Narrative theory in our music video

In this post i am going to outline the narrative theory that has influenced us with our decisions for our music video. From researching similar genre to our chosen song  of narrative theory it has given us some interesting points to think about when creating our video.

Propp

Propp developed a theory that within each narrative there are a set of stock characters which reappear. Our storyline will be based on a 'Hero'. This hero will be a soldier who is on a 'quest' to find his way back home which we will film his journey. The person who is playing the hero in the narrative will also be the main singer. We plan to have a lot of close ups of him both in the narrative part and throughout the performance which will connect a link.

Barthes

Barthes identified 5 different codes by which a narrative engages the attention of the audience.


The enigma code - The audience is intrigued by the need to solve a problem
The action code - The audience is excited by the need to resolve a problem
The semantic code - The audience is directed towards an additional meaning by way of connotation
The symbolic code - The audience assumes that a character dressed in black is evil or menacing and forms expectations of his/her behavior on this basis
The cultural code - The audience derives meaning in a text from shared cultural knowledge about the way the world works.

We intend to use Barthes theory by using the Semantic code. Our audience will be directed through a journey of heart break in which hes trying to reconnect his heart with his girlfriend. We will create this connection by following the male narratives movement throughout the video in till the end when he gets reunited with his girlfriend.