Goodwin Analysis
Andrew Goodwin's Music video Theory: "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"
Six Conventions
1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
Examples:
Illustrate: Clear connection
In Vance Joy's 'Riptide', the visuals have a very clear connection with the lyrics and follow through in almost every verse. For example, when the artist sings "I was scared of dentists", the video shows a girl with dental equipment in her mouth looking terrified.
Amplify: Create further meaning
'Someone Like You' where seen in the screen shot below the lyrics say "..for me, it isn't over" and Adele, the artist, is seen to be looking very emotional in connection to this. This makes the audience sympathise with her as a result.
Contradict: Connection is unclear/abstract
For example, in Jessie J's 'Price Tag' the lyrics of the song say "... it's not about the money" however in video the artist is stood in front of a tree with money and the jewellery and clothes she wears suggest money is not a problem for her. This shows how the visuals contradict the lyrics in this particular song.
2) The relationship between the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict 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.
For example: Mark Ronson- Uptown Funk Ft. Bruno Mars
The beat matches with the walking/dancing of the people in the music video.
3) Genres are complex and diverse in terms of 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 recognisable due to it reoccurring often.
For example: Pop icons often cover one eye.
4) Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognisable brand image.
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.
For example, Britney Spears- Oops I Did It Again
5) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
Goodwin recognised 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 these shots represent. This is used to sexualise the artist and cause a fetishistic connection for the male audience.
Ariana Grande- Into You
6) Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.
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 the link.
For example: Iggy Azalea- Fancy ft. Charli XCX
Six Conventions
1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.
Examples:
Illustrate: Clear connection
In Vance Joy's 'Riptide', the visuals have a very clear connection with the lyrics and follow through in almost every verse. For example, when the artist sings "I was scared of dentists", the video shows a girl with dental equipment in her mouth looking terrified.
Amplify: Create further meaning
'Someone Like You' where seen in the screen shot below the lyrics say "..for me, it isn't over" and Adele, the artist, is seen to be looking very emotional in connection to this. This makes the audience sympathise with her as a result.
Contradict: Connection is unclear/abstract
For example, in Jessie J's 'Price Tag' the lyrics of the song say "... it's not about the money" however in video the artist is stood in front of a tree with money and the jewellery and clothes she wears suggest money is not a problem for her. This shows how the visuals contradict the lyrics in this particular song.
2) The relationship between the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict 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.
For example: Mark Ronson- Uptown Funk Ft. Bruno Mars
The beat matches with the walking/dancing of the people in the music video.
3) Genres are complex and diverse in terms of 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 recognisable due to it reoccurring often.
For example: Pop icons often cover one eye.
4) Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognisable brand image.
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.
For example, Britney Spears- Oops I Did It Again
5) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.
Goodwin recognised 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 these shots represent. This is used to sexualise the artist and cause a fetishistic connection for the male audience.
Ariana Grande- Into You
Disclosure- You & Me (Flume Remix)
Nicki Minaj- Anaconda
6) Intertextual references to other media texts may be present.
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 the link.
For example: Iggy Azalea- Fancy ft. Charli XCX
The music video of 'Fancy' is based on the popular 1995 film 'Clueless'. Here are the similarities.
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