Andrew Goodwin’s Theory Applied to: James Blunt 1973

What the theory proposes:• 1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals and synaesthesia:

sensory impressions are carried over from one sense to another. (The audience can see the sound in their head.)

• 2. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals. This can be a result of 1 in 3 ways:▫ Illustrate: The video will have used a set of images to illustrate the lyrics and the

genre.▫ Amplify: The meaning of the song are added to by the visuals. (They add an extra layer

of meaning)▫ Disjuncture: The meaning of the song has been completely ignored in the music video.

• 3. Music videos demonstrate the genre characteristics (e.g. A dance routine for a boy/girl band)

• 4. The record label will have a demand for a high number of close ups of the artist

• 5. There is a frequent reference to the notion of looking (e.g. Screens with screens, cameras or mirrors)

• 6. There are often intertextual references

I will apply the theory to a music video of my choice and see how effective the theory is

James Blunt - 1973

•Click here to watch - James Blunt 1973• I have chosen to analyse this music video, as the

genre is similar to that of the artist’s I have already researched and the song that I will be making my own music video to.

1. Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals:

“ Has been and gone” The artist was singing in front of a

woman who then disappeared at the start of these lyrics.

“And we both stayed out till the morning light”

“ In 1973” “ In a club with you”

Analysis of Key Feature 1In response to reviewing the video to see if the images illustrated the lyrics, I have found that in many parts of the song, they do. As the music video has a strong narrative element which goes backwards and forward from 1973 – the illustrative content is more common within the chorus. The versus don’t illustrate the lyrics that much due to the artist’s performance base. In the chorus – the lyrics talk about a Saturday night in 1973, which is illustrated by girls dancing in a club. The most common illustrative part is where the lyrics say “In a club with you, in 1973,” every time the artists sings, a visual image of the club appears on the screen.An illustrative music video is often referred to as being fairly redundant –

in this case I think the music video is redundant as the images are what the audience would have been able to predict them to be. For example, if the image of a clown appeared, then the audience wouldn’t have expected it; therefore, it would have been entropic. It could be argued that the music video is a bit boring as it is too redundant. It can come across as repetitive as the same visuals are replayed over. The narrative structure is also quite bland.

Relationship between the music and the visuals

The print screens represent the opening sequences to the start of the music video. The relationship of the music to the visuals don’t fit in within the beat of the song. The music at the start of the video is upbeat and resembles the 70s club scene; however, the artist is walking at a fairly slow place; it creates a juxtaposition with the overall beat of the music. In contrast to the beat, the opening sequence is fairly redundant as it just shows the artist walking in a low key lighting area, which is also surrounded by dull colours. The beat of the music is lively which doesn't come across in the visuals at all.

The music resembles a 70s club theme which is clearly portrayed within the visuals. As we can see in the screenshots, the colours have changed from dull grey tones, to orange tones which suggests that the visuals are recreating the 70s. The orange colouring looks like a sepia tone which is often associated with older photographs and the 70s. This clearly indicates to the audience that the music matches the music and that there is a narrative section to the music video.

Amplify:-The song refers to a woman – whom the artist loved. It talks about how she was from the 70s but now she is old. Instead of showing the woman who would have now aged – the visuals portray the meaning of the song through the location. The location for the music video is worn down in the ‘future’, it appears isolated and abandoned. There is also a grey theme to it. Grey connotes sadness, loneliness, dreariness and ageing. The meaning of the song has therefore been amplified by the choice of location as it could represent the woman.

Editing Pace:-

The pace of the editing is slow in comparison to the beat of the song. The most common form of editing in this video is ‘continuity’- which has been illustrated through the use of straight cuts. (Meaning the scenes just jump from one to another). This again causes the music video to appear as redundant rather than entropic. On the other hand, in the screenshots above, there is an element of fade out as we transcend from the visuals of the artist to the visuals of the woman. The editing is smooth which links in to the smooth but lively beat of the song. If genre was heavy metal it wouldn’t make sense for the editing to be smooth.

