Narrative analysis of chose genre

Narrative analysis of the music video 'We are never ever getting back together' by Taylor Swift. 

Like our artist Nina Nesbitt, Taylor Swift has a young female target audience. Her image is also very feminine and her lyrics are very romantic similar to Nina Nesbitt.

In the video their is evidence to support Propp's stock character theory. Taylor Swift is presented as the  hero through close ups and narrative focus. This representation is typical in pop music videos. It promotes the artist.



The male love interest in the video is a typical stock character in the pop genre, relating to the romantic lyrics. This visual/ lyrical link appeals to the young female target audience. The presentation of the male character in the video, wearing all black and poorly lit, creates an symbolic code making the audience assume he is the antagonist in the narrative. The idea of symbolic codes in narrative is from Barthes theory. The presentation of Taylor in a very bright and floral outfit further establishes her as the hero, this is also a symbolic code within the video.

According to Levi Strauss' theory there are binary opposites in every media text. In this video there are frequent binary opposites referenced: The contrast between love and hate between the couple (this is connoted in a semantic code (Barthes) through light and dark imagery to represent each side of the couple.) There is also an opposition between reality and fantasy through the entropic images of dancing musicians dressed as animals and the cinematography that jumps and pans through various unrelated sets.

The romantic narrative of the video that depicts an 'on/ off' relationship is a very appealing cultural code for the target audience of the vidoe and is therefore typical of the genre.

The video contains the five stages of Todorov's narrative theory: Original equilibrium, distruption, recognition, attempt to restore and new equilibrium.
The original equilitbrium is the opening image of Taylor presented as a typical teenage girl sat at her window. This is a very relatable image of normality for the target audience. The distruption is the entrance of the male false hero. This representation is again relatable for the audience and typical of the genre. The comical and entropic dancing in the chorus is an attempy to restore. This positive image is very typical of the pop genre. There is also a flash back to what a sign shown in the video labels: 'Happy days', this is also a attempt to restore a happy normality. 

The new equilibrium is found when Taylor returns to her window. This happy ending for the hero is very typical of the genre; pop videos rarely have negative endings.

How we will use similar narrative features in our music video
In order to establish our artist as a hero and likeable character, we are going to use close up head shots, similar to those used in the Taylor Swift video. Presenting our character in this way will make her relatable to the audience.
In the narrative of our video we are going to use numerous, liminal but relatable female characters who will create a narrative appealing to our young target audience. 

Paloma Faith- 'Picking up the pieces' Narrative analysis

                             Like Nina Nesbitt, Paloma Faith's target audience is young females and the themes in her lyrics are very romantic.
The video abides with Propp's stock character theory through the representation of Paloma as a hero character. This is very typical in pop music videos and is suggested through the frequent close ups of Paloma.
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The male love interest is presented as a false hero, a possible villain and an antagonist character through a symbolic code, similarly used in the Taylor Swift video, that presents antagonist characters in dark colours and poor lighting.

The video does in some ways follow Todorov's theory. The video begins with a very solemn and tense equilibrium when Paloma and the male love interest are in a unhappy relationship. The beginning is therefore already an action code (Barthes) that needs to be reslolved. The unhappiness in the relationship is highlighted by long shots showing Paloma alone and unhappy.

The recognition and disruption occur when the male character loses his temper and seems to give up on the relationship; he is seen aggressively hitting the table and leaving. This is again a very negative representation of this stock character.

The attempt to restore is not very clear in the video. After the disruption and recognition the video just sees Paloma singing emotionally until at the very end of the video the male character returns and kisses Paloma. They then drive off happily into the distance. This is the new equilibrium.

In the video there is evidence of Levi Strauss' theory that media texts contain binary opposites through the opposition of colour and darkness; love and hate; unity and isolation.
Similarly to the Taylor Swift video this video uses frequent close ups to establish the female protagonists as hero stock characters. We definitely want to use this effective narrative feature to make our artist relatable to our young female target audience.