This document summarizes Andrew Goodwin's theory of characteristics found in music videos. It outlines 6 key points: 1) A relationship between lyrics and visuals, 2) A relationship between music and visuals, 3) Demonstration of genre characteristics, 4) Inclusion of the artist, 5) References to looking/voyeurism and the female body, 6) Intertextual references. It then analyzes the music video for "You Make Me Feel" by Cobra Starship using Goodwin's theory to show how the video illustrates these characteristics.

1. Andrew
Goodwin’s
Theory

2. In Andrew Goodwin’s theory he pointed out characteristics and features that
can be found in music videos. The six points he noticed were
1. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are
represented with images. Synesthesia according to Goodwin is a process by
which sensory impressions are carried over from one sense to another –
seeing the sound in your head.
2. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and
atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. This is in three ways
• Illustrate – Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning
of lyrics and genre. This is very common
• Amplify – The meanings of the song are added to by the visuals. The
visual aspects add an extra layer of meaning, this is the most commonly
and best type to use to create a music video.
• Disjuncture – This is where the meaning of the song is completely
ignored.
3. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. E.g stage performance in
typical genre, dance routine for girl/boy.
4. The demands of the record label will include the needs for lots of close ups
of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work

3. 5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens
within screens, mirror, stages etc.) and particularly voyeuristic
treatment of the female body
6. There are often intertextual reference ) to film, TV
programmes, other music videos etc)
To prove this theory I shall analysis a
music video. The chosen song I have
chosen is Cobra Starship – You make me
feel… ft sabi.

4. 1. Relationship between lyrics and visuals
“You make me feel so” “In that bright white
light noise”
“Tell me what you want” “Put your hands up”

5. The main lyrics are the song are constantly repeated throughout the song which is “ you
make me feel so, La la la la la” Always the lyrics and the visuals have a clear relationship
and suit well. The main female and male singer of the song are constantly repeated
singing which keeps that consistent visual of the artists.
The artists performance is included in the same setting as the narrative which helps with
the visuals and the lyrics to express how they are feeling. This illustrates that the song is
about a boy and a girl in a club having fun. Although the lyrics of the chorus doesn’t say
this is still amplified to the person’s expressions.
It does not contradict against the lyrics
as we can clearly see that the lyrics set
out the mood well with the visuals.
Overall the image displayed reinforces
the lyrics.

6. 2. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The
tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the
music.
The video mostly used the technique of ‘amplify’ in the video. The meaning of the
song is backed up by the visuals. The song has quite a fast rhythm the editing goes
from long take to short take depending on the part of the song, this synchs with the
beat and helps the audience connect to the song more and illustrates the party
atmosphere of being in a club.
The video is fairly hybrid with both equal amounts of narrative and performance.
The song also used the technique ‘illustrate’ where they used a set of images which
illustrates the meaning of lyrics and genre. For example
These images represent certain moods of being in a nightclub which
adds humour and sets the atmosphere in-between shots. It also links
the female and the males.

7. 3. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. E.g
stage performance in typical genre, dance routine for
girl/boy.
Cobra Starship fits the genre of dance-pop and follows the typical conventions of the
genres typical music videos. These music genre’s tend to be set in a party atmosphere
where the artist normally tends to be involved in the narrative as well as the
performance.
The dance routines are very typical of females in a club, the
representation of the girl giving off her moves to try and impress and
attract the males.

8. The video also features traditional elements of a nightclub which
is alcohol, which adds to the atmosphere of the song as it builds
up excitement of the characters and their playful behaviour.

9. 4. The demands of the record label will include the
needs for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may
develop motifs which recur across their work
Throughout the video there are shots of the artist, one of them being a close up
shot. A lot of lighting is used upon the face to make their skin look desirable and
makes the artist look attractive upon the audience.
This motif recurs a lot in Cobra Starship
videos of the main singer wearing
sunglasses, this shows the recurring
motifs of his style . For example
another video he created ‘Good girls go
bad’
A lot of their video styles are also set in a
night atmosphere with a lot of dancing
alcohol, girls etc which demonstrates
recurring settings of the artist and the
characteristic he mostly tends to be
involved with.

10. A lot of medium shots are used upon the artist when he's involved in the
narrative.
As you can see the artist is mostly videoed with the opposite sex which raises his style
of having the women and his dominance.
You can also see this recurring style amongst his other videos

11. 5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking
(screens within screens, mirror, stages etc.) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
There is a slight voyeuristic treatment of the female body and is very
stereotypical to how females behave in a night club
The women uses a mirror to see
how she looks the reference that
she wants to look attractive towards
the opposite sex.
The women takes the male into another
room which shows their mind for fun of
using their body towards someone else

12. The way the female is
positioned is very voyeuristic
of the female body with
them giving off a sexy
position to give their self's
away with them having no
respect. The fact that she's
holding on to a pole could
refer to a pole dancing.
Stereotypical view of the women’s
feelings in a night club, the fact that
she's wearing a short skirt with her
legs raised heightens her feeling of
‘Kinky’ and is looking for fun.

13. 6. There are often intertextual reference ) to film, TV
programmes, other music videos etc)
A lot of still images shots are put inside
the video which could reference to a
magazine/newspaper image article
This image also references to the TV show
MTV movies
Though this video doesn’t display many intertextual references towards a
particular music video or film, it does however display the common
characteristic of the theme in nightclubs which are in a lot of films and TV
programs of the idea of the female and male both looking for love and some
excitement.