This document discusses several music video conventions outlined by Andrew Goodwin and analyzes four music videos based on these conventions. The conventions include demonstrating genre characteristics, relating lyrics and visuals, relating music and visuals, focusing on the artist, incorporating notions of looking, developing motifs, and including intertextual references. The analyzed videos showcase these conventions to varying degrees, with some fitting genre conventions more closely and others taking unconventional approaches.

1. Detailed Analysis of Music
Videos

2. Andrew Goodwin’s 7 Features of
Music Videos
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in
metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with
images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of
the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying,
contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the
artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual
style).
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens,
mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a
visual style)
7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music
videos etc).

3. Ben Howard – I Forget Where We Were

4. Although is slower and is played by a solo artist
(Ben Howard) as supposed to an entire indie
band, this video follows conventions of the
indie genre, . This video follows a storyboard
convention, as throughout the entire music
video, no performance is shown. However, a
cinematic or storyboard video usually includes
aspects that tell a story, the ideas and scenes in
this video appear random as they have no
apparent storyline to it. The usual style for an
indie music video would include a performance
aspect, meaning this video does defy genre
conventions. In a stereotypical indie music
video the artist would be made clear, however
in this video Ben Howard is never visible, and
the two characters have no link to the creation
of the song.
The music video is also abstract as it has no link between the video on screen and the lyrics in
the song. The only link to the music is the pace and tempo of the both the video and the
music, as both are relatively slow and have a melancholy feel and atmosphere. The artist is
never scene in the video and the only two people present appear random and have no link to
the artist. The video has no apparent intertexual references and no particular regular notion
of any iconography of any sort.
(Not the artist)

5. This video also goes against modern day conventions through the use of the size of the
video. Usually, modern day videos use a 16x9 size ratio, which fills a whole YouTube
screen. However in this video, the size of the picture has a much smaller width,
leaving large black borders around the sides of the picture, when watched on a
modern day device. This is done to make the picture appear older, as older film
cameras used dimensions and sizes similar to this.

6. Earl Sweatshirt - Whoa

7. Similarly to the song, the video appears dreary and
slurred because of the slow motion footage and the
dull colours used when editing in post production,
the slurs in the background of the song give the
musical aspect a similar feel to that of the visuals.
The effect also gives the video a slightly contorted
feel, separating it from real life and making it feel
almost fantasy like.
This video follows various conventions of the rap
genre as it has performance aspects to the video.
Throughout the video the artist is singing the words
to the song, whilst continuing to carry on, as a
storyboard would. This video uses both conventions
of a storyboard and a performance video. The artist’s
face and presence is very predominant in this video,
this may be due to the demands of the record label,
but for whatever reason, the artist is made clear.

8. Modern Baseball –The Weekend

9. This video follows many conventions of the
music’s genre. This song and video would fit into
the ‘indie’ genre. The video follows conventions
as it includes both performance aspects and
storyboard aspects. The video does also coincide
with the lyrical content. For example, towards
the start of the song, the lead singer describes
the description of a girl, a girl following this
description then becomes visible on the screen.
Throughout the video the
members of the band are visible
in many of the shots. This may be
due to the record label’s
demands or instead to simply fit
the performance aspect of an
indie genre convention. The
musical aspect to the video
matches the visual aspect as the
fast paced tempo is reflected in
the dancing audience that are
watching the band play, in the
performance aspect of the video.

10. There are no massively obvious intertexual references, however
the video does take the appearance and style of many American
high school movies and many other videos from other American
indie rock groups, including many stereotypical activities of
adolescents, like drinking and smoking.