This document summarizes several music video theorists and provides examples of their analyses. Deborah Holdstein notes that music videos can have political themes or revive the film musical. Andrew Goodwin identifies key aspects like seeing the sound through visuals and lyrics, narrative and performance, and star image. Sven Carlsson's theory discusses performance and conceptual videos, with a performance video like "Try With Me" exhibiting Nicole Scherzinger as a commercial exhibitionist. A narrative video is exemplified by "The A Team", which tells a silent story through visuals and music.

1. Music Video
Analysis
Pauline Okeke

2. Deborah Holdstein
• Professor of English at Columbia College Chicago,
• Film Critic,
• Editor
• "I think video plays a big part ... gives the band more of an identity ... If a
band's personality comes across, they're ultimately much stronger. Bands
must take performance into account nowadays when they present
themselves to the public. The [video] clips make you more accessible to
the fans. When they come to a performance, then they bring or wear
things they've seen in the video.
According to Deborah Holdstein music videos tend to divide in two
categories:
- Music videos with explicit political themes
- Music videos who revive the traditional US film musical
Holdstein highlights that before music video the audience’ idea of an artist
would be quite vague and formed through imagination, formed by listening
to them on the radio or even watching them in concert. The artist are
therefore able to use there music videos in order to address issues of today
and portray there opinion of view upon there audience, almost coming
across as political commentators.

3. Example- Beat it by
Michael Jackson
• Michael Jackson is portrayed as a ‘fantasy’, a ‘political commentator’, or as a
‘mediator of social conflict. The song does address ‘racism’ and ‘social class’ :
“They told him don't you ever come around here, don't wanna see your face,
you better disappear.” It doesn't need words, it has faces, gestures, emphasis,
and a narrative one could easily follow without ‘Beat It’ on the soundtrack.,
the mediator, has become a surreal ‘fantasy’ figure, involved yet detached
from the action he seems to resolve.

4. Andrew Godwin
Andrew Goodwin identifies key aspects of music videos that we the audience
should look out for which are:
• Seeing the sound
• A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals
• Narrative and Performance
• The Star Image – Multiple close up shots of the artists/ vocalist
• Technical Aspects of Music Video
• Voyeurisms – Direct gaze at the artist,

5. Example- If I were a boy by
Beyonce
• Goodwin suggests lyrics will make constant references to visuals on screen.
Visuals will reinforce what the lyrics say. An example of this can be seen in
the Beyonce- If I were a boy music video. The lyrics depict a girl saying all
the things she would do and how she would act with “his” girlfriend if she
was a boy. This is further emphasised on screen by the girl, Beyonce, acting
as a boy and acting out the actions that she was talking about in the lyrics.

6. Sven Carlsson
• Sven E Carlsson's theory is that binary oppositions drive the narration of
the music video forward, e.g black and white theme. Also that there are two
main types of music video; performance and conceptual. Performance clips
where the video mainly shows an artist (or artists) singing and/or dancing.
Conceptual clips are where something else is shown during the song's
duration which may have symbolism or an artistic meaning.

7. Performance Example- Try with me by Nicole
Scherzinger
• There are three main types of performance clip; song performance, dance
performance and instrumental performance. A way of telling if a music
video is a performance clip is that the artist is likely to be shown in more
than one setting.
• In performance clips the artist (artists) can be used as a commercial
exhibitionist. An example of this is Nichole Scherzinger's music video for
'Try With Me'. Here, Nichole has been used as a selling item who people
would aspire to be like. High key lighting is used throughout and an
elegant luxurious setting makes the video appear high quality throughout.
As the commerical exhibitionist Nicole wants success therefore evokes the
charisma of stardom and sexuality. There are no backing dancers or special
effects, all focus is on her and she is using suggestive body language in an
elegant white (symbolic of purity and wealth) dress.

8. Narrative Examples- The A
team by Ed Sheeran
• An example of a narrative clip in terms of Carlsson's theory is The A Team
by Ed Sheeran. The music video is understood as a silent movie to a musical
background hence it is a narrative clip. The story is easy to follow and
contains no lip-synchronisation. The narrative in this video is about a
women who's life is messed up and she sells love to men for money for
drugs. The video is in mainly low key fitting the upsetting storyline.