The screenshot is a medium close up in the video from around 1:06. In the video, the tilt shot travels from the women’s legs to their head. It is common in music videos for the women to be objectified, which is being shown here.

There are an array of close ups which is common for most music videos. This fits in with key feature 4 as the record label may want to boost the recognition of the artist in order to gain more money and create a strong brand identity. The first screenshot shows an eyeline match of the artist; this enables the audience to engage with the artist as he is looking directly at them.

Cinematography:-

Low Angle Shot

High Angle Shot

Close Up Medium Close Up

Long Shot

Star Image

In the music video ‘1973’, the main focus is on the sadness and isolation of James Blunt reminiscing in some past memories. He is surrounded by an abandoned location but occasionally becomes surrounded by people from the 70s and women in clubs. The main shots used to portray the star are a variety of: close ups and medium shots. This is to clearly establish who the star of the video is. It also helps to create a connection between the artist and the audience.

This screenshot shows one of the women who is featured throughout the video. The close ups objectify her as she is wearing skimpy clothing.

This image contrasts to the previous shot on the last slide as the artist is now disengaged with the audience as he is looking down to the ground, rather than at the camera.

Here is another screenshot showing that James Blunt is now being disconnected from the audience. The camera is now focusing on the back of the artist, which suggests that there is a clear distinction made between who the audience is and who the star is.

Voyeurism:-• The term comes from the French word voyeur, which means ‘one

who looks’. • Voyeurism is to do with the notion of looking – in music videos

this can be achieved through the use of mirrors, cameras, windows or even through someone else’s eyes.

• Goodwin’s theory relates to voyeurism usually being carried out by a man watching a woman – in this case, it is usually women who have been objectified in a music video. This can be seen when the women wear skimpy clothing or dance in provocative ways. The editing of the camera and the fragmented body shots make voyeurism a popular part of the music video culture.

• Laura Mulvey explored the elements of voyeurism ‘with the figure of the woman on screen as the object of desire and "the male gaze." She published an article ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema to explore the element more.

Definitions of Voyeurism:- • Web – “a perversion in which a person receives sexual

gratification from seeing the genitalia of others or witnessing others' sexual behaviour.”

• Wikipedia – “Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature”

• The video for 1973 contains some elements of voyeurism, although it doesn’t objectify women in such a large way. When the music video reverts back to 1973, we see women who are dressed up in skimpy outfits and who are dancing in a sexual way; appealing to a man.

• There are other elements of voyeurism as often the camera will zoom from behind a window where other people are standing; to the artist who is walking outside.

• The video is resembling the 70s era, which was known for having a dance/club theme where women were commonly objectified.

• The song is also about a man who is singing about a woman – who we assume he loved. The fact that he refers to her dancing on a Saturday night in 1973, would appear to be a good enough reason for the director of the music video to objectify women and include a slight element of voyeurism.

• The video also supports the theory of Goodwin and Mulvey.

Shot Types:

A tilt shot has been used to demonstrate the use of voyeurism. The camera starts off by focusing on the woman’s leg as she brings up her dress and then tilts up to her head. The camera then pans to the right to show more women who have been objectified in the scene.

There are frequent uses of medium close ups to show the men in the video dancing sexually with the women.

An element of voyeurism portrayed through the use of mirrors.

Intertextual References:

• It can be described as ‘where a text alludes or references another text’. Julia Kristeva stated that ‘any text is the absorption and transformation of another’.

• This music video has incorporated some intertextual references which I have screenshot onto the previous slide. The screenshots reference shops, posters and vinyl's. There are intertextual references that relate to a 70s barber shop, thrift store and ‘Ladies Undies’.

• The lyrics don’t really relate to the references as they don’t illustrate what we see, the camera uses close ups and zoom in to show the audience the references.