Script for Goodwins music video theory:

Andrew Goodwins music video theory is taken from his book Dancing in the Distraction
Factory and can be broken down into 3 different sections, these are music, lyrics and band
image. His theory is based around 8 main trademarks of music videos, all of which look at
these 3 areas.

The first trademark is thought beats. This is effectively the idea of seeing the sound in your
head and can be explained in three parts. The first is that every music video has a chorus
and verses which are obvious to the viewer and can be broken down and analysed. The
second is that all singers have a unique trademark and this is often their voice as everyone
has a different voice and this can be used as branding or as a form of identification for the
artist. The third part is that every music video has a story that the artist themselves is trying
to tell. This turns the video into a form of communication between the viewer and the artist.

The second trademark is narrative and performance. Goodwin believed that it was
important for an artist to star in their own music videos whether they are acting,
performing, or both. This is because it makes it more realistic and helps the song to become
more understandable for the viewer as the artist can act and perform it in the way they
imagined when writing the lyrics. The idea of it being a narrative is so t can be watched
again and again like a film. It is important to stick to a unique narrative so the audience
remember it as well as forcing the audience to think about the story and make up their own
ending.

The third trademark is star image. This is described by Goodwin as a vital part of music
videos and he believes music videos to be part of a meta narrative which describes the artist
personal development over their career. He says that music videos promote the artist as
they usually star in it and the use of close-ups and other intimate camera shots help to
achieve this by making them well known to the viewer. This is vital to a music video as every
artist is different and therefore this makes the video unique and gives it its own style.

The fourth trademark is the relations of visuals to a song. Goodwin stated that music videos
are viewed and understood in many different ways however usually rely on the lyrics as the
director uses them to create their own interpretation of the song through the video. The
three types of video are disjuncture, which is when the meaning is ignored and the images
dont relate to the video, amplify, which is when the meaning is exaggerated and one thing
is often repeated, and illustrate, which is when the songs meaning is clear in the video and
follows the lyrics exactly.

The fifth trademark is technical codes and these are seen as what holds a video together.
This involved the 4 micro-elements which are sound, editing, mise-en-scene, and
cinematography. These are often used differently depending on the songs meaning and
genre. Editing involves the tempo of the song, which affects the pace of the video and the
number of cuts used. An example of mise-en-scene is the location as rock videos are often
shot in a stadium whereas pop videos are shot in a studio. All 4 elements work together to
get across a certain mood or atmosphere which is associated with the genre of the song.
The sixth trademark is the notion of looking and voyeurism. The notion of looking is
described by Goodwin as typically sexualising females and forcing the audience to view
them in a sexual manner. This agrees with Mulveys male gaze theory as she stated females
are only used for visual sexual pleasure. The notion of looking can also be seen in the idea of
direct and indirect address. Direct address is when the artist looks at the camera which
draws in the audience and indirect address is the idea of voyeurism where the artist is at a
distance and is being watched by the audience without them knowing. Mirrors and screens
also play a big part in the notion of looking.

The seventh trademark is how music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. These
characteristics are known as conventions and Goodwin stated that each music genre has
certain conventions used in music videos so the audience can identify the genre. For
example, stadium performances are common in rock videos whereas music studios are
more common in pop videos. Shooting on locations is associated with RnB and Rap. The
music video actually following a narrative is a convention of indie music.

The eighth and final trademark is intertextuality which is when one media text references
another media text. These references to other media texts often involve pop culture such as
popular films or well-known celebrities. This can either be used to give the song a new
meaning by shaping its meaning and transforming it into the other text, or can be used as a
form of nostalgia to bring the video more popularity. The two types of intertextuality in
music videos are pastiche and parody. Pastiche imitates another artist motifs and style to
create meaning and pay them tribute whereas pastiches does the same but purely for a
comedic purpose.