Applying Todorov's Theory: Music Video

A-ha - Take on me


This video is a good example of Todorov's theory as is has clear equlibrium. For example, the video starts off with what looks like a comic and then the shot changed to the woman reading it. A hand then reaches out of the comic and pulls thr woman in. This is when the video starts to change. As the woman is watching the man inside the comic, the disequlibrium comes when the waitress screws up the comic and puts it in the bin. When the shot switches back into the comic there is another sense of disequilibirum when the 'villian' comes along and starts the try and hit/ chase after the main man/ 'hero' and woman. This forces them to run into a maze, which was created by the waitress that screwed up the comic. When they are faced with a dead end, the 'hero' steps up and opens a hole for the woman to go through. The arctityple villian's are only there to make the 'hero' look good. The video continues when the woman goes back to her home and looks through the comic to see what happens in the end of the story. The equilibrium is then restored when he turns up at her house and he is fine. A lot of Propp's theory also works in well with video with the typical princess, hero and villain story.