Visual Essay Narrative

In order to examine how narrative theory can be applied to music videos, I am going to analyse “The Nights” by Avicii. I will look at a range of theorists in order to do this. The themes of this music video is about living life to the fullest and always enjoy yourself and your youth years as they won’t always be there.

The introduction to the video which is not included on the album is a voice over explaining the meaning behind the song “When I was 16, my father said you can do anything you want with your life, you just have to be willing to work hard to get it. That’s why I decided when I die; I wanna be remembered for the life I lived, not the money I made” this is accompanied by an introduction clip before the song starts to play. It is reinforcing the ideology of the song. The first verse to the song starts off talking about when he was a younger child, “once upon a younger year” this shows that he is reflecting upon his past, he refers to all the fun and adventure that comes with being a child “animals inside came out to play”. This shows that he remembers his childhood as being very adventurous. “When all our shadows disappeared”, being a child is very innocent as you don’t have any secrets therefore you have no dark shadows metaphorically. He talks about his memories and the lessons he learnt as a child, he shows that the best memories are the ones where he learnt from his mistakes and faced his fears. “Went face to face with all our fears, learned out lessons through the tears” he makes it clear that these are the memories that he will never forget as these are the important parts of his childhood. The pre-chorus goes into more detail in what his father told him as child, the ideology that he lives by now that he is older. “Son, don’t let it slip away. He took me in his arms, I heard him say, when you get older your wild heart will live for younger days. Think of me if ever you’re afraid” His father is telling him not to lose his sense of adventure when he transitions into adulthood as it is an important part of living your life. He talks about how when you get older you sometimes want the past back “wild heart will live for younger days” we yearn for the past, even though we should yearn for the future. “Think of me if you’re ever afraid” shows that his father also had a sense of adventure even in his old age. The chorus is the main ideology of the video talking about exactly what his father told him at a young age, “He said one day you’ll leave this world behind so live a life you will remember, my father told me when I was just a child. These are the nights that never die, my father told me” his advice is saying that a normal life is not interesting so do everything you possibly can in order to make it enjoyable. “Nights that never die” refers to times that live on in one’s memory. This is saying that the most memorable memories are the ones where you enjoyed your life to the fullest. The second verse is talking about his adventures, still carrying on the ideology of the song throughout. “When thunder clouds start pouring down, light a fire they can’t put out” is saying that no matter what the challenge in life is, it should be embraced and that all challenges can be conquered through perseverance and determination. You should never give up on living your life to the best that you can. “Carve your name into those shining stars” is saying that you should always aim higher and that you should never settle when you know that you can do better than you’ve already achieved. “Don’t forsake this life of yours” connotes that we only have one life so that we should make the most of it no matter what. “I’ll guide you home no matter where you are”. No matter where you are there is always a place to call home. Don’t let your worries hold you back and expect to be okay as you venture into the unknown. The song then starts to repeat its chorus throughout the rest of the song reinforcing the ideology throughout. 

Sven Carlson suggests that music videos in general fall into three rough groups, performance, conceptual and narrative. When a music video shows an artist or artists singing or dancing it is a performance clip. A common place for a performance clip to take place is in a recording studio and a rehearsal room. However performance clips can take place anywhere. When a clip shows something else within its duration often with artistic ambitions it is a conceptual clip. A conceptual clip contains no perceptible visual narrative and contains no lip synchronized singing. A narrative clip tells the audience a story; it usually links in with the music and reflects the lyrics, sometimes showing the ideology of the song through images and videos.

In the video “The Nights” by Avicii there are 2 elements of Sven Carlson’s theory as it contains both elements of performance and narrative. The majority of the clip is narrative showing the performer living his life to the fullest reflecting the ideology and the meaning behind the song. It contains around 135 different clips throughout showing different places, areas, camera angles and shots etc. there is very little performance shown within the video, every now and again within the clips, the performer or subject is lip syncing the music. For example in the car as shown above. 

