Andrew Goodwin music video theory

1. ANDREW GOODWIN’S
THEORY
Of music videos

2. There’s three things..
• He states that there are three ways in which a music
video can connect to the music, which are:
• Illustration
• Amplification
• Disjuncture

3. Illustration
• Illustration is simply, a literal meaning to the song, visually.
• Last Friday Night by Katy Perry is a good example, the
song depicts a party (on a Friday, such is the title)
• Some of the lyrics portray young people dancing on
tables: yeah we danced on tabletops
• And drinking too much: “yeah
we took too many shots”

4. Amplification
• Amplification can be seen to be the enhancement of a
concept video. It can be as artistic as the director desires
but will still convey the meaning of the lyrics through the
video.
• In Miley Cyrus’ video for Wrecking Ball in which the song
describes a harsh break up and her “coming in like a
wrecking ball” into her partners life. She is shown to be
extremely sad, crying, and then physically on a wrecking
ball herself.

5. Disjuncture
• Completely ignores the lyrical content of the song and
tries to almost create new meanings to it.
• Red Hot Chili Peppers’ video for Can’t Stop is a good
example of a disjunctured video, nothing quite adds up.