Research: Goodwin's Theory on music videos

Goodwin's Theory on music videos

After analysing various music videos, Andrew Goodwin came up with a theory. He states that most conventional music videos follow these 8 ideas:

1. Different genres show different characteristics.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.
3. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals.
4. There is usually a star image motif.
5. Music videos present a notion of looking.
6. Intertextual reference is shown.
7. The structure of the music video is either performance, narrative or concept based.
8. Technical elements are shown.

I believe that this theory is realistic however I think that the majority of these points are based around mainstream music videos.

Genre characteristics

Different genres of music have different characteristics and conventions in them. This is stuff you usually expect to see and do see in these different genres of music, here are some examples I have already whilst researching and analysing different genres of music.

Without these conventions the fans would stop watching the artists music videos because they are no longer giving them what they want and expect to see. However if every music video had the exact same thing the fans would get bored of watching the same things, so artists tend to switch different aspects every now and then and add new things to keep the viewers entertained and interested.

Relationship between lyrics and visuals

In music videos one factor that is almost guaranteed is the relationship between the lyrics and the music video, this can either be someone lisping the lyrics in the music video which is preferably the artist. Or things such as situations, material objects or people mentioned you would expect to see some form of relation to the lyrics on screen.

In the lyrics you should expect 1 of the 3:
- Lyrics being amplified. When an artist exaggerates lyrics but there is still a link with the music video. 

- Lyrics being used as a narrative to the music video. (what is said happens) An example of this is Rap Man - Blue Story prt.1,2 & 3. 

- Contradicting lyrics. When the exact opposite is happening in the music video in comparison to the lyrics which you can usually find in a parody music video.

Relationship between music and visuals
Although the relationship between music video and lyrics is almost certain the relationship between music and visuals is 9/10 expected.

This could range from the edits in the video itself based around the beat (for example cuts between clips) or if the beat has a certain rhythm you can expect the lighting to flash with it. 

Another this is the the vibe of the music video to match the vibe of the music. A example of this is Will Smith - Miami, This is because the music in the song is uplifting and the music video matches this in terms of lighting scenery and all round vibe. 

Star Image motifs

In music videos the main artist is usually at the center of attention this is down to the choreographer and the record labels management, this will usually be the case because they want to give the artist credit for their work and they also want the people to get used to seeing their face as they are potential fans. Another sign as to if they are the star in the music video is that you see them more than anyone else and they are usually found lipsing the lyrics.

An example of this is Nicki Minaj - Anaconda. As you can see in this music video there is a lot going on but Nicki is always found at the center of attention and lipsing the lyrics of the song. Another Technique in the music video is the cameo, a cameo is when another star appears in a music video without them playing any direct part in the video its almost like a random appearance, in the last few minutes of the video we see drake appear in Nicki's video as she is dancing on him. 

Notion of looking

Nicki Minaj Anaconda track covers yet another factor in Goodwin's theory called the notion of looking, this is when the camera is strongly focused on what is usually the female body but is now recently common with males also. Through notion of looking people are objectified and are seen in a sexual manner because they are presented in the camera flaunting these features. This is strongly used in the music videos from Nicki Minaj and Rihanna due to their sexually explicit lyrics.  

Intertextual references
Intertextual reference is very similar to a metaphor or a cameo because in the music video someone or an incident might happen/ appear in the music video for no specific reason.

An example of this is in Eminem's music video 'Without Me' where rap artist Eminem is shown strongly resembling the cartoon character 'Robin' (from 'Bat-Man & Robin')and producer that signed him Dr. Dre showing some resemblance to 'Bat-Man'. (Him being the leader because he signed Eminem so he would be seen as the leader and Eminem the sidekick.)  

  
Performance, narrative or concept based?
In music videos the structure of them is either one of the three. 

• Narrative based. - Meaning that there is a narrative behind the music video and a story to be told, whether it follows the lyrics or not its clear to the viewers whats going on and easy for them to follow the narrative like R.Kelly's 'T'rapped in the closet' chapters below. 

• Performance based. - If the music video is a performance type then its similar to a concert and usually the star artist will perform to song in front of the camera with backup singers/ dancing acts. An example of this is Usher - Good Kisser. 

• Concept based. - A concept video is seen as quite random and usually has nothing to do with the lyrics or the video its just a random display of anything and it is often shown in animation format like Cee-Lo Green's 'Crazy'

Sometimes they can be crossed over and have 2 structure types used but it doesn't work for all three in one video. an example of 2 structures being performance and narrative would be 'Bad Blood' performed by Taylor Swift. Which also has intextual reference to friend turned rival, Katie Perry.

Technical elements

Technical elements in music videos is where the micro elements in the video are used to compliment and define the genre. For example the micro elements of Mise En Scene's high pitch lighting and flashy costume as well as high concept movie resembling cinematography in Bad Blood helps us to understand that it is a song that belong to the pop genre.

Conclusion on the Theory

To conclude I believe that this theory is effective especially in terms of when being used for high concept songs coming from the pop genre. I also believe that it is good to use when you what to define what genre a music video belongs to because you find a pattern in all music videos from the same performance genre. I worked with josh and we filled out this table whilst analysing Eminem's 'The way I am' and this is what we found out about it.