Friday, 24 September 2010

Underlying Structure of a Music Video

There are different theory’s which relate to how a story is structured. This is usually found in books and films. However these things can also be found in a music video whereas the feature itself, either being illustrating, amplifying or disjunctive, can contain a story/meaning which can affect the finishing portrayal of the video.

There are different theories with different meanings, all with their own approach toward analysing the structure of a story. It is important to therefore research and analyse the effects of such theories in a music video to see if I would like to apply them further on in my coursework.

The first theorist (Todorov) believes that there is 5 main key structure points in order to make a story.

These are:

  1. Equilibrium – where there is a current situation where everything is normal.
  2. Disruption – The thing which disrupts the normality of that situation
  3. Recognition – The state of being acknowledged; e.g. a super hero could save the day...
  4. Reparation – The state of repair; e.g. the super hero is going to save the day...
  5. New Equilibrium – A brand new situation caused by the effect of the Disruption, Recognition and Reparation.

Note: The actual equilibrium at the start could be bad as well as good and form a new equilibrium as opposites; visa versa.


The second theorist (Vladimir Propp) believed that there were certain spheres of action which caused events in a story. These spheres of action would then create and resolve a story by cancelling each other out.

These spheres of action were:

The Hero – Seeks something

The Villain – Obstructs the Hero’s quest

Helper - helps the hero to achieve his quest.

Donor - contributes to the story

Princess - Princess

Farther - Carer of Princess

Dispatcher - Sends out Hero

False Hero - Believes is doing good, but in fact is doing opposite.

The Killers - When You Were Young


Here you can see the story of a disciple - Hero, exploring and giving to the less fortunate - The Victim.












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