ANDREW GOODWIN THEORY

Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin, author of 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory', “Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements. As consumers, we make up our own meaning of a song in our minds: a music video can anchor meaning and this gives the record company/artist a method of anchoring meaning”. Goodwin believes that there are 6 features present within a music video, these 6 featurs being...

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Music videos establish genre characteristics

A relationship can be found between lyrics and visuals

A relationship is present between the music and visuals

Artist image

Notion of looking and Voyeurism

Intertextual references

Examples

Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' is one of the most stereotypical pop/dance music videos. The music video is a strereotypical pop/dance video because the artist (Beyonce) dances alongside two other with Beyonce in the middle. The energetic fast paced dance fits in with the typical characteristics of a pop/dance. Another generic characteristic of the video is the the low lighting it allows the us to focus soley on Beyonce and the camera remains centred on her throughout the video.

Examples

Music videos can either illustrate, amplify or disjunction the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The simplest example of this would be in the song 'C'mon let me ride' when the artist is seen riding a bicycle whist singing 'Let me ride your bicycle'

Examples

Visuals will often reinforce what the lyrics say. An example of this is seen in the music video 'Invicible' by Griminal. The lyrics depict a boy and girl in love, using personal terms such as "we" and "us". This is emphasised by the couple sharing an intimate moment on screen.

Examples

Record labels will try to create a brand using the artists face. One such example of this would be Selena Gomez, in many of her videos you often see close ups of her face. The singer may also depicted with genre characteristics to strengthen the brand and it's connection to the music genre.

Examples

In many music videos the idea of voyeurism is often apparent, with the camera following the theory of the male gaze. For artists it is claimed that this improves sales.The notion of looking helps reinforce this idea of voyeurism. An example of both of these is Rita Ora in 'How we do', she is seen wearing tight clothing and constantly looks into the camera at the audience.

Examples

Intertextual references help to create familiararity within a new video and help to sell a music video. One such example of an intertexual reference would be in Geri Halliwell's music video 'It's raining men', there are references between the video and the film 'Fame' with clothing and performance.

5 key aspects of a music video:

Thought through beat (what do the lyrics mean to you in your head?
Relationship between the song and the visuals
Narrative and performance of the song
Technical aspect of a music video
Star image: Making the Protagonist the centre of attention

Thought beats - Take the structure of the song into account. Listen to the voice of the song as an expression and therefore is able to make an association of its own. The artist tells us a story and we are listening to it making the music video a two-communication device.

Relationship between song and visuals - Use of images to illustrate the meaning of the song. Meanings and effects continuously shown through the video to drum it into our vision. The meaning of the song can be completely ignored.

Narrative and performance - Narrative and performance work hand in hand making it easier for the viewer to not lose interest. The artist as the narrator and participant increase its authenticity but the lip syncing remains at the heart of the music video.

Technical aspect of the music video - Camera work, colour schemes, editing, cutting help to set the tone for the music video. Includes mise en scene: props and costumes as well as the beats to cut the footage on.

Star image - Main focus is on the artist throughout the video. The artists want to remain memorable and so sets up a unique image. This image can develop over time and plays a big role in music videos.

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Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Music videos establish genre characteristics

A relationship can be found between lyrics and visuals

A relationship is present between the music and visuals

Artist image

Notion of looking and Voyeurism

Intertextual references

Examples

Examples

Examples

Examples

Examples

Examples

5 key aspects of a music video:

Thought through beat (what do the lyrics mean to you in your head?

Relationship between the song and the visuals

Narrative and performance of the song

Technical aspect of a music video

Star image: Making the Protagonist the centre of attention

Thought beats - Take the structure of the song into account. Listen to the voice of the song as an expression and therefore is able to make an association of its own. The artist tells us a story and we are listening to it making the music video a two-communication device.

Relationship between song and visuals - Use of images to illustrate the meaning of the song. Meanings and effects continuously shown through the video to drum it into our vision. The meaning of the song can be completely ignored.

Narrative and performance - Narrative and performance work hand in hand making it easier for the viewer to not lose interest. The artist as the narrator and participant increase its authenticity but the lip syncing remains at the heart of the music video.

Technical aspect of the music video - Camera work, colour schemes, editing, cutting help to set the tone for the music video. Includes mise en scene: props and costumes as well as the beats to cut the footage on.

Star image - Main focus is on the artist throughout the video. The artists want to remain memorable and so sets up a unique image. This image can develop over time and plays a big role in music videos.