Andrew Goodwins music theory

Andrew Goodwin

Music video conventions- A theory

 

 

 

Andrew Goodwin theorises that music videos have the following conventions:

-       A link between the lyrics and the visuals (lyrics match what’s being shown directly or indirectly)

-       Reflect the common features of genre of music (attacking music means fast editing)

-       Use of intertextual references (referring to another film, video or book)

-       Notions of looking and voyeurism (people being objectified and sexualised for an audience)

-       Demands of the record label evident e.g. budget (the video reflects the company, if it’s a high budget company the video has good visuals)

-       Star image a key focus (where the image of the artists is the most important aspect e.g. close ups or long lasting shots)

-       Performance based, narrative based and/or concept based (video that focuses on a performance by the band an artist/ video that focuses on a story/ video that doesn’t fall easily into the other categories and feels more abstract or random)

 

 

1. An example music video where the lyrics reflect the visuals is 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cyrus.

During the main chorus "I came in like a wrecking ball" Miley swings across the music set on top of a wrecking ball and smashes through a wall. with the lyrics exactly matching the image, this is an excellent example of one of Andrew Goodwin's theories that the lyrics connote the images taking place

2. A music video that reflects the common features of the genre is 'Castle on the Hill' by Ed Sheeran.

The pop music genre normally follows a narrative that is focussed on the song writer and singer. 'Castle on the Hill' follows the story of Ed Sheeran's favourite teenage memories and narrates through him smoking and drinking with his friends. This is classic for pop as it follows the path of a partying teenager who's making the most of their life.

3. KSI's music video 'Beerus' uses intertextual knowledge in one of his lyrics. 

During the first verse of the song KSI says "I'm a God like Beerus", referencing to a character in a very popular animated show called 'Dragon Ball Super'. KSI is also wearing Beerus's iconic golden neck and shoulder plate in the video. 

4. A music video that includes Andrew's theories of Notion of looking and voyeurism is Nicki Minaj's 'Anaconda'.

The music video 'Anaconda' consistently shows images on Nicki and her dancers bodies as well as referencing locations and objects as sexual innuendos. Nicki and her dancers wear revealing outfits and the video itself uses several different camera angles to capture the physiques of the women in the video.

5. In Jake Pauls music video 'Fresh outta London' we can see that the video cost lots of money to make.

In the background we can see several expensive cars manufactured by famous sport car companies like Lamborghini and Ferrari. we can also see there is a huge mansion in a remote area as well as diamond grills on Jakes teeth. In other parts of the music video Jake can be seen throng money into the air and wearing expensive branded jewellery such as his Rolex watch and gold chains.

6. Finally, the music video I found that consists of Andrew Goodwin's belief of performance in a music video is 'The Pretender' by the Foo Fighters.

This video revolves around the performance of the band 'Foo Fighters' and demonstrates their musical skills as singers, guitarists and drummers. The video shows them to be fending off a S.W.A.T. team or heavy equipped police officers with their aggressive music. This emphasises their ability to create quality rock music.