Goodwin on music video

CONVENTIONS

1) A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, reinforce or contradict the lyrics.

2) Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the music.)

3) Genre-related style and iconography

present.

Another example of authorage is with Amy Winehouse's iconic hair that remains remembered even after her death:

4) Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognizable brand image.

5) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females.

Goodwin recognized that many music videos included voyeuristic angles of women. Voyeurism is pleasure from looking. This is used to sexualize the artist and cause a fetishistic connection for the male audience. Does this also now apply to male stars? Can they be objectified / fetishised?

6) Intertextual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos.

An example of an intertextual reference in a music video is seen in Iggy Azalea's "Fancy"(2014) which deliberately references the 1995 film "Clueless" about a spoilt high school rich girl Cher (Alicia Silverstone).

Goodwin noted that it is a common feature for record labels to use close ups of the artist/vocalist in order to promote the sales of the single. This convention is used in order to show the artist throughout the video but is most common with female artists as provocative angles are often used to objectify the artist. This links to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze and Van Zoonen's theory causing a fetishisation of the artist by the audience.

Goodwin recognized that many artists have authorage in their music videos in order to establish this as their 'trademark' dress code / dance. This helps to make their videos recognizable due to 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. Authorage reinforces "star quality" and can be iconic.

Genre is also shown by location like, for example, songs within the rock genre are often filmed near a stage to convey a gig. Evidence of this is seen in Kiss' song 'I Was Made For Loving You':

This is evident in Britney Spears' - 'My Prerogative' as shown below:

Goodwin identified that the visuals within a music video will be edited in synch with the lyrics/ pace of the song. He also stated that these visuals are commonly repeated within a chorus to emphasise the repetition in lyrics and beats.

Example of authorage/ visual trademark is seen below where JLS reveal their chest in many of their videos:

An example of a music video edited in time to the pace/ sound beats of the song:

Goodwin noticed a music video's visuals either had a complete similarity or direct contrast to the lyrics of the song. These create a mood, such as nostalgia, romance, nihilism...

An example of when the visuals reinforce / reflect the lyrics is in Adele's 'Someone Like You'. 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 - the director's intention.

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. 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.

1) Thought beats - Where you 'see' the sound.

Goodwin categorized this key aspect in three steps:

In this example we can see the

artist, Rihanna, walking in a supermarket. The shot is taken of her back, not her face. This makes her a sexual object. In the shot her bottom /legs are a focal point and again this conveys her sexualised qualities. Lastly, we can see to the right of the frame a man looking at her to encourage the male audience to do so and this removes the possible guilt they may have when classifying the artist as a sexual object.

1st step: This is when you look into the music and interpret it by looking at the verses/chorus.

2nd step: Goodwin says this is "the voice within the song" - this is when the artists voice is extremely unique and can be recognized for this quality. Ellie Goulding is a prime example:

In this example we can see Britney Spears being shown in a sexual way. The close up angle encourages the male audience to objectify her. Her clothing also contributes. Goodwin explains that by using the camera in this way, the male audience engages in the music video and according to Mulvey and Van Zoonen, the female audience also take on a metaphorical "male gaze" as they are bombarded with repeated imagery of female objectification.

2) Narrative and Performance.

Goodwin explains his theory

by identifying common conventions within music video. Some are post-modern

Goodwin stated that music videos should avoid the common narrative as their role is more to advertise than become a story. The artist therefore will become both a participant and narrator within the music video to increase its authenticity for the audience. Lip synching and other actions featured in the video increase its verisimilitude and therefore prevents the audience from disbelieving the narrative/ performance.

ANDREW GOODWIN'S

3rd step: Goodwin states that this is the step where the artist is telling a story within their songs as therefore generates their reputation as a 'storyteller'. The music video in this case is created to emphasize the lyrics and the story within the songs. For example, Adele is known to tell a story of heartbreak through many of her songs:

MUSIC VIDEO THEORY

Goodwin recognized that it was not uncommon for the visuals or lyrics of a song to make a direct reference to another media text. This is intertextuality, and is post-modern (Baudrillard). It is used to engage the audiences and provide them gratification if they recognize the link.

"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"

So music videos are a unique form of media, including sound, advertising, narrative media.

The standard themes

An example of a music video which follows this key aspect:

Goodwin identified some standard themes in music videos:

• Treatment of authority
• Love and sex
• Growing up / loss of innocence
• Political / social consciousness
• Reality v fantasy (and blurring)

3) The Star Image.

KEY

ASPECTS

Social consciousness: Macklemore / Ryan Lewis's Same Love

Goodwin identified that the star image is another key aspect within music videos. He believes that an iconic star image can increase the audience's awareness of the artist and therefore can show a development of the star over time which will increase the audiences interest in their videos.

Treatment of authority: Public Enemy's Fight the Power

Loss of innocence: Miley Cyrus' Can't be Tamed

Goodwin also stated in his theory behind music videos that there are five key aspects that are used to contribute to a successful music video

Love and sex: Beyonce's Halo

Sia's The Greatest: reality / fantasy

An example of the effectiveness of establishing a star image for an artist is with Elvis Presley. Despite the fact his death was ages ago, his star image is still recognizable and conveys how successful his career was.

5) Technical aspects of a music video.

4) Relation of visuals to song.

This key aspect identifies the different considerations when creating a music video to ensure its visual success, these all relate to any piece of film:

CAMERA: this includes camera movement (e.g. panning, tracking, hand held...), camera angles (e.g low angle, high angle, point of view, over the shoulder shot) and camera composition (e.g rules of thirds, depth of field..)

SOUND: this includes the pace of the song and its pitch. These all change with the different types of genres within the music industry e.g. rock/pop.

MISE-EN-SCENE: this includes, for example, the location of the music video, the costume the artist/characters are wearing, the make-up people are wearing and many more to ensure it is believable.

EDITING: this is the effects added to the clips of film in post production. This can change the pace of the film clip and ensures the audience remain interested in the visuals.

Goodwin categorized three ways in which a music video works to promote a song:

1) ILLUSTRATE: This is when a music video can use a set of images in order to illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and represent the genre of the music video. This is commonly used as it is easy yet effective.

2) AMPLIFY: Goodwin stated that this is when particular meanings or effects of the video are constantly manipulated/ emphasized and are shown throughout the video in order for the audience to generate their own interpretation of the visuals and become engaged in what is on screen.

3) DISJUNCTURE: This contrasts the previous step and Goodwin identified that in some music videos the meaning of the song is completely ignored and there is no reference to the lyrics.