Narrative Visual Essay

About Narrative
The narrative is a story (what happens) and a plot (how we see what happens), which means that narrative has a structure. In many cases music videos use narrative to tell a story, the following list shows how this can be done:

• Through Mise-en-scene
• Diegesis (narrative the story)
• Cinematography/Camera Movements - Not stationary but tend to move around the artist
• Promotion Package 
• Product Placement - Miley Cyrus, We Can't Stop uses the 'Beats Pill Wireless Speaker'
• Advert for the artists
• Self-Reflective - Aware of itself in the form of a music video
• Reflect issues within society

However different narrative theorists believed narrative to be shown in different ways and have different meanings.

Bordwell and Thompson (1997) 

There are three parts to a narrative:

A = Inferred Events

B = Explicitly Shown Events

C = Non-Diegetic Material

The image to the right shows the relationship between A+B+C:

A+B = The Story

B+C = The Plot

In Relation to Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Sven Carlsson (1999)

Carlsson is a narrative theorist who developed three concepts of narrative:

1. Performance - The artists perform the material (reinforced through mise-en-scene)
2. Narrative - The artists construct a story for the audience to consume
3. Abstract/Conceptual - The video has no performance or story (tends to be imagery/something else)

A performance clip is when the music video contains mostly filmed performance. This may include one or more vocalists and can be set in a recording studio/ rehearsal room. An example of a performance clip cliche is walking down a street alone or running through trees in a sad song.

The performance can be of three types:  song, dance and instrumental performance. Almost every music video includes song performance but some videos combines song and dance performances.
A narrative clip contains a visual story that is easy to follow. A pure narrative clip contains no lip-synchronized singing and only aims to tell a story.
An abstract/ conceptual clip appears when a music video clip contains no perceptible visual narrative and no lip synchronized singing.  The video may consist of images and can be related to electro-acoustic music

Commercial Exhibitionist is when the performer is no longer a performer anymore, he or she has become materialised.
Televised Bard is when he or she is a modern bard singing banal lyrics using television as a medium. The televised bard is a singing storyteller who uses actual on-screen images instead of inner, personal images.
Electronic Shaman can appear invisible and it is only her or his voice and rhythm that anchor the visuals. At one moment the electronic shaman animates dead objects then seconds later he or she is shifting through time and so on.

In Relation to Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Lay Me Down is predominantly a performance clip which crosses over with elements of a narrative clip. Carlsson would argue that Smith has combined these two concepts as it helps to construct a story in which the audience can consume from.


Firstly Smith is performing the material within the music video through elements such as lip-syncing. This is a key feature of a performance clip as Smith is performing his song to the audience. Smith also engages with the audience by looking directly towards the camera. This has been done to create a sense of connection with the audience and to help Smith portray his emotions directly to his audience.



Secondly, the mise-en-scene also helps to reinforce the performance elements of the clip such as the identification of the location e.g Church. In the first part of the clip it is clear that the audience are taken on a journey around the funeral which then changes to a journey around a wedding. The journey in which the audience goes on is structured within the narrative clip and mise-en-scene and cinematography such as pans, help to reinforce this.

Thirdly, through the use of cinematography and sound, a slow track across the rows of people during the funeral helps link the narrative and the lyrics together. This is because the lyrics have a meaning and therefore helps to create a narrative.
For example the lyrics... "I'm reaching out to you..." is sung as the one twin looks at another. This can be interpreted in many ways such as one twin may deal with death better than another and wants to help his twin, etc. The image shows when this occurs in the music video.

Finally the lyrics of the music video doesn't start until about 25 seconds. Carlsson would suggest this has been done in order to add to the narrative element of the clip. The silence could symbolise the silence at a funeral which allows time for reflection. Also Carlsson might infer the 25 seconds of silence as a trick to show a pure narrative clip which contains no lip-synchronized singing and only aims to tell a story. In this case it would be the story of a funeral.

Tim O'Sullivan et al (1998)

Tim believed all media text tells some kind of story, whether it is about oneself or society.  He refers to this as a set of ideas which produce a particular view on the society/culture at that time. Therefore the media can be seen as reinforcing  these dominant ideologies yet challenging them at the same time. O'Sullivan argued that a stereotype involves a process of evaluation in which we look towards certain ideologies. For example in music videos certain ideas are portrayed about gender , race and ethnicity. These ideas help an individual to shape their identity.

In Relation to Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Kate Domaille (2001)

Every story every told to be fitted into one of eight narrative types. Each have a source , an original story which the others are based

1. Achilles- A fatal flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless. For example- Superman and Kryptonite
2. Candide - Indomitable hero who can't be put down. For example - James Bond
3. Cinderella - The dream in the story has come true. For example - Pretty Women
4. Circe - The case/mystery , the spider and the fly (the trap) , the innocent and the victim. For example - The Terminator
5. Faust - Selling your soul to the devil may bring riches but eventually your soul belongs to the devil. For example - Wall Street
6. Orpheus - The loss of something personal, the gift that is taken away, the tragedy of loss's or the journey which follows the loss. For example - Love Story
7. Romeo And Juliet - The love story. For example - Titanic
8. Tristan and Iseult - The love triangle, man loves woman (one or both of them are already spoken for), a third party intervenes. For example - Casablanca

In Relation to Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Lay Me Down fits into two of the eight narrative types which Domaille identified. These are Romeo and Juliet and Orpheus.

Pam Cook (1985)

Cook suggested that narrative has a structure which should have the following:
1.Linearity of cause and effective with an overall tragedy or enigma
This means the narrative follows a structure which has a clear beginning and end. The end of the narrative has an enigma or tragedy.

2.A resolution
This means the narrative is resolved/comes to an end.

