Narrative Theory

Sam Smith- I’m not the only one

Narrative Theory

The first shot is a establishing shot of a family home and could be a interpretation a newly married couple who live there. The shot is edgy and rough as it is a hand held shot this could signify that the couple’s relationship is unsettle, complicated and troubled. The medium close up of male antagonist looking into the mirror could indicate that the male is secretly leading 2 separate lives; this would be the start of the plot by Bordwell and Thompson’s theory. Another interpretation could be that he is very vain and loves himself.

 The inferred events interpret that the couple were happy and have just got married as at the start of the video, the protagonist is wearing what looks like a wedding dress.

Personally, the immediate effect from the music video is they have just got married, as both characters are in the traditional bride and groom costume.

The antagonist is shown walking into dark lit compact entrance to a sleazy bar, portraying that he is the antagonist. Whereas, the protagonist is wearing her wedding dress and is sat with a glass of wine in an open area with a pool, this could signify that she is upset as she could have turned to the drink to try and forget about the problems of the relationship. The next shot is of the protagonist crying whilst taking her wedding ring off. 

The make-up has been used to add more emphasis as the female character has mascara down her face, which indicates that she has been upset for a long time. The female protagonist is demeaning for women and shows weakness, this could signify that couple’s life seems perfect on the outside with posh house and cars; doesn’t mean that having that particular lifestyle means she is happy but the female character knows she’s “not the only one” in her husband’s life.

Carlson’s theory is shown within the video as we see Sam Smith doing a performance in front of a red curtain on a stage, this could connote that Sam smith was the wedding singer as red portrays love and passion, it could also interpret that Sam Smith is singing at the bar, where the antagonist meets his other women.

Tom O’Sillivan theory is proved correct in this music video as it states that all media text tell us some kind of story. The story behind the song could give the audience courage to be strong to leave the relationship if they are not happy, even when everything is perfect with the lifestyle.

The protagonist burns all of his clothes and pictures of them onto a fire, this could interpret that she has finally seen the light that the antagonist isn’t the person for her. However it could also interpret that she has lost some of her life believing his lies and she has burnt her life away trying to be perfect.

The non-diegetic material is the antagonist arriving home and the protagonist allows/greets him back in the house and acts like nothing has happened

Claude Lèvi-Strauss’ (1958) believed that all stories operated to certain clear Binary Opposites e.g. good vs. bad, this is a good example of this music video as the antagonist is the male character as he is cheating on his wife, and the ‘good’ would be the protagonist being the female character as she hasn’t done anything wrong as far as we know.

This music video fits into Tristan and Iseult from one of the eight Kate Domaille theories: this is a love triangle, where man loves woman unfortunately one or both of them are already spoken for.