Andrew goodwin

By Larah Yearwood

Andrew Goodwin has pointed out five key aspects in music videos that the audience should notice:

The star image Narrative and performance Relation to visuals in the song Technical aspects of the music video Thought Beats

Andrew Goodwin has identified key features that distinguish music as a form. He reckons that:

There is demand from the record company for lots of close ups- especially of the main artist

Music genres have their own music video style

There is most likely to be intertextual references to either films, tv or other music videos.

There is likely to be voyerism especially with the treatment of women.

The star image is a virtual aspect of music videos. There has been so much development of the star image over time and it has such a massive and important part to play in music videos and the production process.

Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common narrative as it is important in their role of advertising. Songs usually fail to give us the complete narrative and we only get a gist of the meaning of the song. We then go on to make up our own idea of what’s being told.

The lip synching and miming are really the heart of the music videos and the audience need to believe it’s real.

When narrative and performance work hand in hand it easier for the audience to watch over and over again without losing interest. Music videos should have coherent repeatability.

There are three ways music videos work to promote songs:

ILLUSTRATE: music videos can use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre.

AMPLIFY: when 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 ignored completely.

Technical aspects are what hold the music video together through the use of camera work, mise-en-scene, editing and sound. Things like:

Lighting and colour which helps set the mood and to emphasise key moments of the song

Speed, cutting, editing which all help to make the video interesting

Beats to which the music is cut to The setting of music video. It needs to look

professional.

You need to look at the music itself first and take into account the structure of the song. E.g. verse, pre-chorus, chorus, etc.

Next listen to the voice of the song. The voice can be extremely unique and needs to blend well the genre of music.

Also, Goodwin points out the artists mode of address. Songs can be seen as stories and the artist can be the story teller/narrator. This makes the music video a two way communication device. The artist telling us a story and us listening.

This gif shows the pussycat dolls and are proving Goodwin’s point about the close ups. The lead singer the man focus whilst the rest are dancing in the background. There are also examples of voyerism as the women are dressed provocatively to catch the attention of the viewer.

Another gif, this time on Lady Gaga. This again show voyerism as she dressed for attraction and is taking center stage.