2. Andrew Goodwin's theory allows us to
analyse music videos in depth and cover
all the vital elements that a video will
contain. It allows us to see trends and
connections between genre and content.
3. In His Book Dancing in the Distraction Factory Andrew Goodwin points
out six characteristics and features that can be found in music
videos:
• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl
band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are
represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
• There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and
atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of
close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur
across their work (a visual style).
• There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within
screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment
of the female body.
• There are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes,
other music videos etc).
4. When planning and creating our video we
will be using these characteristics which
he has specified in order to ensure that
the genre and narrative of our music
video is clear…
5. Genre characteristics - In order to show the genre we will
include shots of a guitar being played; this will connect
with the alternative/acoustic style of rock which our
chosen song uses.
6. Connection between lyrics and visuals – during our
video the visual storyline follows the same story as the
lyrics of the song, for example when he sings “if only I
could be in that bed again, if only it was me instead of
him” our video will show the first boyfriend in the bed and
then will be edited to show the new boyfriend taking his
place. However our video will not totally match the
storyline word for word, for example when he sings “just
your skin against the window” we will not be showing
Jess leaning against a window as this section will be
focusing on her new relationship. This ensures that our
video is different to the original as the official video does
not focus on a new relationship like ours will.
7. Relationship between music and visuals – we will be
adhering to this, as when the music becomes sad
towards the end we change the scene from focusing on
the new couple, to showing the ex trying to persuade the
girl to get back together with him. During this section we
have used the rain to connote the ex boyfriend’s
sadness and desperation as this will create a visual
representation of how the music is supposed to make
the audience feel.
In addition at the end where the singers voice becomes
softer as the song begins to end, we will return to shots
of the ex playing guitar and then he will walk away at the
end, perhaps suggesting that he is giving up; this
connects with the way in which the music implies the
person should be feeling.
8. Close ups of artist and motifs – within our video we plan on
using many close ups of all three characters. During the
conversation between Jess and Tom we will show the two
of them in one shot, and then show their close ups of their
faces separately in the shots following. In addition we will
use close ups of Jess and Jonny’s faces during the rain
scene to show their emotions, as it is a music video and
can’t use much speech (other than lyrics) facial
expressions are essential.
We will also be doing close ups of Jonny’s face and hands
when he is playing guitar as this will emphasise the focus
on music and importance of lyrics and instruments.
Throughout the video the shots of Jonny
playing guitar will be used within each
chorus, this is knows as a motif because
the same selection of scenes and shots
appear multiple times.
9. Voyeuristic presentation of women – within our music
video the majority of Jess’ outfits are very feminine and
sometimes revealing. This will make her attract the male
gaze, as clothes such as skinny jeans and dresses
which are pulled in at the weight show her nice figure.
10. Intertextual references – our film ideas have been
influenced by many other texts, for example the film One
Day has been a big inspiration for me and this is where the
idea of using a ‘heartbreak’ storyline came from. In
addition other videos and artists have had a big influence
on our video, for example my ideas have been inspired by
many of The Maine’s and Fossil Collective’s videos. In
addition our video has been influenced by videos by Fun,
The Lumineers and The Maccebees. The choices we have
made about casting and styling the exboyfriend/musician
have been influenced by Jakes Bugg’s style.
These are screen shots from Fossil Collective and This scene from The Scripts’ video was one of the
The Lumineers’ music videos. These scenes inspirations for the part of our video where Jonny looks
helped to inspire our scene where Jonny plays at old photos; polaroid photos are more old fashioned,
guitar. classic and ‘indie’ than the phone in The Scripts’
video.
