Narrative theory

What is narrative structure?

Narrative structure is the way in which the story is told and
unfolds. There are three types of structure:

Interactive structure, one that has no real storyline and is a

bit random.
Closed structure, one that is concluded with an ending.
Open structure, which has no final ending.

Rihanna Needed me
The narrative is set immediately within Rihannas music video with a medium close up shot of a
gang of men holding guns, the negative connotations associated with carrying an illegal weapon
help build tension and portray the men as the stereotypical gangsters from the United States. It
conforms to the dominant ideology that all black men are gangsters and could evoke fear from the
target audience. This ghetto portrayal of the protagonist is further emphasized by the setting of a
strip club, this is an example of the male gaze theory that suggests men watch women within the
media for voyeuristic pleasure, is also demonstrates the idea of a patriarchal society where men
are the more dominant gender as the women appear to be performing for them like animals in a
zoo. All of these things make it evident this isn't just a performance music video it is mixed with a
narrative. In the narrative, Rihanna, the music artist, appears to be looking for her partner in a
club, this signifies he is cheating. Suspense therefore is built as the target audience anticipate
what she is going to do next. The narrative ends with her lifting up a gun and shooting her
partner, this low angle shot makes is clear the structure of the narrative for this music video is
closed as the narrative is concluded at this point. This is significant as the idea of a resolution
would appeal to a passive target audience as they may feel satisfied with the ending. However is

My music video narrative

My music video narrative would conform to the open structure and will not be
concluded towards the end. This would appeal to the demographic of my target
audience who are young and active audience who might like to make up the
ending for themselves. In our shots we aim to capture moving images of the
connotations of the lyrics to amplify and evoke a range of emotions from our
target audience to help connect with them and build a personal relationship. This
may seem random as opposed to illustrative narratives where the shots relate
directly to the lyrics and therefore conforms to Frederick Jameson's theory that
music videos are random with no meaning, building excitement within the target
audience and making it unique to other music videos already released. Due to
the open structure me and my partner decided including a disruption of
equilibrium wouldn't be effective as the audience may decode negative
messages and it doesn'tt conform to the typical codes and conventions of a pop
video.