Planning - Narrative Structure

A narrative, is an accumulation of events to form a story. Narratives are vital in music videos as they engage and immerse the audience into the message or meaning of the video. There are many different narrative techniques employed within music videos that are used to for different reasons. In this blog post I'm going to evaluate and analyse a few, and outline the techniques we used in our music video. 

Climax/Crescendo 

The climax of a narrative work is the highest point of tension or drama. This narrative technique can be employed through camerawork, audio or editing. It's function and effect is that it adds intensity and ambiguity for the audience. This function is employed in many music videos, one example is Eminem - Space Bound, in which the crescendo is built up as the story becomes complex and seemingly finite. This climax is brought about through an increase in editing speed and close ups of the characters, creating a rising sense of personalisation and character attachment.This climax is matched perfectly with the sound of a gunshot, creating confusion and tension for the audience; this is at the point of highest interest and engagement with the music video. Similarly to this, Choose Wisely - This Love, our music video follows a similar basic narrative of a love story/break up, climax's work perfectly within these types of narratives as there si always a sense of connection between audience and the story line. 

Within our music video, at the point of highest tension, the climax, I employed fast paced editing in an attempt to immerse the audience through the ominous nature of the scene. Furthermore, there is meaning behind such editing for our character as it's like he is reminiscing and the pace is emulating the increased heart rate as he looks back at his memories. In addition, the symbolism of the chess piece falling initiates the gradual build up of the crescendo. 

Type of Narratives 

Different Narratives are explored within music videos, for example linear and non-linear narratives. A linear narrative, which is what our music video follows predominantly, is a logical narrative in chronological order thus maintaining clarity for the audience. This is the most suitable narrative for our story line as it is a relationship; the linear narrative allows the audience to see a change in continuity, often having a significant turning point. In our case, we display a scene of the couple having a heated argument, this is employed to be the definitive turning point within the video as after this we see shots of the male character reminiscing and showing regret. An example of a linear narrative being employed in another music video is Blank Space by Taylor Swift; this follows a chronological and clear story line to represent the normality of such relationships for Taylor Swift. A non linear narrative follows a disjointed and fragmented structure, employed to captivate, confuse and overwhelm the audience. This narrative structure is displayed perfectly in Eminem's - Guilty Conscience, in which it displays Eminem and Dr Dre acting as peoples consciences in different scenarios. 

Flashback 

Several times within our music video we explored this flashback technique as it displays the characters longing and reminiscent nature after the break up. Furthermore, this adds depth to our narrative, engaging the audience further as they learn more about the characters life. This connection is important, especially within the Indie genre, as many songs messages provide a relatable element for the audience and fan.