Narrative music videos

Chris Haisell

Barthes
Barthes was born on the 12th
November 1915
Died at the age of 64
He was a French literary theorist,
philosopher, critic and semiotican
He explored a range of fields and he
influenced the development of
schools

Barthes Semiotic Codes

Barthes said that texts may be open,
unravelled into lots of different ways or
closed.
The five codes are;
1. Enigma code
2. Action code
3. Semantic code
4. Symbolic code
5. Cultural code

 This code refers to the mystery

within a text. Clues are given within
however no clear answers are given
Enigmas within the narrative make
the audience want to know more
Unanswered enigmas tend to
frustrate the audience

Action code
An action within a film/video which
triggers certain events which builds
tension
E.g. something which causes disruption
within happiness and content within,
which relates to Todorovs theory that
there is a structured sequence within a
film which is that there is a disruption in
the middle (usually caused by a villain).

 An example of sadness which

disrupts happiness within a music
video is within the music video of
Kodaline All I Want, where a man
with a deformed face is bullied by
people at his work

Propps Theory
Propps theory is that there are
certain roles within a film. He stated
that 4 that are nearly always present
are;
1. Hero
2. Villain
3. Helper
4. Prize

 He also stated that these are also

sometimes present;
1. Father
2. Dispatcher
3. Anti-hero
4. The donor

Levi-Strauss Binary Opposites

Theory
Levis theory is the theory of
opposites. Films consist of opposites
(whether its strong vs weak, male vs
female, good vs evil, etc.)

 An example of a film that includes Levis opposite

theory is Hello by Martin Solveig and Dragonette.
Within the video, the two men are shown in a 1 vs
1 in a game of tennis. Martin is presented as a
nervous, nerdy looking person dressed in bland
clothes and the other man (Bob Sinclair) is
presented as relaxed and is dressed in trendy,
cool looking, abstract clothing and is also
surrounded in girls cheering him on, however
Martin is presented as lusting over a woman in
the audience and lets her determine how he plays
within the match

Here are some opposites between

the two
Martin

Bob

Weak

Strong

Loses the game

Wins the game

Nerdy

Cool/trendy

Lusts over one girl

Surrounded in girls lusting over

him

 Hero a hero is usually someone who saves

the day by saving someone from their trouble
allowing things to turn back to happiness. An
example of a hero within Kodaline All I Want
is the man with the deformed face as he saves
the girl from the men harassing by fighting
them off.
Villain the villain is usually the cause for the
sadness and disruption. Within All I Want, the
villain is the workers bullying the man for his
disability.

 Helper A helper is someone who helps

the hero to achieve saving the day. An
example of a helper is Donkey from
Shrek who helps Shrek be a hero.
Prize a prize is someone (usually
someone of the opposite gender) who the
hero gets in the end as a reward. In All I
Want, the girl is a reward for the man
and in Shrek, Fiona is a reward for Shrek.

Semantic code
This code refers to parts within the
text that suggests or refers to
additional meanings
Elements of the semantic code are
called Semes
The seme has a connotative function
in the text. It has an extra layer of
meaning in additional to its literal
meaning

Symbolic code
This code is about symbolist within
the text
It exercises opposites to show
contrast and create greater meaning,
creating tension, drama and
character development.

Referential code
This code refers to anything in the
text which refers to an external body
of knowledge such as scientific,
historical and cultural knowledge.

 The end