music video theory

2.  What genre does this music video belong to?
 Think about the use of generic conventions.
EXT: are there any other genres these conventions could be placed into?

3.  All: will understand Goodwin’s theory (grade D)
 Most: will understand Goodwin’s theory and identify the
different characteristics within a music video (grade C-B)
 Some: will identify Goodwin’s characteristics and use it to
critically analyse videos of different genres. Link to audience
response (grade A-A*)
L.O: To apply Goodwin’s theory to the analysis of music videos

4. Andrew Goodwin (1956–
2013) was a Professor of
Media Studies at the
University of San
Francisco.
In 1992 he published the
first comprehensive
study on the MTV,
Dancing in the
distraction factory
(Routledge, 1992) in
which he analysed the
characteristics of music
videos.

5. Goodwin’s characteristics
1. Performance, Narrative or Anti-narrative (Conceptual)?
2. Genre conventions
3. Correlations between music and visuals
4. Correlations between lyrics and visuals
5. Star image motifs
6. Notion of looking
7. Intertextual references
8. Technical elements

6. Music videos often reflect their genre through the use of formal
aspects.These formal aspects are known as generic conventions.

7.  Performance music videos focus exclusively on the
artist/band performing the song.

8.  Narrative music videos depict a story which
illustrates, amplifies or contrast with the lyrics of the
song.
Moby &TheVoid Pacific Choir
AreYou Lost InTheWorld Like Me?
AphexTwin Come to Daddy

9.  Conceptual (or anti-narrative) music videos usually a
single concept, which can be purely technical or based
on a specific idea.
OK Go The One MomentA PlaceTo Bury Strangers
And I'm Up
Sia Elastic Heart

10.  Some videos may feature different characteristics and
conventions from different types.
Bosco Rogers True Romance Thee Spivs It’sTrue

11. Can you think of any amplifying or contradicting examples?
This correlation can be:
1. Illustrative: a literal visual representation of the lyrics.
2. Amplifying: visual exaggeration of the lyrics, which adds new layers of
meaning to a song.
3. Contradicting (Disjuncture): contradicting or disjointed visual
representation of the lyrics.

12. Can you think of any amplifying or contradicting examples?
 Visuals show a correlation to the music.These are also
either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting.
 If the music is upbeat, so are the visuals.
 If the music is monotone, usually so are the visuals.

13.  A music video is a marketing device in order to promote an artist. It is a
conventional characteristic to include many close-up shots of the artist,
demanded by the record labels to make them identifiable by the
audience.
Does ‘star image motifs’ just include the attractive?
What genres do not rely on this idea and why is this so?

14.  Particularly voyeuristic
treatment of the female
body – women that are seen
as a sexual object.There are
many music videos/artists
that could fit into this
section nowadays.
Does the music genre determine the
representations of gender?

15.  In many music videos you will find there are often links to other films,TV
programmes or other music videos etc, this is called an intertextual
reference.

16.  Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by
other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and
transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s
referencing of one text in reading another.
 The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed
and transformed many times since it was coined by
poststructuralist Julia Kristeva in 1966.
 As critic William Irwin says, the term “has come to
have almost as many meanings as users, from those
faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who
simply use it as a stylish way of talking about
allusion and influence”
18/07/2019 16

17.  Intertextuality uses references to other media texts
with which the audience may be familiar to generate
both potentially nostalgic associations and new
meanings.
Some examples of intertextuality inThe Simpsons:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=656k6b09mF4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4I9gQr6muE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LloIPhC2s0Q
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVEzuhQzKpE
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xto8_lj_G7M
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bbNrbCurnI
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rszVJFUNiKw
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1sp14qNr0c
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex26S2q1-vU
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1L3rMBCaZA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDhAJPy6aiY
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2LeYF2NSTA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWA_7y4Dok8
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlsNpaw_2Dw
18/07/2019 17

18. ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’
from Gentlemen prefer blondes
(Howard Hawks, 1953)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g__ANxxwKIk
18/07/2019 18
Madonna ‘Material Girl’ (Mary Lambert ,1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3wYIjI8WcI

19. 18/07/2019 19
Robert Palmer AddictedTo Love
(Donovan, 1986)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcATvu5f9vE
ShaniaTwain Man I Feel Like AWoman
(Paul Boyd, 1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJL4UGSbeF
g

20.  From Madonna’s ‘MaterialGirl’ (Mary
Lambert ,1985) drawing on ‘Diamonds are a
Girl’s Best Friend’) to 2Pac and Dr Dre’s
‘California Love’ (HypeWilliams 1996,
drawing on ‘Mad Max’) there are many
examples of cinematic references which
dominate music video.
18/07/2019 20

21. Cinematography: Multiple close ups of the artist are used to create a
sense of proximity between the artist and the audience.
Mise en scene: Lighting reflects the mood of the genre.
Sound: Can we talk about diegetic/non-diegetic sound in music videos?
Editing: Cuts between shots normally follow the rhythm of the song
(The pace of the editing is usually determined by the pace of the song).

22.  Using Goodwin’s theory,
analyse one music video of
your choice. Estate the
following:
 Genre:
 Artist:
 Song:
 Generic conventions found
in the video, illustrated
with detailed examples
(from the video).
 All: will understand Goodwin’s theory
(grade E)
 Most: will understand Goodwin’s theory
and identify the features within a music
video (grade C)
 Some: will identify Goodwin’s
characteristics and use it to critically
analyse videos of different genres. Link
to audience response (grade A)

24. Structure of your post:
 Introduce the theory:Who was Andrew Goodwin?What
does his theory try to explain?
 Mention the 8 characteristics and use few examples to
support your work.
 Analyse your own example using Goodwin’s theory.
Conclusion:
 Which, if any of these characteristics will you apply to
your own video?