Andrew Goodwin's theory was that music videos ignore a common narrative and they are used as an advertisement tool instead for the artist and the song itself. He believes that the consumers and listeners of the song make up their own meaning and message so that they can deeply relate to it.
Goodwin's theory involved 6 conventions: 1. Relationship between the lyrics and visuals. Goodwin believes the visuals either illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. Beyonce's music video of 'If I were a boy' illustrates the lyrics, as she acts like a stereotypical boy for a day and it is the boy that gets hurt instead of the girl. 2. Thought beats: see the sound. The visuals are edited in time with the lyrics. Calvin Harris's video of 'Bounce'. When the word bounce is said, at the same time the ball is bounced and this edit makes the video very effective and memorable.
3. The Star Image- This very important in
music videos because by creating star image it can increase the audience's
awareness of the artist and can therefore show a development of the artist over
time. This is completed through lots of close up shots of the artist or main
vocalist, this occurs quite often in pop videos, particularly in female pop
artist videos as it sexualizes them to create the male gaze. A music video that
shows this well is Beyonce's video 'Hold Up' which went with 'Lemonade'. This
is because nearly all of the shot are of her or a close up of her and her actions.
Also they have her in a bright yellow outfit therefore making her stand out,
making her the star:
4.Voyeurism- These use of close up
shots, particularly in female videos, links to this convention. This is
because Goodwin found that many female videos use voyeuristic angles to
entice the male audience, therefore sexualizing the artist and this
influences their (star) image that is remembered. Artists that create
this sexual view of themselves within their star image include Rihanna,
Brittany Spears and now Miley Cyrus. As mentioned before this is incorporated a lot into Miley Cyrus' videos and especially became known
for this after 'We Can't Stop' with her infamous twerking:
5.Inter-textual References: It is not unusual to recognise the visuals or lyrics from other types
of media text. This could either be for humour or media convergence and
synergy. An example of this is with The Writing's on the Wall and
Spectre so parts of the film are included in the music video. With some
of the shots being in the same setting as the film. They use the most
iconic settings in the film for the music video to make sure that the
audience definitely makes the connection between the two. This is 'The
Writing's on the Wall' music video to show this:
6. Narrative and Performance with Iconography- Goodwin
believe that you should avoid common narrative as their role is to
advertise rather than tell a story. The base of the video can be
influenced by the genre so a rock band artist is more likely to be
performance based and portray across the idea of a concert/ gig. Also in
order to make the performance in the video
convince the audience, lip-syncing along with other actions should be
completed. However, some artists create a trademark action which makes
their videos and music recognizable due to the reoccurring nature of it.
This creates a marketing strategy which will be remembered for years to
come. For example with Amy Winehouse, shehad a trademark action through the
iconography of her look with the big beehive hair and thick, winged
eyeliner that she is still remembered for even after her death. This
look is shown throughout nearly all of her music videos, but is
particularly prominent in 'Back to Black':
Diary of Today: The first thing we did today was listen to the song above, without watching the video. We then wrote down notes of who and what we would do to create a music video for this particular song. After this, we then shared our ideas with the rest of the class. We then read a print out of the lyrics and this changed some peoples ideas of what they would include in their music video. We then watched the actual music video for the song and compared it to the ideas we originally came up with and then contemplated whether we would then change our music video idea or keep it the same. Some of the ideas did link in with the lyrics and the music video, however others were the complete opposite. My Idea: My idea was to have an everlasting corridor with pictures on the wall all the way down, displaying the love story of the lead singer's relationship with the girl he is apparently singing about. There will be some rocky parts of the video where the relationship was at risk of failing, this will be during the rock music feel of the song also, so the visuals, lyrics and music will all be parallel at that time. The idea of the everlasting corridor is to give the impression that the relationship of the lead singer and the girl he is singing about will last forever, but there will be times in the relationship which aren't ideal. This will hopefully make the song relateable to people listening to it. Classmates Ideas: Megan Thomas Megan's idea was to have a house in the middle of no where with a couple arguing inside the house. She would then intertwine choreography in the video reflecting the couples relationship (close then distant) then it would flashback to the narrative. Jordan Fowler Jordan's idea was a performance of the lead singer in a field with his guitar. Tez Tez's idea was the lead singer and his girl he is singing about in a desert with a traditional white wedding setting. Evan Evan's idea was a street performance with flashbacks of the mans life as a little boy growing up to be the person he is now whilst walking along the street, also playing the guitar. Max's Max's idea was the lead singer stalking the women he loves, yet he can see her but she cant see him. He will be following her life and watching over her as they are going through a break up. So he will be seeing her move on in her life and watching her every step as if he cannot let her go. Clare Clare's idea was to have a montage of the lead singer and the women's relationship and the camera zooming into each part of the montage and showing the memories of the relationship. Alex Alex had the idea that the band were singing in their gig, which switches back to the man following the women. Jono Jono's strange idea was the band sitting around a campfire, switching back to a sunflower field with the lead singer on his own singing with his guitar surrounded by dinosaurs. Preferred IdeaI preferred Max's idea out of everyone's, it was very similar to mine and i feel as if it will be a music video which people connect to deeply and people may also be able to relate to the video and the lyrics along with it. I liked Max's idea of the man being able to see the women but the women cannot see the man, as she is moving on from their breakup yet the man cannot seem to let her go. Many people would be able to relate to this as so many people have gone through breakups when one person finds it easier than the other which inevitably makes it a lot harder. I have learnt a lot during this task today. Mainly that it is interesting to see an insight from everyone's different perspectives. It goes to show how different people imagine and think of complete different things when it comes to analysing a songs visual picture.
I have listened to music all throughout my life from a young child's cartoon theme songs to the teenage pop music to now listening to alternative, chart and R&B music. As a young child i have loved the song 'Can't help falling in love' Elvis Presley. I have since grown up still loving this song, purely because it was my parents first dance song and they used to sing it to us as babies, it was always played around the house and still is now. Growing up into the early teenage stage, i started listening to S Club 7. The genre of this group is mainly pop and it attracts teenagers. This song brings back memories of primary school and the early days of secondary school. Now as a 17 year old i listen to all different types of music, mainly chart music yet different genres of the chart music. These genres include R&B, pop and some DJ mixes. My favourite artists include Justin Bieber, the 1975, Ed Sheeran and Drake; all for different reasons. I like Justin Bieber as he produces pop songs which mainy of us including myself can relate too easily. I like the 1975 as they are different and the songs they produce are catchy, also the different type of music is what intrigues me the most. I love Ed Sheeran as his music is calming and relatable. Not only this, but i like Ed Sheeran as a person as i have seen in interviews, therefore listening to his music makes it more geuine and meaningful. Last but not least i do enjoy Drake's music purely because his voice is catchy to listen too and the beat of his songs are popular and quite upbeat. Justin Bieber The 1975 Ed Sheeran
