Narrative Structure Of Music Videos

Hero - Enrique Inglesias 

• Hero is clearly a narrative base video.
•  He sings as he is acting therefore he is integrated into the narrative. 
• Extensive use of close-ups to sell the star image.
• Cut to the beat of the music. 
• The lyrics match the visuals on screen (e.g 'You can't take my breathe away' is sung as he lays dying). 
• John Stewart discusses the way music videos use the language of films and techniques such as montage and cross-cutting to tell their story. 
• Andrew Goodwin discusses the way music videos have inter sexual relationships to films and 'Hero' is based on a film called 'The Gateway'.

Narrative Structures:

Todorov said Narratives have 5 structures to them:

1. Equilibrium  - Normality at the beginning : Enrique and Jennifer Love Hewitt are happy together in love. 
2. Disruption - Disruption from the normality : We see the money in the back of the car and understand that something is wrong and they must be escaping from something. 
3. Acknowledgement  - An understanding that a problems has occurred : Acknowledgement comes when we see the group of gangsters hiding out which infers that they are after our heroes. 
4. Attempt to restore - The characters try to resolve their problems and move on : Enrique stands up for his girlfriend and rather than continue hiding faces the gangsters head on in a fight for her love.
5. New Equilibrium  - Everything is resolved but the characters world is a slightly different place : Enrique dies, but Jennifer is free from the gangsters to continue her life without her lover.

Vladirmir Propp said theres always different characters types: 

Hero - Villain  - Princess  - Donor - False Hero - Helper

Enrique - Hero - Camera time focuses on him the most - soft lighting to make him look more angelic and heroic. 

Jennifer Love Hewitt - Princess - Crying, close-ups of her kissing Enrique in soft focus. Extended camera time on the couple together clearly in love. 

Micky Rourke - Villain - All black leather, greased back hair, surrounded by his gang, less camera time, hides his face away from the camera. 

Claude Levi-Stauss talks about Binary Opposition: 

You need to see opposites to tell the difference for example: a hero and a villain. 

Enrique the hero wearing white in comparison to Micky Rourke wearing black who is the villain. 

Enrique had an extended camera time while Micky Rourke hides his face from the camera. 

Enrique more soft and famine male while Micky is more hard.