Relating music conventions to a music video

A narrative is the way a story is told so that the elements are structured so it makes sense to the audience.


Todorov believed that narrative is structured by five different stages.

• Equilibrium
• Disequilibrium
• Recognition
• Reparation
• New equilibrium

Propp believed that narrative is motivated by a variety of character functions.

• There will be a hero
• They will overcome a villain
• They will then gain a reward, often a princess.

Strauss believed that narrative is motivated by a clear struggle between binary opposites.

• One side is represented as the "right" side
• Usually two opposite characters are set against each other, for example a jock and a nerd.

In the music video "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias there is clear evidence of Todorov's theory.

1. Equilibrium - Enrique and the girl are really happy together.
2. Disequilibrium - The gang of men following them eventually catch up and they are attacked
3. Recognition - Enrique knows the gang are not going to let them go.
4. Reparation - He begins to fight against them.
5. New equilibrium - Enrique dies but he knows that the girl is safe from harm.

The use of close up shots on Enriques and the girls face shows the happy emotion they are feeling during the equilibrium stage, the wide shots show that the location is desolated and peaceful. This connotes to the audience that they are in love and there is no pain between them.


During the disequilibrium the lighting has a much darker tone, to show the drastic change in atmosphere as their lives change from good to bad. The close up shots on the necklace is a symbol of the love they share, it could also represent a dangling cause as there is no way to escape the gang, therefore as an audience member you no somthing bad is going to happen.


There are alot of close up shots in the recognition scenes of both heroes and of the villains, this enables the audience to clearly see the talk between them and the pain on the faces of the heroes at they face death.


During the reparation the heroes are dressed in white, which emphasises to the audience their innocence and purity, this is a massive contrast with the villians as they are dressed in typical black suits which could represent their darkess, also the mise-en-scene, such as the money and the smoking are typical conventions of strong, powerful men.


During the new equilibrium the wide shots show the audience the darkness and rain that surrounds Enrique as he dies, we see lots of close up shots of the girls face, again emphasising her sad emotions.


Enrique is usually shot in centre frame which emphasises his importance in the narrative to the audience, they will then feel more empathy for him.