In media, three main theories that can be applied to media texts. Todorov’s 5 step narrative theory, Propps character types and the binary oppositions created by Levi Strauss. These can be applied to the majority of films; however they do not always appear within music video’s as they are often montages and do not follow a story because they only have three minutes. Therefore they tend to rely on intertexuality to create meaning rather than a narrative structure. The narrative and character types can be very hard to express fully, however we often see Strauss’s theory used to suggest a narrative and create understanding.
Todorov’s narrative can be easily applied to the Lady Gaga paparazzi video as there is a clear story line created by a linear narrative. The equilibrium is at the start where she and the man (the antagonist) are in love, and the disequilibrium occurs when she falls off the balcony the recognition of this is where we see her disabled and on crutches. The reparation is when the protagonist (Lady Gaga), takes revenge at the climax of the video and the new equilibrium is when she shoots back to fame. The video follows Todorov’s idea of a narrative and it is easily accessible because it’s a long music video at 7 minutes long, so she has time to create a full plot and create understanding. However is still ellipsis editing like most music videos as it doesn’t have time to show every event in real time. This is often not the case with a lot of music videos as they tend to be heavily performance based and not show a strong narrative structure like this video. Music videos tend to use an enigma code to make the audience question what is going on and although it is not used in this specific video, it is something that they can use to create meaning.
Vladimir Propps character theory, in which every narrative has a set of 8 character types with a certain role and purpose within the story. This can be applied to some extent to the Paparazzi video however it is very unclear and quite complex. Lady Gaga’s character in theory suits three of the character types. She is the hero as she saves herself in the end as she kills the man to return to fame, however she is also the villain for doing this. At the same time, she also plays the princess as she in need of help in order to get back to fame. Also the antagonist who is the man is the villain as he pushes her off the balcony, but so are the paparazzi themselves as it is their fault. So the video showcases certain character types but it is very complicated as its all mixed up. The reason why Propps theory isn’t often represented in music videos is because there is not enough time to showcase all the characters properly and if they do it creates confusion, that is why you often only see the hero, princess and villain as it creates clearer meaning in the shorter time limit.
Strauss’s binary opposition theory occurs in most music videos purely because it is short and is often needed to create story line and understanding. In this video we get the typical good vs bad that we see in most media texts as it is something everyone understands. We also see love vs hate, as they are in love but the protagonist is driven by hate to murder. It also clearly showcases the ideas of fame vs. reality, as in the equilibrium and new equilibrium we see fame and everything in-between is the reality of fame and how it affects people.
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