3.High degree of narrative structure
This means the narrative has a solid structure, such as the events which occur and the consequences are clear. They make the structure have a clear beginning and end with a format to the diegesis and equilibrium.

4.Fictional world that contains verisimilitude
Within some forms of narrative they appear fictional but in order to appeal to the audience, forms of reality are used.

In Relation to Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

Applying Pam Cook's theory of narrative is hard in relation to this music video . This is because this narrative doesn't follow a set structure as it included flashbacks. However some of the elements which Cook identified can be applied to Smith's music video.

Firstly Cook suggested that the narrative has a linearity of cause and effect within an overall tragedy or enigma. Smith's video doesn't has a linearity narrative because it uses the elements of flashbacks. The overall tragedy or enigma is Smith sat alone in the church. This can be seen as a tragedy because during the video he morns over the lose of a loved one and then celebrated their wedding day. Cook believes that the narrative has been built in that way to result in an enigma occurring at the end of the music video.

Secondly a resolution occurs in the end of the music video when Smith is alone in the church. This closes the narrative as the clip starts at a funeral with lots of people, then shows a wedding with lots of people and ends with Smith alone with nobody around him. This could show how although people mourned and celebrated with him , because he has lost someone very close to him , he still feels very alone and isolated. Cook  would suggest this has been done as it brings a clear end to the narrative.

Thirdly there is a high degree of narrative structure within this music video because the events, consequences and equilibrium are all clear. Although flashbacks occur the narrative still remains within the concept of the music video. For example Cook implies that the narrative structure must have a clear beginning and end with a format to the diegesis and equilibrium. One way this has been achieved is Smith remains within the Church to construct his narrative. This makes a clear start and end point to the video as the ending feels like a conclusion of events. However this wouldn't have been achieved unless the narrative had a clear structure.

Finally Cook believed that a fictional world can contain verisimilitude. This is not relevant to this music video because it doesn't represent a fictional world but instead represents reality. This is because the issues raised can affect a variety of individuals in different ways. For example the issue of death is something which affects many people but different ways. This video helps to show this as the camera pans across many people during the funeral to show how they all deal with the issue of death.

Todorov (1977)

Todorov suggested that narrative must follow a structure. He established that there is a equilibrium within the diegesis, which follows the following 6 stages of narrative structure.

Stage 1: Equilibrium everything appears fine and normal
Stage 2: Disruption of some kind , creates a disequilibrium
Stage 3: Recognised the disruption has occurred
Stage 4:Try to recreate the equilibrium
Stage 5: New part of the equilibrium
Stage 6: Consequences of the reaction (there has been a change in the equilibrium)

Todorov's theory of narrative can be applied the this music video:
Bob Dylan - Beyond Here Lies Nothing



Antagonist = Possibly the boy (looks like he has trapped the girl)
Protagonist = Possibly the girl (trying to escape)
Disruption = Fighting with one another (aggressive)
Quest = Trying to kill each other (violent e.g. knife stab)
Resolution = The kiss (both appear injured but girl goes back to kiss the boy)

In Relation to Sam Smith - Lay Me Down

It is harder to apply Todorov's theory of narrative to this music video because this video includes two parts to the narrative which include flashbacks. Therefore I can only interpret how Todorov's six stages of narrative may apply.
Antagonist = N/A , maybe the issue of death
Protagonist = Sam Smith,  morning over the loss of a loved one (Image 1)
Disruption = Death of the loved one (Image 2)

Quest = Memory of wedding to cope with the death, look at how others cope with death (Image 3)
Resolution = Mourning alone in the church were the couple married and where the funeral was held. (Image 4)

Other Narrative Theories :

Fabula

This refers to the chronological sequence of events within the narrative which we see and therefore can interpret. These events are represented to the audience chronologically so that they can infer their meaning.

Vladimir Propp (1928)
The Russian theorist studied the narrative structure of Russian Folk Tales. He analysed 100 tales and concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 7 broad character types. These are listed below:

1. The Villain - struggles against the hero
2. The Donor - prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object
3. The (magical) Helper - helps the hero in the quest
4. The Princess and Her Father - gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative but can't be clearly distinguished
5. The Dispatcher - makes the task known and sends the hero off on a quest
6. The Hero or Victim/Seeker hero - reacts to the donor, get married to the princess
7. False Hero- takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Joseph Campbell’s (1949)
The Hero With A Thousand Faces, developed the idea of the ‘Universal Hero Monomyth'. Campbell  suggested that there is an underlying structure of iconography, themes, concepts and narrative structure. This common to the religions, myths and legends of almost every culture in the world. Both George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg were heavily influenced by Campbell’s theories for example Star Wars conforms to Campbell’s model of the Monomyth almost exactly.

Claude Levi-Strauss (1958)
Believed that narratives operated on clear binary opposites. E.g. Good Vs Bad.

The importance of these is that a complicated world is reduced to a simpler structure to aid the audience's understanding. Therefore things are either one extreme or another, there is no in-between.

Michael Shore (1984)

Argued that music videos are just recycled styles and are surfaces with no substances. The videos are made for immediate gratification and are easily accessed. Although information may be relevant with in the videos. There can be an overload of information given.
For example - Bob Dylan, Beyond Here Lies Nothin'. The video looks good but has already been done before in a different form. Also the video portrays the themes of violence and death but actually has little meaning.

Andrew Goodwin (1992)

Argued that music videos are "narrative relations are highly complex". The meaning from the music video can be created from the individual audio viewer's personal music taste to sophisticated intertextuality that uses multi-discursive phenomenon of Western Culture. This is because we understand the references from our culture and anything from within are historical culture. However this is dependent on individual cultural capital. Some people lack cultural capital therefore they will not understand what is being shown via the music video, thus affect the target audience. Most videos are dominated by advertising references which reinforce the poster-modern idea of 're-used/recycled' music videos.