ANDREW GOODWIN

MUSIC THEORY

“”Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially

advertisement. 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”

Reagan Harding

KEY ASPECTS

Andrew Goodwin identifies 5 key aspects of a music video that we as the

audience should look out for.

These are…

- Thought beats- seeing the sound

- narrative and performance

- the star image

- relation of visuals to the song

- Technical aspects of music videos

First step- is to actually look at the music itself, this means we must take into account the structure for the song. This will include the verses and choruses

of the song.

Second step- is about the voice of the song. This means the artist, as they have unique voices this means they are able to form identification or

trademarks that fit well with their appearance and character. The singing voice is seen as an expressive instrument and therefore it is able to make

associations of its own.

Third step- Goodwin also points out that songs can be seen as stories and the artist is the story teller. This makes the music video a two communication device, as its is them telling us a story and us listening at the same time.

THOUGHT BEATS

“Songs fail to give us the complete narrative”

Andrew Goodwin believed that it was important for the artist to appear in

their music video, either this be acting out a role as the main character or the

singer.

By doing this it helps to make the song more realistic and it also gives the

audience a sense of a special connection and a much better understanding of

the song. A good example of this would be Kings of Leon- radioactive. In the

music video we see the whole band running around with the other characters

in the video. This really shows to us that what the song is about really did

happen, and we know the video isn't fake because they are in it.

NARRATIVE AND PERFORMANCE

Andrew Goodwin referred to the star image as a vital aspect of music videos.

This means it makes the music video look more appealing to the audience,

whilst also brining a unique style to the video in the way he/she is portrayed

to the audience.

The star image is also very unique in the way the artist is presented e.g.

costume, moves and appearance.

This also helps to promote the artist/stars image in public, and it also helps to

promote the video while creating a public reputation for the artist.

THE STAR IMAGE

There are three ways that visuals are used to promote the song these are:

Illustrate;

Music videos can use different images and clips to relate to the meaning of

the lyrics and the genres. This is the most common form as it allows the

viewers to easily relate to the music video.

Disjuncture;

This is when the meaning of the song is completely ignore in the music video.

Amplify;

This is when images and camera shots are manipulated and shown repeatedly

through the music video and are ploughed into our vision.

RELATIONS OF VISUAL TO THE SONG

Andre Goodwin says that the technical aspects of music videos help hold them together through the use of mise-en-scene, editing, special effects and sound.

Lightening and colour really helps to set the mood for the video and created emphasis of specific parts of the song to create a dramatic effect and make it

more enjoyable for the viewer.

Mise-en-scene allows the artist to gain authentication and also make his work appear more professional.

The beats of the song are also very useful, this is because they can help create effective cuts that go with the rhythm of the song and make the video more

appealing and entertaining.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF MUSIC VIDEOS

Robin Thicke- blurred lines

This video is promoting the beats by Dre pill.

This is done by incorporating the speaker into many different shots in the

video. This will then make people want to buy the speaker as it is being used

in an extremely popular music video. This then means that Dr Dre will get

more sales because of the well used promotion.

EXAMPLES

Lady gaga- telephone

In this music video lady gaga uses many different camera shots to promote

different products. The left picture we can see she has diet coke cans in her

hair, and the picture on the right we can see a police officer uses a beats by dre

laptop.

This is a very clear example of how many music videos are primarily for

advertisement purposes.

EXAMPLES