Analysing Music Videos following Andrew Goodwin's Theory

1. Analysing Music Videos following Andrew
Goodwin's Theory
By Ellie Reeder

2. Break DOWN OF GOODWINSTHEORY
1. thought beats
2. relationship between narrative and performance
3. star trade marks
4. multiple close ups of main star
5. technical aspects

3. Lana Del Rey -Young and Beautiful
 “Young and beautiful”, recorded by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey was released on 23
April 2013.The song was released as a promotional single for the film released the same year
“The Great Gatsby” and was included on the films soundtrack. The music video was released on 10th
May, 2013.

4. Thought beats
when the shot changes to match the beat of the music, this make the video flow
more efficiently.
Throughout the song, there is a heavy drum beat
hit at the beginning of every chorus which is
reflected in the cut from a close-up to Del Rey
to the orchestra playing and the conductor
directing a rise in dynamics. The jump cuts
between shots are timed according to the tempo
and beats of “Young and Beautiful”.

5. the star trade mark
focuses on the artist's personality and the way that they present themselves
“Young and Beautiful”, when compared to many of her
past music videos, shows a clear distinctive style. She
often has dark, fuzzy effects added to the footage, to give
a vintage, dated feel to the clip, seen in videos such as
“Summertime Sadness”; The coloured lights spots on the
orchestra in “Young and Beautiful” can also be seen in
“Summertime Sadness”. Lanas music videos also feature a
range of close-ups on her face singing the song and are
almost always performance-based mainly, with perhaps a
slight narrative-spin. The singer is shown singing the song
in a dark room with glittery diamond-tears on her cheek
which look like tattoos. Using the location of a dark room
emphasises on the singers face and makes her the clear
focal focus within the shot.
“Young and Beautiful” “Summertime Sadness”

6. close up of main artist
allows the audience to feel like they know the artist as they get more personal shots
of them
In the shots of the artist singing the song, there are only ever
close-ups with the focus on the focal points of the face such as
cheeks, lips and eyes in extra close-ups and close-ups of the full
face from a range of angles. The technique of close-ups
develops a close, personal relationship between the audience
and the artist, allowing the viewer to feel connected and
involved in the music video and song. It also allows the artist to
come across as more relatable and personable.

7. narrative and performance
 This helps to make sure that the music video flows well through different scenes
as it allows two different elements to work together.
Due to “Young and Beautiful” being a largely performance-based music video, the lyrics have very little relation to
the visuals, particularly in terms of illustrating them which is more common in narrative-based videos.There is some
relation to the lyrics and the visuals however, as seen when Lana Del Rey begins the verse featuring “Dear Lord,
when I get to Heaven”, the footage flickers to an image of the artist standing in a shaft of light, this could then be
seen as a visual of what the artist may believe heaven looks like. During the chorus of the song, “Will you still love
me...”, the footage cuts to close-ups of the artist, creating a link between the artist’s question and the visual of the
artist’s face.The relationship between the narrative and the performance in “Young and Beautiful” shows an
amplifying performance.The music has a very melancholic and dreary tone which is mirrored and highlighted
through the misty, slightly fuzzy effect and dark lighting the footage features.There is also an illustrative aspect to
the relationship between narrative and performance in this music video; the shots of the orchestra playing is
illustrating the music heard in the on the track.

8. technical aspects
allows a music video to look more professional and make it flow better as a whole
A common characteristic of alternative rock music videos is using light and dark
colour to create a dated and natural ‘look’ and atmosphere. Del Rey’s “Young and
Beautiful” follows this convention, using lighting to black-out the details of Del
Rey’s figure. The video also works within a very dull and dark colour scheme,
reds, blues and purples decorating the shots of orchestra and the close-ups using
dark browns, creams and black to portray Del Rey. There are also some wide shots
, full-length but in dark lighting, playing with shadow across Del Rey’s figure so
that only her face and lips singing are highlighted.