Analysis of music videos.

1. MUSIC VIDEO
ANALYSIS (USING ANDREW
GOODWIN, SVEN E CARLSON& JOHN STEWARDS
THEORY)
By Rayan Solanki

2. ANDREW GOODWIN’S
7 FEATURES OF MUSIC
VIDEOS
•Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g.
stage performance in metal videos, dance routine for
boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
•There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The
lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).
•There is a relationship between music and visuals. The
tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the
music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
•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).
•There is frequently reference to notion of looking
(screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and
particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
•The artist may develop motifs or iconography that
recur across their work (a visual style)
•There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV
programmes, other music videos etc.)

3. “How deep is your love” is a song produced by
Scottish Dj and Producer Calvin Harris. The song
features the Disciples and the music video stars
American model Gigi Hadid.
The genre is rock/ electronic.
The music video was directed by Emil Nava, filming
took place in Malibu, the video starts with Gigi on a
table in what looks like to be an abandoned hospital.
She then gets up off the table and walks down the
hall into a party with a lot of people and also pole
dancers. She then ends up on, what looks like a very
expensive boat which is surrounded by water bikers.
The scenery is then moved to a pool party in what
looks like a very big, expensive house, she dives into
the pool and gets out and takes her dress off and
jumps into the shower. She then ends up in a different
party room, next she is shown with a number of
motorcyclists riding around her. Towards the end of
the video, flashes of Gigi in all of the places she has
been in the video (plus a beach party) are shown in
fast cuts before it ends with Gigi walking out of the
main( first ) party.
Calvin Harris
Ft Disciples –
How deep is
your love

4. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage performance in
metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop).
In Goodwin’s theory, he believes that each genre has characteristics that help to define that genre. In the music video of
‘How deep is your love’ there are various characteristics that help this song be classed as alternative hip hop, rock,
electronic.
 as this song is classed as alternative hip hop, rock, electronic (alternative being the main genre), there are various
characteristics that contribute this song and music video to being classed as alternative. One of them is the
background. The video for ‘How deep is your love’ is based in various locations, one being an abandoned hospital, a
boat and parties. The abandoned hospital and the scene where Gigi is being surrounded by bikers are characteristics
of the rock genre as they are in dark places and that is something which rock videos have. The parties and the boat
scene are characteristics of hip hop music videos as the boat and the house where the bool is look very expensive
with people wearing the in fashion clothes and there are very attractive women (including Gigi), which make the
audience focus on Gigi mainly, but also others in the background, and that is a characteristic of hip hop music.
 Another convention of alternative music is fast paced editing, there is a lot of quick cuts between different shots and
angles. When Gigi is stepping out of the swimming pool, there are shots of Gigi getting out of the pool, a man staring
at her, everyone else around the pool staring at her whilst she pulls her dress down and then there is a close up shot,
from the waist to the knee caps, of Gigi pulling the dress down and then an older woman gazing at her.

5.  The colour scheme, in a way matches the alternative genre, but it also challenges it. It matches the genre in the way that in some
scenes in the music video, there is dark/ neutral colours used, they’re not too bright, the mise- en- scene was very low key and
subdued, like in other alternative videos. But this music video also challenges the colour scheme of the genre in the way that, there was
a colourful colour scheme, this colourful colour scheme was in the scenes when Gigi is on the boat, at the pool party and when her face
is shown flashing in different colours. The colours used are very vivid and eye catching, this colour scheme matches more of the hip hop
genre.

6. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are
represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying,
contradicting).
 The visuals of the music video could maybe be seen as being narrative based, with Gigi dreaming/ imagining herself
being in different places i.e. the pool party, beach party etc. the chorus ‘How deep is your love? Is it like the ocean?
What devotion? Are you? How deep is your love? Is it like nirvana? Hit me harder, again How deep is your love? [x3]
Is it like the ocean? Pull me closer, again How deep is your love? [x2]’ do not really have a relationship with the
visuals, only some likes do such as “is it like the ocean” this is said as she is on the boat in the ocean and also when
the song says “is it like nirvana” this relates to the visuals because she says this as she is at the pool party and
taking the shower because nirvana relates to a peaceful, joyful, heavenly like place and the pool party and shower
scene looks like it relates to the word nirvana. All of the rest of the lyrics do not really correlate with the visuals, not
that I know of from me analysing the visuals and lyrics of this song.
 As I have said previously, it might be seen as the visuals are narrative based because of Gigi dreaming/ imagining
herself in different places but the lyrics do not really have a relationship with the visuals, apart from a couple of lines.
 When watching the music video, you can see that Gigi is not singing the lyrics which tells the audience that she is
not the artist of the song and she is just in the video.

7. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and
atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).
 There isn’t a very big relationship between the visuals and music, it is talking about how deep someone’s love is for
another but the visuals are of Gigi going to random places where the audience does not expect her to go and she is
not talking about a specific man. But there is a good deep base to the music which has a relationship to the visuals
when Gigi is at the party so in that sense there is a little relationship between the music and visuals but this
relationship is not for the full length of the music video. In some scenes Gigi is surrounded by people who are gazing
at her which suggest the lyrics match those scenes as if she is asking those people how much love they have for her
as they are staring at her non stop when she appears in some of the scenes.
 Overall I feel that the music video doesn’t have a relationship with the music throughout the whole video but it does
in a couple of scenes in the music video.

8. 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).
 There is not any artist in this music video has it has Gigi instead of the artists, this is probably because Calvin Harris
is hardly ever in music videos as he produces songs and doesn’t sing. Disciples also don’t feature in this song but
the main reason for having Gigi in the music video is because she looks the part in the music video and she doesn’t
look out of place in this music video, it looks more naturel with her in it.
 There are a lot of close ups of Gigi throughout the music video, at first, the close ups highlight her confusion in what
is happening when she first steps into the party but after that the close ups show how she is taking everything in her
stride with confidence but I feel that the close ups are there mainly to take advantage of her looks and to keep the
audience focused on the music video. Her looks and the use of the different scenery's come together to keep the
audience focused I feel.

9. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within
screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment
of the female body.
 In the music video, there are shots of people around the pool gazing at Gigi as she steps out of the pool and when she pulls
her dress down. These shots tempt the audience into acting with the same behaviour as the people around the pool, who are
looking at Gigi. Gigi is a very attractive woman so it is naturel that people stare at her but the men, especially, look at her in a
very sensual way. When taking her dress down, she stands in the middle of a lot of males which allows the audience to know
that they are all looking at her. Her hair, makeup and clothing are very sexy which makes her appeal more to the audience.
 For the mise- en- scene, the costume’s Gigi wears a nicely fitted dress, it isn’t too tight but it fits perfectly and
compliments her model figure, especially her back side and breasts, which help to pull the audiences eyes to the
screen when the video is playing. Also, when she dives into the swimming pool and steps out, because of the
water, her dress is wet and is sticking to her body and it has become almost transparent, due to her going into the
pool with the dress on, this allows the audience to see her bikini top as she moves her hair back in a sexy way.
When she pulls her dress down after she is out of the pool, there is a close up shot of her back side in her bikini
underwear whilst she is walking to the shower, this is done to probably show off her body and how good it is, but it
is probably a strategy for people to keep focused on the music video. Also in the video Gigi wears a black, nicely
fitted dress, again not too tight but tight enough to compliment her body, it has a loose back but the rest of the
dress fits well, this attracts females (because of the dress she is wearing) and also males (because she looks
super attractive in the dress) and this is another way to keep the audience watching the video. In the beach scene,
she is seen wearing black shorts and a black top with holes in it, this again keeps the audience due to the clothes
she is wearing.
 Throughout the video, there are more close ups of Gigi’s face rather than shots of her body and this happens
because maybe the director of the music video wants the audience to see her dark blonde hair and her blue eyes
which compliment each other and maybe the director wants the audience to appreciate how good her make up is
done and appreciate features like her lips, which are very attractive, and this is a way to pull the audience in.

10. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across
their work (a visual style)
 There isn’t a particular motif for Gigi in this music video but when there are close ups of her face, she touches her
hair a lot which looks attractive for male viewers and also female viewers and this is a way to pull them into watching
a video. An example would be if someone is flicking through the music channels on TV and they see Gigi doing
something with her hair, it looks attractive and makes the audience want to watch the video and listen to the song.

11. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other
music videos etc.)
 This music video, from what I can tell from watching and analysing it multiple times does not have intertextual
references to films, TV programmes etc. The storyline of the music video is not really similar to one specific film/ TV
programme.

12. ‘Bring Me To
Life’
Evanescenc
e.
In the video of ‘Bring me to life’ by
Evanescence there is a lot of themes
that reoccur in other rock music videos
such as having a dark Mise- en- scene
to give the song a dark feel. The band
is wearing relatively dark clothing, with
the exception of the female singer, who
in this case is wearing light clothing.
Also, the band who are playing the
instruments are showing a lot of
passion in their movements which is
another common aspect which
happens in rock music videos.
This song is narrative based. The
female singer is having a bad dream as
if she is falling from the building where
she is sleeping, she then dreams as if
she had woken up and got out of bed
and got out of the open window and
climbed up to the building, first to what
looks like a flat party and then towards
the rest of the band and the lead male
singer tries to pull her up but she
refuses and eases his hand off hers
and falls down the building, this then
ends in her waking up from what was
her dream.

13. This is one of the first shots of the whole song and it sets the mood for the song but also represents the rock genre, by having
dark and gloomy scenery's. also, if you look carefully and the still above, there is one window that stands out and it is made to
look this way deliberately. By that specific window standing out, the audiences' attention instantly gets grabbed towards that
window and that window is where the camera shots eventually end up, so that the female singer can be seen having her
nightmare. Also the lyrics say “like open doors” and the window is wide open so there is a link there in the lyrics with the visuals
with the music video.

14. In this shot, you can see the guitarist leaning down to strum the strings and one of the singers lowering his body. This is a still of this scene,
but when watching the video they are moving fast which shows their passion towards this music and whilst playing their instruments. This
relates to the genre of rock. They are all also wearing dark clothing which again, connotes to the rock genre of being dark.
As you can see, the walls look sound proof which suggests that they are in a soundproof room which suggests that they are playing loud,
fast music and the music to this song is very loud and the beat is fast.

15. The mise- en- scene in the rock genre is really different to any other genre. As you can see above, the male singer has really spikey hair, as if he has
just had a big electric shock but that is the stylist of rock stars, it is very messy but very spikey also, it again links to the rock genre. As this still is bad
quality, you cant really see but he has an earring on and it looks like quite a big one but this again adds to the look of the stereotypical rock star. Finally,
he is wearing a big necklace and a black top and this again completes the look of the stereotypical rock star and all of the dark elements such as the top,
necklace and hair represent the ‘feel’ of rock music, when people think of rock music they think of like a dark song and this is what these elements add.

16. The look for this female singer of the band matches the rock genre, she has jet black hair and Goths tend to have jet black hair, not saying
she is a Goth but the colour of her hair relates to what Goths look like and that also helps her fit in with this genre. She doesn't’t look like a
full blown Goth but her hair connotes to what Goth’s look like. She has pale skin too, which makes the black hair stand out even more to the
audience and sticks with the theme of ‘dark’ clothing/ hair.

17. In this scene of the music video, you can see that there is very little light, leaving a very dark atmosphere to the viewers, this matches what
is going on throughout the music video, the female singer is having a nightmare about dying/ being broken and this dark scene matches the
mood of the lyrics. This scene is filmed of the top of other buildings and they look very dark, damp and this also helps to reflect her dream
and that is why this is a good shot in the music video.

18. The female lead singer is climbing up to the rest of the band as you can see from the still above, this might be representing the fact that she
wants someone to revive her “Bring me to life” and so she is finding others to help her and she is doing this at any cost by climbing a very
tall building to find someone to help her.

19. This is one of the end shots of the music video and it shows the audience that everything that happened was just a dream and that she is
still in bed sleeping and that the majority of the music video was based in her dream and not reality.

