Existing Characters

For music videos with a strong narrative, characters can be a quite an important aspect. However, some music videos choose to simply use visuals to illustrate the song that is playing. Characters in a music video can help the audience connect and relate to a song; and for some bands the same characters are used in several videos to create a concept album.

 

False Alarm - The Weeknd

 

This music video is quite unique as we see the narrative through the eyes of an unknown character. This is quite engaging and new. Through this POV narrative we can see a focus on one character in particular: the girl.

 

What makes her so memorable is the fact that the POV we are coming from seems to favour her over the team's targets e.g. the money. This leads to a lot of questions; does the POV and girl have a past? Is the POV simply just kind hearted? On top of this, she becomes more memorable due to the ending where she leaves the POV to die and takes a money bag. This is unexpected, particularly as the girl comes across as innocent - though she clearly shows initiative as she shot one of the captures. It is interesting how we are made to feel sorry for her at the start of the video but this is quickly changed by the end.

 

The girl really adds to the narrative as she keeps an element of emotion in the story, instead of it being mindless violence with an arguably cliché story line.

 

 



 

Acid Rain - Lorn

 

This music video won a few awards. It is again quite a unique music video. There are about 5 characters in the music video, but the main focus seems to be on the first cheerleader we see. The narrative is somewhat mysterious and vague, but it still manages to capture and maintain the audience's attention. What makes the characters so memorable is perhaps their movements and the way they dance, coupled with the effects placed in during editing. Put together, this creates a really dynamic set of characters.

 

The audience can connect to the first character in particular as she ties the start and end together and we can gather that she has died in the car crash along with the other cheerleaders.

 

 

Lullaby - The Cure

 

The song itself tells the story of the Spider Man that haunts your sleep. The video illustrates and brings this to life. The main character is of course Robert Smith who remains in bed being haunted by a series of characters. It has a strong narrative and is led by the lyrics of the song.

 

We can understand that the character in bed is struggling to sleep and is perhaps an insomniac. The changing happenings and the Spider Man getting closer helps to maintain the audience's attention. I think all the characters used in the video make it so memorable - this including the glimpses of the Spider Man, the shots of the marching band covered in cobwebs, and the character in bed himself. Robert Smith's signature look is still included which helps make the video more iconic.