Narrative in Music Videos

The three narrative types in music videos suggested by Andrew Goodwin; illustration, amplification and disjunction are used to create a certain level of effect and meaning.


Illustration - An illustration Narrative in a music video is one which tells a story through the lyrics and the video visually. The plot in an illustration narrative will often be very clear and relatively easy to understand. The effect of the illustration narrative is similar to that of a film, it tells a detailed story that has a clear start, middle and end. The purpose of the illustration narrative is to intrigue the audience and keep them hooked from beginning to the end.


Amplification - An amplification narrative in a music video is one which does seemingly have a strong plot yet the lyrics to not match the visuals all the time yet key concepts and ideas are noticeable from the lyrics and visually in the content of the music video. The effect of the amplification narrative is to carry a deep meaning that often is implied throughout the music video but is possibly not explicitly expressed.


Disjuncture - A disjuncture narrative is one which the music video has absolutely no correlation with the lyrics of the song. In a disjuncture narrative in a music video there can often be little narrative whatsoever. the effect of a disjuncture narrative is often to entertain more than anything, the advantage with making a music video with a disjuncture narrative is that the music video can be as abstract and unconventional as the producers want it to be, thus possibly creating humour and as a result making the music video and in turn the song very memorable for audiences.




Narrative Types
In Narratives in general, there are various types with each variation creating different effect for the intended audience.


Linear Narrative - This is the most common narrative type where the overall plot is told in chronological order thus creating a logical and understandable storyline
Non Linear Narrative - The opposite to a Linear Narrative, the plot is told in seemingly non-chronological order
Closed Ended Narrative - This is where the ending to the narrative has closure, the ending is clear and understandable
Open Ended Narrative - The opposite to a Closed Ended Narrative, the plot ends with a cliff-hanger, no definitive ending and the audience has unanswered questions.
Circular Narrative - This is where the plot starts and ends in the exact same place, in a music video this could mean the video opening in a certain setting, featuring a certain prop or character and the plot finishes with the exact same shot or one that is very similar that features what the video began with
Singular Stranded Narrative - This is where there is a single storyline presenting either one character or more but linked to the one narrative
Multi Stranded Narrative - The opposite to a Single Stranded Narrative, in this narrative their are more than on main narrative and they do not crossover whatsoever yet are all as important as one and other