2. Goodwin's theory
Andrew Goodwin has identified key features that
distinguish music as a form he thinks that :
There is demand from the record company for lots of
close ups- especially of the main artist
Music genres have their own music video style
There is most likely to be references to either films, tv
or other music videos.
There is likely to be voyeurism especially with the
treatment of women.
3. 5 aspects of music videos
Andrew Goodwin has pointed out five key aspects in
music videos that the audience should notice:
The star image
Narrative and performance
Relation to visuals in the song
Technical aspects of the music video
Thought Beats
4. Star image
The star image is a virtual aspect of music videos. There has been so
much development of the star image over time and it has such a
massive and important part to play in music videos and the production
process. Music videos are primarily used to promote an artist, they
produced by record companies as a way of increasing the profile of the
arist.
This is achieved through making the artist the star of the video by
giving them the most screen time and using techniques like close ups,
to proliferate the image and status of the star.
5. Narrative and performance
Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore
common narrative as it is important in their role of
advertising. Songs usually fail to give us the complete
narrative and we only get a gist of the meaning of the song.
We then go on to make up our own idea of what’s being
told.
The lip synching and miming in music videos has to bell
well executed as audience need to believe it’s real.
When narrative and performance work hand in hand it
easier for the audience to interpret the full meaning of the
song, that can only be achieved with a combination of
lyrics and visuals, not one or the other.
6. Relation of visuals to a song
Disjuncture – This is where the content
of the music video is ignored it has
nothing to do with the lyrics.
“i wanna hold you, every moment when im by
your side” – Delta Heavy – get by. As we can see
the images on screen are of board games and
cards, not relating to the feelings of love and
romance seen in the lyrics.
Amplify – The meaning of
the song is amplified
through the use of visuals
“I came in like a wrecking ball
ive never hit so hard in love all I
wanted was to break your walls”
Illustrate - the meaning of the
song is made clear through the
video
“Drink it up and get sickBottom’s up, get
wastedPour it up, drink it up, live it up,“
7. Technical aspects
Technical aspects are what hold the music video
together through the use of camera work, mise- en-scene,
editing and sound. Things like:
Lighting and colour which helps set the mood and to
emphasise key moments of the song
Speed, cutting, editing which all help to make the
video interesting
Beats to which the music is cut to
The setting of music video. It needs to look
professional.
8. Thought beats
You need to look at the music itself first and take into
account the structure of the song. E.g. verse, pre-chorus,
chorus, etc.
Next listen to the voice of the song. The voice can be
extremely unique and needs to blend well the genre of
music.
Also, Goodwin points out the artists mode of address.
Songs can be seen as stories and the artist can be the
story teller/narrator. This makes the music video a two
way communication device. The artist telling us a story
and us listening.
