This document summarizes the theories of four scholars on music videos: 1. Andrew Goodwin identified 4 key elements of music videos: thought-through beat, link between song and visuals, narrative/performance, and star image. 2. Deborah Holdstein believed videos fall into political themes or traditional musical themes, and help artists connect with fans. She analyzed Michael Jackson's "Beat It" video. 3. Sven Carlson's theory is that binary opposition drives videos forward. Videos are either conceptual or performance-based. He sees performers as commercial products or invisible "electronic shamans". 4. Carlson cites Sia's "Chandelier" as an example

2. ANDREW GOODWIN
Goodwin suggests that there are 4 key
elements which help to form his
theory.
 Thought through beat
 Link between song and visuals
 Narrative and performance
 Star image

3. Thought through the beat
1. Analysing and processing the structure of the
song (chorus and verse).
2. Main voice of the song.
3.Story which the artist is trying to tell within their
song.
Eg: Beyoncé – ‘if I were a boy’

4. LINK BETWEEN SONG AND VISUALS
Three sub-divisions:
 Illustrate- Music video include certain images and shots to
explain the meaning of a lyric within their song or to link to the
genre.
 Disjuncture- the meaning of the song is completely ignored in
the music video
 Amplify- (repeated) when the images and camera shot are
manipulated throughout the music video, drumming into our
vision.

5. ILLUSTRATE
‘Girl with
money’ Ellie
Goulding is
pictured riding
on horse in
Vegas. Vegas is
usually a place
where you go
to spend
money
gambling in
Casinos.

6. DISJUNCTION
The song is called hideaway but none of the dance moves or
camera shots link to the lyrics within the song.

7. AMPLIFY Repeated
images
throughout
the song to
help drum
the
messages
in to our
minds.

8. NARRATIVE AND PERFORMANCE OF
THE SONG
Goodwin believed ' it was important for an artist to be in their
music video acting as the main character or the singer'
 This is because it helps to make the video look more realistic
Adele- Hello stars as the main
character within her music
video.

9. STAR IMAGE (PROTAGONIST)
 Vital aspect of the music video because it contributes to the success of a
music video. Making it looks more appealing and unique.
 The star image is always presented as being unique in term of the way they are
dressed (costume), hair, makeup, dance moves and overall appearance and
mannerisms.
 Helping to provide them with an overall reputation, increasing or decreasing
their popularity.
Rihanna’s controversial video
helped to make her video unique
but also increased her popularity
as people began to talk about it.
Moreover,
Drakes
hotline bling
video also
helped to
increase his
popularity as
people began
to talk about
his dance
moves.

10. DEBORAH HOLDSTEIN
Messages and Structures about music videos
She believed that videos were divided in to two categories
1. Explicit political themed videos
2. Videos which rival the traditional U.S Musical theme
In addition she believed that fantasy film was based entirely
on performance , which pus the singer or performer in a
mythical, medieval, exotic location and creating unique
images.
Moreover music videos makes the artist more accessible to
the fans, helping the fans to feel more connected and closer.

11. HOLDSTEIN EXAMPLE
Holdstein analysed the Michael Jackson track ‘beat it’.
Her question was ‘ is Jackson being portrayed as a political
commentator, mediator of social conflict.
It could be said that this example does address Racism and
social class because of the lyrics used within the video.
It could be said however that Macklemore ‘Same love’ is an
explicit political themed video because the views expressed
in the video are talking about Gay rights which is a left wing
and very liberal viewpoint/mind-set.

12. HOLDSTEIN CONT.
She believed there were 3 qualities of a star in a music video
The star was a :
• Fantasy or prophet
• Political commentator or narrator
• Mediator or point for resolution
Deborah took interest
in Michael Jackson
music videos
because he was a big
advocate for the last
two bullet points
Example Lady Gaga Bad
Romnce – star as a point of
reolution for the social issue
of sex trafficking in Russia

13. SVEN CARLSON
His theory;
• Binary opposition drives the music video
forward helping to captivate those who watch
the music video.
Music videos fall in to two categories
• Conceptual- single idea or concept
• Performance – showing footage of an artist in
casual loactions

14. CARLSON CONT.
He believes:
• The performer is often made into a commercial
exhibitionist ( materialised almost ); made into a product
and nothing more.
• Televised bard – a singing story teller who uses a range of
shots as opposed to personalised images
• Electronic shaman, they are invisible but there voice
anchors the visuals.

15. CARLSON EXAMPLE
SIA Chandelier
SIA doesn’t actually
feature in them music
video but her voice
anchors the visuals