Narrative Music Videos

Narrative music videos feature a visual story that is easy to follow. Unlike performance videos, narrative videos do not include much or any lip synching. For those that do include some lip synching, the lack of stage equipment makes them easily distinguishable from performance videos. Narrative videos may mimic a film genre and include the artist as either an observer or a part of the narrative.

Some examples of narrative music videos include:

• Royal Blood - Figure It Out
• Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love
• Rudimental - Waiting All Night
• The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell

Narrative music videos may tell a story that reflect the genre of the song and its lyrics, or they may portray a story that is seemingly irrelevant. Within these stories, the artist will often feature in the video - whether this be as an observer or as a character. The lead singer of The All-American Rejects stars as two of the characters in the video for 'Gives You Hell'. Contrastingly, the videos for Royal Blood's 'Figure It Out' and Rudimental's 'Waiting All Night' do not feature the artist at all. This draws greater emphasis to the story the video is depicting.

The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell

Royal Blood - Figure It Out

Rudimental - Waiting All Night

While the Waiting All Night music video is, arguably, irrelevant to the genre and lyrics of the song, it engages the audience as they want to follow the protagonist's journey.

It is common for narrative videos to also incorporate other genres. Many include elements of the performance genre by using shots of the artist performing the song to intercept the narrative. This is seen in videos such as Panic! At The Disco's 'But It's Better If You Do'.

Narrative (left) and performance (right) in 'But It's Better If You Do'

Despite being present in the 'Give Me Love' music video, there are no shots of Ed Sheeran performing the song. He acts as an observer, thus drawing greater emphasis to the storyline and away from himself.

Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love

Narrative music videos often use analepsis to maintain the audience's interest. This is evidenced by such music videos as Taylor Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble' and Ed Sheeran's 'Give Me Love'.

 'I Knew You Were Trouble' opens with the artist waking up in the middle of a deserted festival ground. Short clips of the events that occurred prior to this are flashed on screen intermittently, engaging the audience as they wish to find out what happened. Similarly, 'Give Me Love' opens with the protagonist lying dead in a pool of her own blood. This hooks the audience from the outset of the video and gives them a reason to continue watching.

Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble (left) and Ed Sheeran - Give Me Love (right)