Applying narrative theory to existing music videos

Sam Smith- I'm not the only one

 

This music video is about a married couple, a wife who stays home and looks after her husband, meanwhile, while her husband claims to go to work he is really seeing another woman. His wife knows what he is doing but can't bear to tell him she knows about the affair. Throughout this narrative we can see how  she puts on a brave face pretending all is well.

Tim O'sullivan says that all media tells a story through mediation, the way camera angles are shot and how the narrative is shown. Media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves. The story is of us as a culture representing the human condition consequently this video represents cheating which is a human experience. In this case the story is about an affair.

The use of mise en scene shows this woman (the wife) waving off her husband to work, when really he is going to see another woman. The use of camera angles shows this medium close up of the woman but we can see her husbands car in the background, then the shot changes and we see her expression revieling to the audience her emotions portraying sadness and shock.

By the expression on her face we can tell she looks heartbroken and she is putting on a front, as Kate Domaille says, every story can be fitted into one of the eight narrative types, this video fits into the Tristan&Iseult- love triangle genre, this is becasue there is another woman involved in their relationship.

 

This video is relatable to the pop/soul target audience, the song is about heartbreak which is a common theme in the pop industry, heartbreak is something the audience can/might have experienced and will understand when they watch this video.