Riptide - Narrative Codes and Conventions

1. Are there any elements of coherence in the narrative? (Potential theories/ideas to use: Todorov and Postmodernism)
Todorov's narrative theory basically states that most story's or plot lines follow the same pattern or path. The music video does this in the chorus because there is a pattern of a women singing next to a standing microphone. After every chorus the performance with the lady progresses. This is the only part of the music video which is consistent. The rest of the music video is linked to the lyrics of the song. The music video for the most part rejects a clearly defined narrative. There are some coherent narrative structures but for the most part the sequences deliberately lack narrative coherence.

2. What 'message' does the video contains?
 The video can be interpreted according to social convention. One example being the pile of dollar bills which relates to the lyric "oh, all my friends are turning green". Barthes view that constructed meanings can come to seem self-evident through the connotations of the colour green in relations to money. This has achieved Barthes' status of myth through a process of naturalisation which might allow for complicated readings of the image.

3. The opening line "I was scared of dentists and the dark" is interpreted explicitly with a shot of a female looking "scared" with a metallic contraption in her mouth that suggests she is in a dentist's chair and followed by a shot of a light swinging in a darkened room.

4. "Oh, all my friends are turning green"
"I want to be your left hand man"
"I was scared of pretty girls"
"Running down to the riptide"

5. "Lady, running down to the riptide/taken away to the dark side". Both these lines are metaphors, that come together to imply one idea. A riptide is an offshore current that often traps beach goers and causes them to drown. The set of metaphors is telling us that the girl is starting to get herself into bad situations and embracing a new one.

6. The music video is presenting itself as a short film. The song is sending its listeners a message about the inevitability of a relationship, and how you cannot rely very much on an acquaintance that you have, as you will probably be let down and disappointed. It's saying that we shouldn't rely too much on something.

7. Feature films
Western films (cowboys)
Horror films
Baywatch - when the woman is turned away from the camera and is undressing.