1) Genre characteristics:
All music videos often reflect their genre through the use of specific characteristics which makes them conventional. For example, if the genre is pop, the characteristics that would occur in the music video are mainstream and cliche elements. It would mostly be performance based including attractive people to an upbeat tempo. An example of a pop music video is Taylor Swift's song, 'Shake it off' which can be applied to Goodwin's theory well. This is because the video is extremely performance based which compliments the upbeat song and portrays a "cheesy" aspect to the genre.
Moreover, if the genre is Hip-hop, the characteristics usually consist of the artist originating from a black background with promiscuous women surrounding the scene. The setting is mostly glamorised with iconography such as gold chains, cars and money in order to promote the lavish life they live. 50 Cent's song 'Candy Shop' fits Goodwin's theory as it glamorises the idea of the rich lifestyle. This video can also be seen as "ghetto" as he presents the stereotypical lifestyle of a "thug" which is conventional to the Hip-hop genre.
2) Relationship between lyrics and visuals:
The relationship between the lyrics and visuals are either illustrative which explain the lyrics visually for the audience to understand the song, or amplifying, which exaggerates the lyrics and the visuals are completely opposite to the lyrics heard. For example, and illustrative music video would be Rihanna's song "Umbrella" which illustrates the lyrics clearly due to the iconography of the umbrella consistently shown throughout the video. Also, the lyrics mention "Now that it's raining more than ever" where rain begins to poor into the scene portraying the lyrics openly. However, an example of an amplifying video is Justin Bieber's "Where are you now" which does not portray the lyrics. This is because, the lyrics are talking about love as he states "Where are you now that I need you?" however, throughout the music video no narrative based on love occurs as it is just the star shown singing along with extremely fast edits around him.
3)Relationship between music and visuals:
The relationship between the music and the visuals show the connection to the actual music rather than the lyrics. This means if the music is up beat, then the visuals will most likely be fast movements with fast edits, however, if the music is at a much slower tempo then the visuals are likely to be more calming images. For example, the song "Five More Hours" by Chris Brown is an extremely upbeat song where there are wild party scenes to match the lively music. By matching the visuals to the music it will keep the audience entertained as the song's purpose is to maintain the happy and fun atmosphere. However, in the song "Smartphones" by Trey Songz, the visuals also match the music due to the slow motion used in some parts emphasising the slow tempo of the music. This also helps to keep the audience engaged as the visuals describe the music.
4) Star image motifs:
A star image motif is when the music video includes many close-up shots of the artist which is demanded by the record labels in order to make them more popular and identifiable. Most music videos portray star image motifs because there is a demand for the audience to be able to see their favourite artists perform the songs they release. For example, in the song "All hands on deck" by Tinashe the whole music video is based on the star image motif. This is because, Tinashe performs the whole song and the camera is focused on her at all times showing her dancing throughout the music video. This gives an opportunity for the audience to watch the artist in the music video without being distracted by other elements.
5) Notion of looking:
The notion of looking suggests that the music video is particularly focused on voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This means that the video emphasises on the women being seen as a sexual object. This section of Goodwin's theory has become increasingly popular in recent years as more artists are selling themselves with this type of image. For example, Robin Thicke's song called "Blurred Lines" focus' on the females being sex objects and the men watching the women's body parts. This portrays an image of notion of looking in order to keep the audience engaged in the music by selling the idea of sexual interactions.
6)Intertextual Reference:
Intertextual references include links to other films, TV programmes or other music videos. This is usually done to gain more publicity as it is attracting other audiences through the referencing. For example, Big Sean's song "Play no games" has an intertextual reference to the TV show "Martin" which was aired in the 90s. This attracts the previous audience that used to watch the show which helps make the artist's video much more popular.
7)Performance, Narrative or Concept based:
A music video can be performance based which means that the video consists of a lot of focus on the artist actually performing the song. This could be through dancing or just lip syncing the song. For example, the song "Single Ladies" by Beyonce is purely based on performance due to the consistency of her dancing and lip syncing throughout the entire video. This is done to give the artist an opportunity to really perform their own songs for their loyal audiences who will enjoy them.
