Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

Todorov was the finder of the narrative theory which said that music videos do not always necessarily work in linear. Narrative structure is the way that a plot unfolds and can have an open or closed ending. An open ending leaves the ending with no resolution (a cliff-hanger) and so leaves time for a sequel whereas a closed ending sums everything up and makes sure everything is resolved. There are three types of structure within narrative which are interactive structure, where the audience is involved and decides on the ending e.g. 'x-factor', multi-stranded structure, where several narratives are happening at the same time such as the films 'love actually' and 'lock, stock and two smoking barrels' and POV structure, which is where the narrative is taken from one characters perspective. Music videos predominantly take the structure of multi-stranded structure as throughout music videos there are several things happening at once and the clips alternate between them.

Michael Shore (1984) argues that music videos are: recycled styles, surface without substance, simulated experience, information overload, image and styles scavengers, ambivalence, decadence, immediate gratification, vanity and the moment, image assaults and outre folks, the death of content, anesthetization of violence without chic, adolescent male fantasies, speed, power, girls and wealth, album art come to turgid life, classical story telling motif.

Andrew Goodwin (1992) argues that in music video 'narrative relations are highly complex' and meaning can be created from the individual audio viewers musical personal taste to sophisticate intertextuality that uses multi-discursive phenomena of western culture. Many are dominated by advertisement references, film pastiche and reinforce the post-modern 're-use' tradition.

Sven Carlsson (1999) suggested that music videos in general fall into two rough groups: performance and conceptual clips. When a music video mostly shows an artist singing of dancing it is a performance clip, however, when a clip shows something else during its duration, often with artistic ambitions, it is a conceptual clip (abstract, interprets mood and tone etc. e.g. No Surprises - Radiohead)
However, music videos can also fall into a third group; narrative, where the clip follows and tells a story.