Andrew Goodwins Theory explained with example from a few famous music videos.

1. Andrew Goodwin’s Theory
Andrew Goodwin's Theory consists of five key aspects
of music video that the audience needs to look out for:
• Lyrics And Visuals
• Music and Visuals
• Music Video
• Emphasis Of Looking
• Intertextuality

2. *There is a strong relationship between the lyrics and
visuals in Michael Jacksons “Thriller” video.
*“It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark”
In the video, when these lyrics are heard, there are
walking home together late at night, just before the
‘undead’ characters are shown.
*“They're out to get you, there's demons closing in on every side”
These lyrics are heard just before Michael’s girlfriend
begins to be surrounded by numerous ‘zombies’ who are
slowing walking towards her.

3. *There is also a distinct link between the music and
visuals
*The amazingly choreographed dance number fits
perfectly with the theme and beat of the song.
*There is also a noticeable emphasis on looking. In
the video, Michael Jackson is wearing a blinding red
leather suit with a huge collar and shoulder blades.

4. *Intertextuality means when elements of other texts
are shown.
*In ‘Thriller’ at the beginning during the film in the
movie theatre, Michael Jackson’s character has a
dramatic transformation into a werewolf which is
notably similar to a scene showing a werewolf
transformation in the film ‘An American Werewolf
in London’. Jackson was a huge fan of the film and
deliberately added this implication.

5. *The relationship between the lyrics and visuals in
Madonna’s “Material Girl” video is clear.
*“They can beg and they can plead” These lyrics connote
desperation and while we hear these lyrics, we see the men
in the video running around after Madonna and carrying
her around as if they are doing whatever to get near her
*“Material Girl” This connotes that Madonna is very
obsessed with expensive posessions and in the video we
see her wearing a seemingly expensive dress as well as
diamond earrings alongside being escorted in a very nice
car.

6. *There is also a noticeable relationship between the music
and visuals.
*Madonna is walking for a lot of the video and her steps are
usually in time with the beat. Many other aspects of the
video such as the choreography are also in time with the
beat.
*There is also an unmissable reference to Marilyn Monroe
in this video, mainly through the outfits and actions, but as
well through the lyrics.

7. *There are not many links between the lyrics and visuals in
this video but there is one main one, “Sabotage” as the
main theme of the video is about someone being set up by
the police in a drug deal.
*The pace of the visuals in the video keep up to speed with
the pace of the song, they are both very fast paced and also
at the beginning of the video there are many cuts to the
beat of the drums.

8. * The whole video is based around police shows from the 1980’s
such as Starsky and Hutch and Hawaii 5-0 which have two
detective partners. The video makes fun of the cheesiness of
these shows with the fake mustaches/sideburns, wigs, retro cars
and emphasised zooms but in an appreciative way. The concept
of the video also fits well with the lyrics of the song.