Todorov - Narrative

Todorov
Todorov's narrative theory basically states that most story's or plot lines follow the same pattern or path.

There are 5 steps in this pattern:

1. Equilibrium: The first part of the story will display a happy start, where the majority of characters are content and everything is as it should be.
2. Disruption: The second part of the story will feature a problem or something will disrupt the happiness. 
3. Realisation: This part of the plot is when everyone realises the problem and it is chaos. 
4. Restored Order:  This part of the plot is when the characters attempt to repair the damage and restore the problem.
5. Re-equilibrium: This is the final part of the plot where the problem is resolved and normality can resume again.  

Applying Todorov theory to Rihanna's music video Where have you been, you can see that the video follows a narrative. There are five steps in this pattern, the first part of the story will display a happy start, where the majority of characters are content and everything is as it should be, in this video the first thing we see is Rihanna coming out of a swamp where the lighting is dark and acts as mysterious, but it is content and Rihanna and the other characters are happy as it is start of the narrative and it is just beginning.

The second part of the story will feature a problem or something will disrupt the happiness. After, we see Rihanna coming out of the swamp it cuts between different settings where she is dancing with backing dancers, first of all she is dancing with all male dancers in a light environment where the mood setting is still happy and content, then the video cuts to a different setting where the lighting is dark, but she is dancing with all female dancers. As Rihanna is looking for a man as the lyrics point out as well as the song title, the cutting and editing from this video could imply that she is not been very successful, and that's why she has swapped between male dancers surrounding her to female dancers surrounding her, as well as been shown on her own showing that she is independent.

When the song speeds up, the dancing speeds up and the cutting between shots speed up, this could relate to there been a problem and chaos breaking out.

Rihanna is the main protagonist so when chaos breaks in the video and the dancing speeds up as well as the editing, she is seen on her own in many shots unlike at the start of the video where she was seen with backing dancers of both sexes. In the scenes where she is seen on her own she is being multiplied almost to look like a god figure person, this could imply that with the control she has in the video as the main protagonist she is attempting to repair the damage and restore the problem.

 The final part of the plot is where the problem is resolved and normality can resume again. In this video the problem is resolved and Rihanna has returned to her original setting/location where we first saw her, but this time she is returning with males.