Theorist Andrew Goodwin

1. ANDREW GOODWIN
NARRATIVE & PERFORMANCE

2. We only get a gist of the meaning, we make up
our own idea of what’s being told.
Britney Spears – Every time
Taylor Swift – Shake it off

3. Goodwin explains music videos should ignore
common narrative: an important role of
advertising.
Lady Gaga & Beyoncé – Telephone
Outkast - Roses

4. Music videos should be repeatable! Narrative &
performance together so the video can be
watched over and over without losing interest.
The XX – Islands
Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Dani California

5. Artist acting in both narrative and performance
increases the ‘authenticity’.
This shows they’re more than just performing
the song, it is a ‘part of them’.
Katy Perry – Roar
Meghan Trainor – All about that bass

6. Thought Beats
Goodwin said that to analyse a music video you
need to look at the structure of the song. This
includes chorus, verse and bridge. Then he stated
that you should consider the voice of the artist, a
unique voice can form an iconic identification for
the artist, forming a star image. Lastly, to analyse
the video, consider the artist’s mode of address.
This could be if the song is like a story, therefore
the artist would be the storyteller, and the
audience; the listeners. This makes the video and
song a communication device as the artist is
telling a story to his/her audience.

7. 3WAYS IN WHICH MUSIC VIDEOS WORK TO
PROMOTE SONG
ILLUSTRATE – It is the easiest and simplest out of the three and most common.
Music videos can use a lot of set images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics & genre
AMPLIFY – This is where effects are completely manipulated and constantly shown
throughout the video and drummed into our vision. May use both performance and
narrative.
DISJUNCTURE – This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored. Tries
to create a new meaning. Tend not to make a lot of sense and can often use abstract
imagery.

8. TECHNIQUAL ASPECTS
Hold the music video together through use of
the camera work, movement, angle, mise en
scene, editing, sound and special effects.
Mise en scene: The mise en scene of the music video is vital in
any music video. It needs to maintain authenticity to look
professional and therefore attractive to consumers. Another
aspect of mise en scene; Lighting and colour can also enhance
the video, as well as setting and characterization.
Lighting and Colour: As part of mise en scene, lighting and
colour play a huge role in determining the genre of the video. For
example, a pop music video is more likely to use bright bold
colours to engage their younger audience, e.g. Katy Perry’s
Californian Girls video uses bright pinks and baby blues to
encourage its audience to watch. On the other hand, more
‘depressing’ style music such as Pink ‘Just like a pill’ use darker
colour and lighting to keep the dull atmosphere about the song to
match the lyrics.

9. Star Image
Andrew Goodwin believes that the star
image is a vital aspect of a music video,
this is because if he/she has the ability to
make the music video look more
appealing us as a audience are going to
be more intrigued as they are brining a
unique style to the video in a way the
artist wants it to be portrayed to us as
the audience.
The star image needs to be unique in the
way of their appearance, actions and
costume. E.g. Lady Gaga has a very
unique appearance/dress sense and this
makes her noticeable and promotes her
to the audience in a specific way people
will remember.