1) Goodwin's theory states that there are five key aspects to an effective music video: the relationship between the song and visuals, the narrative and performance, the technical aspects, star image, and thought through beat.
2) The visuals should either illustrate, amplify, or create disjuncture with the lyrics. Illustration directly explains the meaning, amplification repeats imagery, and disjuncture ignores the meaning.
3) An effective music video involves the artist performing and acting as the protagonist to make the narrative and performance of the song seem more realistic and engage audiences.
1. ANDREW GOODWINS THEORY
Goodwin’s theory states that there are five key aspects to a music video:
Thought through beat
• Relationship between the song and visuals.
• Narrative and performance of the song.
• Technical aspect of a music video.
• Star image of the protagonist. Many camera shot, making the Artist the centre of
attention.
Thought through beat (seeing what they mean or represent in your head).
The first step of this process is to analyse the music structure understanding the
chorus and verses.
Then the second step (main voice of the song), the voice of the artist would be
unique compared to others and will give the person a form of identification that can
be related to the star image or Artist. The third step would be the story of an Artist
when they are trying to tell within the song. It can establish them as a story teller.
The music video can aid this by showing us the video through the vocals of this
particular song.
Relation between the music and visuals There are three ways visuals are used to
promote a song:
Illustrate: Music videos use certain images & shots to illustrate/explain the meaning
of lyrics to their song and the genre. Disjuncture: Is this situation, the meaning of the
song is completely ignored in the music video. Amplify: Repeatability- This is when
the images and camera shots are manipulated and shown repeatedly throughout the
music video and is drummed into our vision. Relation between the music and visuals.
Andrew believed that a music video can promote a song by though the way it
analysis the lyrics. This is shown in many music videos when a character does exactly
what the song says. Example is when the song lyrics are jump! Jump! Jump! And on
the music video there are characters/actors actually jumping.
2. Narrative & performance of the song Andrew Goodwin believed that it was important
for an artist to be involved in the music video by performing or acting out a role as
the main character or singer. It helps to make the song look more realistic and also
giving the audience a special connecting and good understanding of the song. A
good example of this is the song telephone by Lady Gaga she is the main actor in
the song an also the singer and it helps the video by making the song and video
look more realistic and this also help to engage the audience.
Star Image (protagonist), lots of camera shots making him/her the centre of attention.
Goodwin referred to the star image a as a very vital aspect of a music video, they are
making the music video look more appealing to the audiences and bring a unique
style to the video in the way he is portrayed. The start image is always very unique in
the way he presents himself, the costume, moves and appearance. This help to
promote the artist/star’s image in public and also helps to promote the video and
helps to build a public reputation. Technical aspect of a music video Andrew says that
the technical aspect helps to hold the music video together through the use of Mise-
en-Scene, Special effects sound and editing. Lightening and colour helps to set the
mood for the music video and create emphasis on significant parts of the song to
create a dramatic effect and thrill the audience. Mise-en-Scene is also very vital to the
production of the music video, it can make artist gain authentication and also make
his work appear professional. The beats of the song are also very useful as they can
help to create effective cuts that go with the rhythm of the song to make the music
video look more entertaining. Star Image of the protagonist
A relationship between the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the
lyrics. • A contradiction of the lyrics is shown through Jessie J‟s “Price Tag”. At this
point in the video the lyrics say, “it's not about the money, money, money” but Jessie
is stood under a tree that is made of money. In this scene, she is embracing the
money and this a complete contradiction of the lyrics that are being said at that time.
• On the other hand an amplification of the lyrics is shown through Radiohead's
“Weird Fishes”. At this point of the video the lyrics say, “yeah I'll, I'll hit the bottom”
and you can see the character falling towards the sea, about to hit the bottom. This
scene then goes on to show a series of character falling into the sea, amplifying the
lyrics at the time of video.