Narrative Theories
Todorov Narrative
1 The narrative starts with an equilibrium
2 An action or character disrupts the equilibrium
3 A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4 The narrative continues to climax
5 Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored
Conventional, linear - Sherlock
Unconventional, non - linear - flash-forwards, flashbacks
Propps character theory
The hero
The villain
The donor/ enabler
The helper
The princess
The false hero
The dispatcher
Was used to describe fairy tales, however can still be used today
Levi Strauss - Binary Opposition
The Foo Fighters - Learn to fly
Todorov
1 Unconventional of this theory the video starts with the ground crew hiding the powder in the coffee machine, already foreboding a distress
2 The cleaners hide a bag of 'erotic sleeping powder' in the coffee machine, causing everyone who has coffee from here on out to experience its effects, almost causing the plane to crash
3 The members of the band realise the plane is crashing and rush to control it
4 They manage to land the plane and the cleaners are took away by the FBI
5 They all exit and the pilots and hostesses continue to prepare for the next flight
Propps
Hero - The band (Saviours)
Villain - The cleaners (Cause of Peril)
Enabler - Hostesses (Unknowingly made/passed out drugs)
Helper - Hostesses
Princess - Dave (Object of Desire)
False Hero - Pilot and Staff (Should've been the saviours)
Dispatcher - Plane crashing
Strauss
Passengers - Fat and thin
Dyer
In terms of Star theory, Learn to Fly exhibits many traits. The lead singer Dave Grohl, is the centre of attention most of the time with him playing most of the characters featured; hostesses, pilot, fan, himself. Furthermore, he is the one who saves the plane, emphasising fans need to idolise him due to heroic and selfless acts.
Ah-Ha - Take on me
Todorov
1 The events of the comic book the woman is reading in the 'real world' are happening in order without strife
2 The woman is thrust into the comic book, where the waitress in the 'real world' thinks she has left and scrunches up the comic book, knocking the events out of sync
3 When escaping the woman returns to the 'real world' saving her, however the man is left behind
4 The woman takes the comic book and continues reading, thinking he is dead, but then he is propelled into the 'real world' rather sharply
5 They lived happily ever after
Propps
Hero - Comic book guy
Villain - Racing Drivers
Enabler - Waitress
Helper - Woman
Princess - Woman
False Hero - Racing Drivers
Dispatcher - Comic book guy
Strauss
The real woman and comic book guy could be considered binary opposites as they are completely different in everything except attraction to each other
Dyer
Similarly to The Foo Fighters, the lead singer of Ah Ha is the 'hero' of the story; the one who gets the girl, is saved etc. However, unlike The Foo Fighters, not all members of Ah Ha are present in the music video, only the lead singer, therefore all the audience's focus is on the lead and not the rest of the band. Whether this is intentional or not to promote only the lead is unknown.
False Hero - The woman and her sense of justice
Dispatcher - No one
Strauss
The man is dressed smart and business-like, whereas the woman is just casual.
Death and Life
Dyer
In 'Breezeblocks' the band Alt- j isn't featured, suggesting a want to focus on their music instead of the band itself. This is refreshing in the music industry who usually want the star throughout. However they are an indie band
5 However, in he last shots we find out she is fine and that they will be happy.
Villain - Ex Groom
Enabler - No one
Helper - Woman
Princess - Woman
False Hero - No one
Dispatcher - Ex Groom
Strauss
1 The narrative starts with an equilibrium
2 An action or character disrupts the equilibrium
3 A quest to restore the equilibrium begins
4 The narrative continues to climax
5 Resolution occurs and equilibrium is restored
Conventional, linear - Sherlock
Unconventional, non - linear - flash-forwards, flashbacks
Propps character theory
The hero
The villain
The donor/ enabler
The helper
The princess
The false hero
The dispatcher
Was used to describe fairy tales, however can still be used today
Levi Strauss - Binary Opposition
The Foo Fighters - Learn to fly
Todorov
1 Unconventional of this theory the video starts with the ground crew hiding the powder in the coffee machine, already foreboding a distress2 The cleaners hide a bag of 'erotic sleeping powder' in the coffee machine, causing everyone who has coffee from here on out to experience its effects, almost causing the plane to crash
3 The members of the band realise the plane is crashing and rush to control it
4 They manage to land the plane and the cleaners are took away by the FBI
5 They all exit and the pilots and hostesses continue to prepare for the next flight
Propps
Hero - The band (Saviours)
Villain - The cleaners (Cause of Peril)
Enabler - Hostesses (Unknowingly made/passed out drugs)
Helper - Hostesses
Princess - Dave (Object of Desire)
False Hero - Pilot and Staff (Should've been the saviours)
Dispatcher - Plane crashing
Strauss
Passengers - Fat and thin
Dyer
In terms of Star theory, Learn to Fly exhibits many traits. The lead singer Dave Grohl, is the centre of attention most of the time with him playing most of the characters featured; hostesses, pilot, fan, himself. Furthermore, he is the one who saves the plane, emphasising fans need to idolise him due to heroic and selfless acts.
