Apply Theories of Narrative to One of Your Coursework Products.

The music video for Good Life by OneRepublic follows Andrew Goodwin's theory of a relationship between the visuals and music by amplifying the meaning of the lyrics through a narrative. The narrative follows a linear structure, typical of mainstream pop music videos. To some extent the music video follows Steve Archer's theory that videos tend to only suggest storyline and focus on fragments of the lyrics, in this music video the lyrics become the focus during the lip syncing clips the rest of the time it is used to narrate the story. Like most pop videos the lead singer is the main character in the video who acts as both the narrator, through lip syncing, and protagonist as part of the plot with his connection with Katie.  As there are only two characters in the music video, Propp's theory of character roles does not really apply to it, however Bank is clearly the hero of the story as the lead singer of the band. The roles of the characters in the narrative conforms to Mulvey's theory of the male gaze as Katie is viewed passively because she does not connect to the audience by making eye contact with the camera, Bank on the other hand can be seen as a subject rather than an object because he looks directly at the audience while singing. Similarly Schwichtenberg's theory that "action in the story is dominated by males who do things and females who passively react or wait for something to happen" applies to the narrative however there is a contradiction because Katie is the more active character being seen walking around and searching for her freedom, Bank is the more passive in the sense he is always in the same setting. However again Katie is viewed as being passive because she does not interact with the audience were as Bank does making him more of a subject than an object to watch. 


In terms of the narrative it follows David Bordwell's theory of fabula, changing meaning from viewer to viewer, the relationship between the two characters is not explicitly explained which leaves it up to audience interpretation. Like most pop videos it relies on the audience having an understanding that the subjects are romantically involved with the plot revolving around getting together, being together or breaking up. Therefore the link between Katie and Bank is seen by most viewers as a breakup as the couple are not seen together, it appears that Katie is the one to leave as the shot of Bank's phone with pictures of her implies to the audience he is missing her. This is an example of Roland Barthes' theory of codes this being a semantic code explaining their break up through connotation rather than explaining it explicitly. Katie's floating dress is an example of symbolic code to signify to the audience she is a country girl who looks very out of place in the city. With the London shots especially the crowded fast pace shots are cultural codes that the audience understand as claustrophobic to Katie because of pre-knowledge of city life. This is also the same for the country shots as the audience understand this is seen as a more relaxed lifestyle due to cultural understanding. The city and country contrast is an example of Levi-Strauss' binary opposites which also symbolises Katie's mood. Using post-production the city and Bank singing is shot in black and white which contrasts and signifies her freedom in the country away from the city and Bank in the country shots which are in colour. Todorov’s theory of restored equilibrium at the end of narratives also applies to our music video as Katie is show in the country where she belongs having escaped from the depression of the city.