Music Video Story Structure

There is some solid evidence to assume that Music videos follow the same story arc's that regular films do, the difference is the method of execution. In a lot of cases music videos can follow Todorov's Narrative Structure.

However, There are a number of Music videos that simply follow the disrupted part of the Structure and then follow it to the end. For Example the Song 'Jar of Hearts' by Christina Perri follows my theory that music videos consistently keep their theme, it means that they don't have to deviate from comfortable tone and tempo in the song. It can get a little repetitive in my opinion.


Another Prime Example can be Cee Lo Green's 'Forget you' in which he consistently feels heartbreak throughout the entire video. Things only mildly get better but don't fully deviate from this concept.







On the otherhand Todorovs theory can be applied to certain music video's.


The Foo Fighters song 'Learn to Fly' follows Todorovs theory quite well, There is a equilibrium(The begining of the flight), a disturbance (The Turbulance) and a resolution with a return to an even flight.








It does seem however that more recent songs tend to deviate more than the classics did, A large number of Nickelback songs back in the day, followed this story, for example, in 'Savin Me' the Protagonist gets the power to see the exact date of death for people, a power that he eventually passess on to another after he saves his life from a falling piano.

If I am to make my music video appropriate for modern times I must disregard Todorovs theory, If I aim to make my piece with a classic older theme, then I will likely use Todorovs theories.