Ah-Ha - Take on me
Todorov
1 The events of the comic book the woman is reading in the 'real world' are happening in order without strife
2 The woman is thrust into the comic book, where the waitress in the 'real world' thinks she has left and scrunches up the comic book, knocking the events out of sync
3 When escaping the woman returns to the 'real world' saving her, however the man is left behind
4 The woman takes the comic book and continues reading, thinking he is dead, but then he is propelled into the 'real world' rather sharply
5 They lived happily ever after
Propps
Hero - Comic book guy
Villain - Racing Drivers
Enabler - Waitress
Helper - Woman
Princess - Woman
False Hero - Racing Drivers
Dispatcher - Comic book guy
Strauss
The real woman and comic book guy could be considered binary opposites as they are completely different in everything except attraction to each other
Dyer
Similarly to The Foo Fighters, the lead singer of Ah Ha is the 'hero' of the story; the one who gets the girl, is saved etc. However, unlike The Foo Fighters, not all members of Ah Ha are present in the music video, only the lead singer, therefore all the audience's focus is on the lead and not the rest of the band. Whether this is intentional or not to promote only the lead is unknown.
Alt - J - Breezeblocks
Todorov
The events of this song happen backwards; unconventional of a music video and contradicts Todorov's theory, however the stages still do happen, just in reverse order.
5 It begins with the woman dead in the bathtub, and the man holding his head in his hands, with a wedding ring. The music is very peaceful, reflecting the quiet
4 The woman runs away, and fights with the man for the breezeblock (brick) which will soon cause her death
3 Now the woman is attacking the man; throwing bottles and pulling at his legs. We find out she tried to stab him
2 Now we find out the woman wasn't his wife, she is infact in a cupboard tied up waiting for the man to come home.
1 The video ends with the man coming home and tossing his keys in the pot. This could be considered an equilibrium as nothing yet has disturbed the man. The music is peaceful once again.
Propps
Contradictory to Propp's theory, in this music video there is only three characters. This makes sense as it isn't a full movie just a 3 minute clip. However the narrative is still telling a story through the events occurring with the characters.
Can any of these characters fit into these rolls though? They are unconventional and don't really fit.
Hero - The Man, However he killed the woman so is not very heroic
Villain - The woman trying to kill the man
Enabler - No one
Helper - The wife tied up was no help, instead letting her husband fight the woman
Princess - The wife (Needed saving)False Hero - The woman and her sense of justice
Dispatcher - No one
Strauss
The man is dressed smart and business-like, whereas the woman is just casual.
Death and Life
Dyer
In 'Breezeblocks' the band Alt- j isn't featured, suggesting a want to focus on their music instead of the band itself. This is refreshing in the music industry who usually want the star throughout. However they are an indie band
Kodaline - High Hopes
Todorov
1 This music video doesn't really start with an equilibrium as the man begins trying to kill himself. However you could consider he is at peace with the decision and therefore everything's calm.
2 A woman runs to ask for his aid, appearing to have been running away from a wedding, with her groom hot on her tail. The man agrees to help.
3 Everything is okay for a while, the video depicting the man and woman falling in love, and its revealed that she may have been previously abused. However just as they are getting cosy the ex groom appears again and shoots them both.
4 They are both taken to hospital and the audience are lead to believe that the woman died, and the man is right back to where he started.
5 However, in he last shots we find out she is fine and that they will be happy.
Propps
Again, there wasn't really enough characters to fill all of Propp's character types in this music video, however some of them are evident.
Hero - ManVillain - Ex Groom
Enabler - No one
Helper - Woman
Princess - Woman
False Hero - No one
Dispatcher - Ex Groom
Strauss
'Beauty and the Beast'-like. The man is meant to be rough and the woman beautiful
Dyer
Again, the band 'Kodaline' isn't in the music video suggesting they want the consumer to focus more on the song and meaning than elevating their status and becoming a 'star'.
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