2. Goodwin introduced 5 key aspects of music
videos that the audience may recognise:
• Narrative and Performance
• Thought beats
• The Star’s Image
• Relation of visuals to the song
• Technical aspects of a music video
3. Narrative and Performance
The narrative and performance aspects only
give a certain amount of information about
the true narrative.
Goodwin says that music videos should ignore common
narratives. This is key in their advertising role.
Music videos should be logically consistent. The narrative
should reflect the performance and vice versa!
The artist playing the role of narrator and performer helps
with the authenticity of the video, but key aspects like lip
syncing and the timing of shot changes are much more
important.
4. Thought Beats
“See” the sound in your head.
1.
2.
3.
Look at the structure of the music – Chorus, Verses
etc.
The artists voice. This makes the song unique, as a
voice is a personal instrument.
Mode of address. Songs are stories, the artist is the
storyteller. This makes the song a communication
device, us being told a story by the artist.
5. The Star’s Image
The stars image is a key aspect that is
recognised in a music video.
6. Relation of Visuals to Song
The three ways in which a music video
works to promote a song.
Illustrate – The use of images to connote the meaning
of kyrics and the genre.
Amplify – Similar the repeatability, subtle messages and
meanings are shown constantly in the video to be
engraved into our vision.
Disjuncture – The meaning of the song is completely
ignored.
7. Technical aspects of a Music Video
Important aspects in all music videos.
Speed, Editing, Camerawork & Shot Cutting.
Light & Colour for mood & dramatic effect.
Mise-en-scene, Setting, authenticness.
Beats, shot frequency suggest the “tempo” of the song and
narrative.