Bordwell and Thompson suggest that there are two distinctions between story and plot which relate to the diegetic world of the narrative. You have the inferred events which you don’t see of the story, the explicitly shown events of the story and plot, and the non-diegetic material of the plot. Fabula (story) is the events in the narrative that we see and infer. Fabula is defined as the chronological series of events that are represented or implied. Syuzhet (plot) is everything that is visible and audibly presented before us. It is considered to be the order, manner and techniques of their presentation in the narrative. 

In the music video the story of the video is that the young man is out in the world exploring and living his life, we see this through the plot and a series of clips. The video as a whole is self-reflective as he is aware of it being a media text due to him filming himself using a handheld camera. In the music video there is a range of non-diegetic material for example at the end of the music video when he spray paints the ideology of the video on to a wall. This contains writing and a symbol which is symbolic to the artist Avicii. In this video we don’t see the inferred events in the video of him; these include his whole trip exploring the world. For example eating and going to the toilet. We know that he would do these things as he is travelling however they are not important to the video. It would be a very long video if all the inferred events were included therefore the explicitly shown events are important as they contain what the institution or artist wants you to see. These are the important parts that helps move the narrative along.

Tim O’ Sullivan et al argues that all media texts tell us some kind of story; through the narrative, diegesis and verisimilitude it tells us a story.  It doesn't always tell a personal story but the story of us a culture or set of cultures. Narrative theory sets out to show that what we experience when we ‘read’ a story is to understand a particular set of constructions, or conventions, and that it is important to be aware of how these constructions are put together.

The diegesis of this video is America starting out in a small rural area, going on to explore the whole of America and the world. This tells us a story of young American culture. The diegesis sets the world in which the events will occur. It creates verisimilitude through it being a series of real events happening in his life. It tells a story about family and cherishing those moments living life to the full no matter what. It talks about him and his dad through the lyrics showing him and his dad enjoying themselves.  It starts off as a short film introduction as it it’s a film of his life showing his story and his ideology.  “Rory Kramer” is a Youtube Vlogger which is also why the music video is set out in a vlogging type of way in order to represent the figure in the video.  The ideology of this video is in the lyrics, "So live a life you will remember”. This suggests that you should always make sure that you make what you can with life and never waste it because it will eventually come to an end. In the video he is following what his father said and living life to the fullest by doing crazy extravagant things and exploring the world. This ideology is reinforced all throughout the video through the lyrics and non-diegetic material.     

Kate Domille suggests that every story ever told can be fitted into one of eight narrative types. Each of these narrative types has a source, an original story upon which the others are based. These stories are as follows, Achilles: The fatal flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless, or almost flawless, person, e.g. Superman, Fatal Attraction. Candide: The indomitable hero who cannot be put down, e.g. Indiana Jones, James Bond, Rocky etc. Cinderella: The dream comes true, e.g. Pretty Woman. Circe: The Chase, the spider and the fly, the innocent and the victim e.g. Smokey and the Bandit, Duel, The Terminator. Faust: Selling your soul to the devil may bring riches but eventually your soul belongs to him, e.g. Bedazzled, Wall Street. Orpheus: The loss of something personal, the gift that is taken away, the tragedy of loss or the journey which follows the loss, e.g. The Sixth Sense, Love Story, Born On the Fourth Of July. Romeo And Juliet: The love story, e.g. Titanic. Tristan and Iseult: The love triangle, Man loves woman…unfortunately one or both of them are already spoken for, or a third party intervenes, e.g. Casablanca.

In the music video by Avicii I think that according to Kate Domille’s theory that this music video fits into Candide, The indomitable hero who cannot be put down. I think this has being done metaphorically in this video as the figure is his own hero following his own dreams and ambitions. He is following what his father said and living life to the fullest. Other people may look at him and aspire to be what he is like, therefore looking at him in a heroic manner.