Narrative and Performance in Pop Music Videos

Joel Senior

How Are They used?

• Narrative in pop promo’s are used to tell the story of what the artist is expressing, whether this is a break-up, a fight or any other cliché’s you may find in pop lyrics.

• Performance is used to put a face to the artist that you may commonly hear on the radio. Often the female performers wear little clothing to attract the male audience.

Narrative ExamplesA great example of narrative is Coldplays video of their song ‘Scientist’ which tells the story of how hard it is to go back to the start. It is cleverly shown in disjuncture, where the story is in reverse.

Performance ExamplesThe best performance example of a pop performance video is Michael Jacksons ‘Thriller’. The memorable choreographed dance shows Michael Jackson as a performer through no storyline at all.

How They can Intertwine

• Performance and narrative can often come together and create a storyline with the artist performing.

• A good example of this would be The Verve ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’.

• The way it differs in pop than other genres is because the narrative is stronger and the performance shows more dancing.