E.g. James Bond

Cinderella - Dreams come true

Circe - The chase, the spider on the wall, innocent & victim

Faust - Selling soul to the devil

Orpheus - The loss of something personal

Romeo & Juliet - Love story

Tritan and Iseult - Love triangle, with third parties.


Vladimir Propp - Russian Theory - 7 theories

The Villian - struggles against hero

The Doner - prepares the hero or give the hero magical object

The (Magical) Helper - helps the hero in the quest

The Princess & her Farther - gives the task to the hero, identify false hero, marries, often sought for during the narrative

The Dispatcher - character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off

The Hero or Victim/Seeker Hero - reacts to the donor, weds the princess

[False Hero] - takes credit for the heros actions or tries to marry the princess


Music video - audio visual poetry?