Research task 3 Rhian Newell A2 Media Studies Narrative is the way in which the story is told. Within music videos it depicts either the main artist or a cast to portray a story. The narrative in a music video varies on what the song is about. There are two sources that have theories on narrative they are Claude Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes Claude Levi Strauss has the idea of narrative used in binary opposites which means the values used in media texts, in this case the values in a music video. His theory of narratives is the opposites or contrast in media text. For instance it’s apparent that Strauss believes that to have a narrative there had to also be binary opposites or conflict between two qualities of terms such as good and evil, past and present for example. Furthermore, Roland Barthes is another theorist that believes that narrative have three fundamental codes that makes the reader understand. These primary codes are: Action, a narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action, Enigma a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting them a puzzle or a riddle to solved, Cultural a narrative device which the audience can recognise as being part of a culture. The song survivor by Destiny’s Child is more compatible to use for both theories rather than the Kings of Leon song ‘back down south’. The song survivor features the Strauss theory that there has to be a binary opposite or conflict between two qualities of terms. This is apparent in the song because it contrasts in every lyric for instance “you thought that I’d be weak without you but I’m stronger” and “you thought that I’d be broke without you but I’m richer” the narrative exemplifies this which supports the Strauss theory of binary codes. The narrative of the song shows the members of Destiny’ Child shipwrecked on an island. Furthermore, by having the theme of them being stranded on an island reinforces them as survivors as. At the end f the narrative the members escape which is like a metaphor for the group overcoming all bad obstacles. The binary opposites within the lyrics also make it seem as they were talking directly to the people who opposed of them. Roland Barthes believes that there has to be action in the sequence so that the narrative of a music video is more understandable. There is an immense amount of action in the video survivor. For example the prelude depicts them shipwrecked and coming out of the ocean, this was the first sort of action that erupted in the video. Immediately the audience would wonder what’s going to happen next. The second action scenes are the members wondering in the jungle and eventually discover a large exotic waterfall. Then the camera shows them singing to directly to the screen. The next scene is a dance the dance evokes powerful,
triumphant moves this again highlights the narrative. Following from that a storm approaches and it appears the members are in the middle of the ocean. The action here strengthens the narrative because its shows them surviving after the storm. It also emphasises what the song is about and makes it more understandable to the audience. The Second