Andrew Goodwins Theory

Applied to Music Videos

Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements. As consumers, we make up our own meaning of a song in our minds: a music video can anchor meaning and gives the record company/artist a method of anchoring meaning. Andrew Goodwin.

How to analyse music videos:

Andrew Goodwin identified 5 key aspects of music videos that we (the audience) should look out for which are;
Thought beats seeing the sound. Narrative and performance. The star image. Relation of visuals to a song. Technical aspects of music videos.

Thought beats:
First step: look at the music itself. You must take into account the structure of the song ~(chorus and verses). Second step: look at the voice of the song. The artists voice is extremely unique and can form identification or trademarks that work well with the star image. Roland Barthes theory of the grain of voice can be related to this; he sees the singing voice as an expression and an instrument and is therefore able to make associations of its own. Third step: Goodwin points out that the artists mode of address can be seen in the song; they can be seen as stories and the artist becomes the storyteller, making the music video a two communication device them telling us a story and us listening.

Narrative and performance:

Songs fail to give us the complete narrative. We only tend to get a gist of the meaning of the song and then we tend to make up our own idea of what is being told. Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common narrative. It is important in their role of advertising. Music videos should coherent repeatability. Narrative and performance work hand in hand, making it easier for the audience to watch over and over without loosing interest. The artist acting as both narrator and participant helps to increase the authenticity, however the lip sync and other mimed actions remains the heart of the music videos. The audience need to believe this is real.

Star image:
The star image is a vital aspect of music videos. Meta narrative which is a story that describes the development of the star over time; it has an important part to lay in the music video production process.
Star image is a vital aspect of music videos. Artists want to look unique in order to stay current and for audiences to remember them. The star image develops overtime and plays a big role in the production process of music videos.

Relation of visuals to a song:

These are three ways in which the music videos work to promote a song.
Illustrate: Music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre; this is the most common process. Amplify: This is similar to repeatability. Meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video and drummed into our vision. Disjuncture: This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.

Technical aspects:
Technical aspects hold the music video together through se of camera work, movement, angle, mise-enscene, editing, sound and special effects. Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting and postproduction are all forms of use of camera. Lighting and colour help set moods and emphasise key moments of the song for dramatic effect. Mise-en-scene: the setting, props and costume of a music video is a vital element it needs to look authentic for dramatic effect. Beats: music videos use cuts to go along with the beats or rhythm making the video more entertaining.

1: A relationship between the visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

This convention explains how Goodwin noticed a music videos visuals either had a complete similarity or direct contrast to the lyrics of the song.

2: A relationship between the music and the visuals again either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music.

Goodwin identified that the visuals within a music video may be edited in time to the lyrics/change in pace of the song. He also stated that these visuals are commonly repeated within a chorus to emphasize the repetition in lyrics and beats.

3: Music genres have their own music video style and iconography.
Goodwin recognised that most artists have a trend of repeating certain actions within their music videos in order to establish this as their trademark action and therefore making their songs recognizable due to it reoccurring often. This represents the style of the music the artist is representing and is a marketing strategy in order to be remembered in later years. Genre is also shown by location like, for example, songs within the indie genre are often filmed in an abandoned and lonely place to convey an individual in an isolated location.

4: There is likely to be voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, and close ups of the main artist or vocalist.

Goodwin identified that it is a common feature for record labels to use close ups of the artist/vocalist in order to promote the sales in the single. This convention is used in order to show the artist throughout the video but it is most common with female artists as provocative angles are often used to sexualise the artist following Laura Mulveys Male Gaze Theory causing a fetishisation from the audience towards the artist.

5: Theres a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close ups of the main artist/vocalist.

Goodwin recognized that many music videos included voyeuristic angles of women in order to entice a male audiences interest in the artist and also the lyrics to which the shots represent. This is used to sexualise the artist and cause a feshistic connection for the male audience.

6: There is likely to be inter-textual references either to other music videos or to films and TV texts.

Goodwin recognised that it was not uncommon to recognise either the visuals or lyrics of a song to be a direct reference to another media text. This is used to engage the audiences and provide them gratification if they recognise it.