5 Inspirational Narrative Videos

As my group is doing a narrative music video, here are 5 narrative videos that may be influential in the way we film ours. 

Grenade by Bruno Mars - This is a good example of a balance of performance and narrative featuring contrast as the artist cuts between scenes showing the story of a man who would do anything for a girl including pull a piano all the way to her house and dark and dreary moments of performance lipsyncing away from the action. This is something we aim to do in our music video.

Wild by Troye Sivan - My group also had the idea of portraying a young friendship in our video cut in with scenes of them older selves or other adults to show the contrast of old and young and not wanting to grow up. This video is part of a trilogy that chronicles Troye's relationship with this boy as they grow up. I personally like the idea of showing young love or friendship in videos as it is very touching and audiences can maybe relate to their past relationships.

Take Me to Church by Hozier - This video set in a very urban area shows the story of two young men and how they handle their relationship in a very homophobic neighborhood, it is incredibly deep and meaningful and goes along with the lyrics as Hozier is stating that the church does not conventionally find this acceptable and they feel they must be judged. I like this video because of the meaning and social commentary it holds.

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko - Like the previous video, this one also shows a "forbidden" relationship between two girls. I like this video because it is very upbeat but meaningful holds heavy social commentary on how people still find lesbian relationships unethical. I also like the type of daylight it is shot in as it gives the video a very picturesque, suburban sunset look which my group will be aiming for in our video in terms of lighting during some scenes.

Pretty Hurts by Beyonce - this song through the video and the lyrics show how people, girls especially, go through a lot of trouble just to be judged as pretty. Beyonce reflects this ridiculous pageant tradition in a negative light and showing how society feels women should dress and behave to be looked upon as pretty. In a way, it is very cynical but done in classic Beyonce style. I like the way this video is set as it has several different setting but based around one location that fits in with its narrative.

3 Inspirational Performance Videos

Even though my group is not doing a performance video we would like to incorporate some performance aspects into it to help tell the story. I have selected 3 videos that I think have some nice ideas throughout them that we may take inspiration from.

R.I.P 2 My Youth by The Neighborhood -  I like this video as reflects the lyrics throughout the song as the lead singer sings inside of a coffin. I also like the different shot types, for example, the close-ups of the drum. We could use the idea of extreme close-ups and light used to create interesting shadows, I feel it creates a nice effect. 

Scars by James Bay - This video starts off with a close-up shot of the artist and slowly pans out in different shots to reveal the entire band. I like this video because of its simplicity and how the artist interacts with his audience by looking directly into the camera throughout the video. 

Breathe Life by Jack Garratt - This video is completely set in the ocean using close-up and top down shots of the artist floating as well as backup dancers doing water aerobics. This video is inspiring as it is unlike any other video. Personally, I like this video as it is simple but visually beautiful.

Vlog

Kodaline All I Want

'All I Want' by Kodaline is an interesting example of a narrative music video, it is especially interesting because it has been split into two parts in which both videos use the same song as they follow the story of a "monster" looking man and his venture to find love and then his dog. The video is not only heartwarming and well made but also holds social commentary showing how society views people with physical deformities. 

The narrative aspect of this video is very inspiring as it not only tells a great story but also has an underlying meaning, which is what we as a group attempt to achieve in our music video.

Classic Performance and Narrative Videos

Micheal Jackson's Thriller was one of the most revolutionary music videos of the 20th century, as it changed how artists represent their songs through video. Not only did it have a huge budget but it but it was the first to introduce the concept of an extended music video to tell a larger story. My group may be interested in this concept as we are avid storytellers and want to create something that is as beautiful and inspired as Thriller.

I feel that Thriller took storytelling through music to another level, as it did not have a deep meaning but one that is fun, relatable and understandable through a song that is catchy, enjoyable and stands the test of time. 

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is another revolutionary music video, this time in the performance genre. It merges live performance with aesthetic moments that hook the audience with the close-up shots and dramatic lighting as the band performs. Though we have decided to focus our music video around a narrative we feel like the performance aspects of this video are the type we may include in ours because of its simplicity and effectiveness. 

Performance or Narrative?

We created a list of different narrative and performance videos:

In our lesson, we looked at several different videos in order to decide what kind we would choose, narrative or performance. My group has decided to go with a narrative video because we think telling a story is important and through this, we could portray and important message whether it be something important and relevant to what is happening in the world right now or something broader. I think my group wanted to do narrative because we all like to tell stories and this is just another why of doing that just through different media. We will not focus entirely on a narrative aspect however as we may include some performance aspects like lip syncing and dancing throughout the video.

Video Idea: Colour Powder

This spoken word piece uses colour powder against white clothing and background to create contrast, the use of colour powder in the video also relates to the lyrics from the artist as he is speaking about colour and how it changes people. Furthermore the use of slow motion increases the dramatic contrast of the colour against white background. 

If we were to use this in our video I think it will be interesting in a visual and narrative aspect as the use of the powder is aesthetically pleasing but could also be used as a way to establish a story in our music video as different colour can have universal meaning that shows emotion and characteristics. The colour powder could also be used in water to create the an colourful ink affect which is used as insert shots in music videos such as "Cough Syrup by Young the Giant."