When it comes to music videos's, Andrew Goodwin had come up with seven different key aspects and wrote a book called 'Dancing in the distraction factory' 1992 to state that all music video's have key elements, nonetheless, a music video will always have one feature, either being complimentary, contradicting or amplified.
Complimentary - Agrees/follows the conventions of the song
Contradicting - Going against the conventions
Amplified - Exaggerates a part of the music video
Some of the key aspects are
1. A relationship between the lyrics and the visuals displayed on screen. This is where the feature of the music video will either be complimentary, contradicting or amplified.
The first example i have is 'Firework' by Katy Perry
The lyrics of the song are amplified by the visuals and it adds further meaning to the song. It shows fireworks going off from inside of people to represent that everyone is worth something and it just has to be let out and all the people around will recognise how important you are. In addition the use of fireworks and the bright colours is exaggeration to highlight how important it is to realise your self worth.
Ed Sheeran is another example of an artist where many of his songs lyrics and video are complimentary with also some elements of it contradicting. In Ed Sheeran's 'Shape Of You', the majority of the scenes and actions of the video that go hand in hand with the lyrics and let the audience reflect on what is happening.
2. There is a relationship between music and visuals. This is more to do with the editing of the music
video and how it can be directly in time with some of the music to give it more of a dramatic effect.
A prime example of this is 'Walks like Rhianna' by The Wanted. Not only is it complimentary but during the in sync dance and the lyrics "Our hearts go boom", there is a constant flash from the flood lights as the word "Boom" is said. This is to amplify the music and visuals of the video and for the audience to be more engaged.
A prime example of this is 'Walks like Rhianna' by The Wanted. Not only is it complimentary but during the in sync dance and the lyrics "Our hearts go boom", there is a constant flash from the flood lights as the word "Boom" is said. This is to amplify the music and visuals of the video and for the audience to be more engaged.
3. Genre exists
This is to do with genre and how certain music genres already exist. Goodwin theory stated that some artist chose specific props and costumes to fit into an already existing genre.
An example of this is rap music as a genre. Over the years, all rap videos consist of the same key features for it to stand out and for the audience to be able to clearly understand before even hearing the music that it is a rap video. This is called iconography. Iconography is the use of objects or costumes that are associated with a particular genre. Examples for rap would be
- Cars
- Expensive jewellery
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Women (Video purposes)
Heavy Metal consist of:
- Dark clothing
- Long black hair
- Tattoos of skulls and other unusual things
- Piercings
4. Artist Close Ups
Several artist will have a large amount of close ups during their music video and this is seen as:
- Artistic Branding - As an artist, it is important for your face to be known to your audience.
- Celebrity culture
- Artistic portrayal
- Implications on looking good
An example of this 'Beautiful' by Eminem. The close ups in this music video are for Eminem to be seen in a different aspect and another side to him as an artist to his audience. As Eminem is already branded as a huge artist, i believe the close ups used in this music video was for artistic portrayal.
5. Star Iconography
This is similar to the concept of iconography that i mentioned early but this is based around a star artist having a signature part to their video, through their branding or style. There are two differetn types which can be considered. Change and evolving or showing similar features. Michael Jackson was very well known for being an artist that would evolve and change his style of music video through his career and because this is what he was known for, it wasn't a huge shock to the audience to see something different. From the best dance routines to stories to match the lyrics, it kept his audience enticed, waiting to see what he would bring out next. Here are to examples:
Although in both videos he is wearing a red leather jacket, it is clear to see the difference.
Michael Jackson:
This is to do with genre and how certain music genres already exist. Goodwin theory stated that some artist chose specific props and costumes to fit into an already existing genre.
An example of this is rap music as a genre. Over the years, all rap videos consist of the same key features for it to stand out and for the audience to be able to clearly understand before even hearing the music that it is a rap video. This is called iconography. Iconography is the use of objects or costumes that are associated with a particular genre. Examples for rap would be
- Cars
- Expensive jewellery
- Drugs
- Alcohol
- Women (Video purposes)
Heavy Metal consist of:
- Dark clothing
- Long black hair
- Tattoos of skulls and other unusual things
- Piercings
4. Artist Close Ups
Several artist will have a large amount of close ups during their music video and this is seen as:
- Artistic Branding - As an artist, it is important for your face to be known to your audience.
- Celebrity culture
- Artistic portrayal
- Implications on looking good
An example of this 'Beautiful' by Eminem. The close ups in this music video are for Eminem to be seen in a different aspect and another side to him as an artist to his audience. As Eminem is already branded as a huge artist, i believe the close ups used in this music video was for artistic portrayal.
5. Star Iconography
This is similar to the concept of iconography that i mentioned early but this is based around a star artist having a signature part to their video, through their branding or style. There are two differetn types which can be considered. Change and evolving or showing similar features. Michael Jackson was very well known for being an artist that would evolve and change his style of music video through his career and because this is what he was known for, it wasn't a huge shock to the audience to see something different. From the best dance routines to stories to match the lyrics, it kept his audience enticed, waiting to see what he would bring out next. Here are to examples:
Although in both videos he is wearing a red leather jacket, it is clear to see the difference.
Michael Jackson:
Another style is having a similar style for your music videos. Some artist take this route as it is what their audience will recognise them for. An example of an artist is La Roux. She is well known for her crazy make up and songs with dark lighting and the fact that it is used in more than one video can portray that this is the style she felt most confident with and the style her target audience knew her for. Here are two examples:
La Roux:
6. Voyeurism, is something unusual for the audience to see and can range from explicity to the movement of the camera.
An example of voyeurism in a music video is 'Stay' by Rhianna. The reason this is unusual for the audience is the fact that Rhianna looks very vunerable and this is not the look she goes for so it was a huge change. In addition, there is parts of nudity as she is in a bath for the majority of the video.
Another example of voyeurism is 'Rule The World' by Take That, as they have a frame within a frame. This keeps the audience interested as it is not used in many music videos and it is very obscure.
7. The last feature that Goodwin discussed is intertexuality. This is when a form of media contains other forms of media. This is seen the majority in music videos but is also used in films. An example of music videos is 'We Made You' by Eminem. During this video, Eminem refers to diifferent news and continues to mock it.
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