20. The music video is about a girl who is
on a quest to find her friends “Imagine
Dragons” who are locked in a
basement under a puppet fighting ring
where people go and put their money
on the “champion” who, ultimately
beats up and kills other puppets/
teddy's. The girl allows her teddy to
fight the “champion” and at first her
teddy gets beaten up but when it gets
back up again, it takes out the
”champion” with one single punch, the
lead man who is owner of the puppet
fighting then sends two men in to kill
the pink teddy but it uses laser eyes to
kill them both and all of the betters flee
leaving just the other, the girl and her
teddy and the “champion” who is dead
on the floor. The girl takes the key to
unlock her friends from the basement
and traps the owner in the basement
who then gets surrounded and
attacked by the teddy's who have been
trapped down there. The girl and
Imagine Dragons then walk out.
Imagine
Dragons –
“Radioactive”

21. In this scene, the mysterious girl is walking with a cage, which is covered by a cloth. She is walking in the forest and all
that there is too see is trees and this shows the audience that her, and her teddy are both very isolated and on their
own, which represents that when they go for battle in the puppet fighting ring, they are on their own because everyone
backs the “champion” who has never lost a single match, shown on the tally bored.

22. This shot again shows that she and the teddy that is covered by a cloth are walking into the puppet fighting on their own
with no support and it also shows that the place where the fighting takes place is very isolated and it is an unpredictable
place to have fighting. Also it gives the audience a surprise as they do not know what is inside that building and it leaves
them wanting to know what will happen inside of the building.

23. The still above is the “champion” this is the teddy that has never lost a fight and is very aggressive and violent towards
the other teddy's who have no choice but get put in the ring. It is a close up of him to show that he has a mean, scary
look to him and show that he obviously intimidates other teddy's.

24. This is a high angle shot of the ring, with the people who bet on the “champion” around it. The “champion” is throwing the girl’s
pink teddy around, like it does to any other teddy that gets put inside the ring with it. It just shows how many people are better on
the “champion” to win again. It shows money being thrown into the ring and this can be seen as a lack of respect for the other
teddy as people are so confident that the “champion” will win. This only leads to surprise to the audience as to what comes soon
after.

25. In this picture, you can see the pink teddy, turning away as the “champion” is getting ready to go and beat it up some
more and this also helps to lead to a surprise to the audience because of what happens after, this shot makes the pink
teddy look weak and useless, which is not the case as the audience soon finds out.

26. This is the scene after the “champion” is knocked out and as you can see, all the men that were putting their money on the
“champion” to win again, have ran off because they have just seen the small, pink teddy also kill two fully grown men and they
are scared because they humiliated the teddy by throwing money into the ring and as a consequence they now feel they are
going to be targeted next. As for the owner, he looks shocked as to what he has just saw from this pink teddy and have probably
realized that his most prized asset that gains him money has been knocked down.

27. In this picture, you can see the owner, who has now been trapped in the basement where he trapped all of the other teddy's and
now he is helpless because he doesn't’t have the “champion” to help and protect him and as you can see by his facial
expressions, he realizes that all of the teddy's that he has treated badly are now going to treat him badly. You can also see parts
of teddy's that have been torn apart and that shows the audience what he has done to them. An establishing shot allows for this
to be seen by the audience.

28. This is the shot when the pink teddy uses powers to defeat the “champion” and shows the audience that he has hit him
clean and this is where the turning point is in the music video, the pink teddy was getting beaten up and then he all of a
sudden has enough and uses power to knock the “champion” out. You can tell he is using power by the purple lighting
that is there. This scene sort of reminds people not to underestimate anyone as you don’t know what can happen next.

29. This low angle shot shows the expressions on the faces of the betters and the owner as soon as they see that the
“champion” has just been knocked down. They have used a low angle shot to make it look like they have power over the
teddy and that they are in control but by looking at their faces they look disturbed that something unexpected has just
happened and it puts into sense that they are no longer in power as they have just witnessed the pink teddy use powers.
Overall I feel that this is a really good music video due to the indirect message it sends out ‘do not ever underestimate
someone as you do not know what they can do to you’ and I feel that is a key factor in this video, also it is something
different from all videos and it makes it stand out which is good as people will remember it because it is unique.