Media project

Music Video Analysis

Paramore - Pressurehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MaaxgdUT4&ob=av2e

There are two main parts to the video, a ‘live’ performance from the band and a story that fits in with the lyrics. During the live performance the emphasis is on the lead singer Hayley Williams due to her being the most known member of the band and the most visually appealing to the audience, however its less noticeable in this video than the videos when they really started to get famous. This applies to Goodwin’s 4th theory of “There is demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist”

Paramore - Pressure

The 1st theory of Goodwin states “There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics)”. The narrative of the video shows a couple of people struggling to cope with parts of society as it is. Then look at the main lyric throughout the song which is “I can feel the pressure, it’s getting closer now” which shows you that there is a very clear link between the lyrics and the visuals.

Paramore Pressure

Goodwin’s 5th theory states “The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which, over time, becomes part of their star image”. The one thing Hayley Williams has become known for is her hair, with many people deciding to copy it just to be like her. As you can see the video has a number of close ups where you can the hair in the video, this is a theme that has been maintained throughout every Paramore video.

Paramore - Pressure

The Pressure video also applies to the second Goodwin theory “There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music). Now if you were to categorise this song it would probably go under the Pop Rock label, you have two sides to the video, the one of the band performing which would go more towards a stereotypical rock video and the story which is probably more applicable to pop videos, combine the two and you have something that fits in perfectly with the music that they are making.

Ian Brown – F.E.A.R

The Goodwin theory that really stands out in this video is, 1) “There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics). This especially stands out as the video has empathised the particular lyrics that mean something by including them alongside the video. The F.E.A.R theme is constant throughout with it being the title, in the lyrics and in the video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x15ald_ian-brown-fear_music

Ian Brown – F.E.A.R

Another Goodwin theory that fits this video is “The artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which, over time, becomes part of their star image. Ian Brown is not exactly known for his smile, usually he’ll have exactly the same expression that fits his image which also translates to his songs, this is shown in the F.E.A.R video by the following screen grabs.

Ian Brown – F.E.A.R

Again as it seems with most videos the Goodwin Theory of “There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist” – This is shown in even greater detail in this video as basically the whole video is on Ian Brown throughout, it also helps us see his “star iconography” that he has built up over the years both as a solo artist and with the Stone Roses.

Ian Brown – F.E.A.R

One of the most notable things about the video that doesn’t involve Ian Brown is how grotty the area is where he is cycling. You get the delights of back streets and various sex shops throughout the video. While this is unusual you can still relate it to the 2nd Goodwin Theory of “There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music”) – Scenes like this would basically never take place in a RnB video and especially in pop videos

Radiohead - Justhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIFLtNYI3Ls&ob=av2e

There are two parts to the video of Just by Radiohead. One is a live performance and the other is a narrative. In the live performance it’s clear to see that the emphasis is on Thom Yorke, who to people who aren’t devout fans of Radiohead would probably be the only band member they recognised. Goodwin’s theory on music videos had 7 different parts and number 4 was “There is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist” as you can see by the two screen grabs shown here this is a constant theme in the ‘live’ part of the video. The repetition of the close ups reinforce the importance of Thom Yorke’s role within the band

Radiohead - Just

One of the main things that stand out about these two screen grabs is how drab the apartment that the band are playing in is shown to be. There are no colours that stand out with mainly Black/White/Brown being used. With this in mind and the fact the place looks deserted apart from the ‘live’ performance it reinforces the theme of the narrative, the narrative also follows a similar path as the live performance, with similar drab colours as shown on the next slide. Goodwin’s theory Number 2 states “There is a relationship between the music and the visuals (again with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music) and I feel the music in the song is of a tone that fits the drab nature of the visuals perfectly.

Radiohead - Just

Like the live performance the narrative part of the video keeps to the theme of being dark and eerie. The screen grabs here show the look of stereotypical city workers and what we see of the place looks the same, a typical drab business district that could be anywhere.

Goodwin’s 1st theory states “There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (with visuals either illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the lyrics”. I feel this video is a perfect example for this theory as the main lyric “You do it to yourself you do” fits perfectly with the narrative storyline. Interestingly there’s much speculation over what it said before everyone goes to the pavement, one must assume what is said would fit in perfectly to the meaning of the lyrics. With the fact that people are still trying to figure what is said it results in the video having long lasting appeal with it still being brought up years after it was released, the enigma created here has led to a very successful video.

Radiohead - Just

Using this screenshot again as I feel it’s a great example of the 3rd Goodwin theory “Particular music genres have their own music video style and iconography (such as live performance in heavy rock or choreographed dance routines in RnB). Most people will know the performance in the video isn’t actually live but it is performed in such a way to make it look that way. The screen grab of the lead guitarist here could very easily be photo shopped into a live show and not look out of place!

I’d classify Radiohead under the alternative rock banner and the band will usually feature heavily in videos and for the main part playing music in some part of it, this is a great example backing up Goodwin’s theory.