Moreover, a music video can be narrative based which means that the video consists of a story that is being told, usually for the audience to understand the lyrics. For example, the song "Last Time" by Trey Songz, portrays the story of the artist cheating on his girlfriend which match the lyrics accurately showing that the music video is based on a narrative. This is done to usually relate to the lyrics and also show stories that tend to happen in real life so people can relate to them.
Furthermore, a music video can be concept based which means that the video consists of a variety of scenes which do not quite make sense however is put together to still create a music video. For example, the song "Only" by Nicki Minaj is concept based due to the fact that the lyrics have no relation to the visuals which suggest why the video is seen as a concept.
8) Technical Elements:
The technical elements to every music video are
These elements help create the foundation and basis of every music video because without these, the video would not be able to progress into the other sections of Goodwin's theory. Cinematography decides on what camera sizes, angles and movement fit each scene accurately which needs to be picked well in order to fit the video. Also, editing decides on which types of edits will fit. For example, if the song is fast there will be fast pace editing and fast motion in order to emphasise the song's lyrics and music. Mise en Scene are the different elements such as iconography and settings. This can determine just how popular the video gets because the settings need to be relevant to the song and also the right iconography needs to be used. Lastly, the sound is the actual song which the music video is being made for.
One example we did as a class was Will Smith's song "Miami" where we had to apply the 8 theories to the music video.
We also then applied Goodwin's theory to another music video of our own choice in pairs. We chose the song "First Position" by Kehlani. This is because most of Goodwin's theory does accurately fit the video.
Positive Comments:
4) Star image motifs:
A star image motif is when the music video includes many close-up shots of the artist which is demanded by the record labels in order to make them more popular and identifiable. Most music videos portray star image motifs because there is a demand for the audience to be able to see their favourite artists perform the songs they release. For example, in the song "All hands on deck" by Tinashe the whole music video is based on the star image motif. This is because, Tinashe performs the whole song and the camera is focused on her at all times showing her dancing throughout the music video. This gives an opportunity for the audience to watch the artist in the music video without being distracted by other elements.
5) Notion of looking:
The notion of looking suggests that the music video is particularly focused on voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This means that the video emphasises on the women being seen as a sexual object. This section of Goodwin's theory has become increasingly popular in recent years as more artists are selling themselves with this type of image. For example, Robin Thicke's song called "Blurred Lines" focus' on the females being sex objects and the men watching the women's body parts. This portrays an image of notion of looking in order to keep the audience engaged in the music by selling the idea of sexual interactions.
6)Intertextual Reference:
Intertextual references include links to other films, TV programmes or other music videos. This is usually done to gain more publicity as it is attracting other audiences through the referencing. For example, Big Sean's song "Play no games" has an intertextual reference to the TV show "Martin" which was aired in the 90s. This attracts the previous audience that used to watch the show which helps make the artist's video much more popular.
7)Performance, Narrative or Concept based:
A music video can be performance based which means that the video consists of a lot of focus on the artist actually performing the song. This could be through dancing or just lip syncing the song. For example, the song "Single Ladies" by Beyonce is purely based on performance due to the consistency of her dancing and lip syncing throughout the entire video. This is done to give the artist an opportunity to really perform their own songs for their loyal audiences who will enjoy them.
Moreover, a music video can be narrative based which means that the video consists of a story that is being told, usually for the audience to understand the lyrics. For example, the song "Last Time" by Trey Songz, portrays the story of the artist cheating on his girlfriend which match the lyrics accurately showing that the music video is based on a narrative. This is done to usually relate to the lyrics and also show stories that tend to happen in real life so people can relate to them.
Furthermore, a music video can be concept based which means that the video consists of a variety of scenes which do not quite make sense however is put together to still create a music video. For example, the song "Only" by Nicki Minaj is concept based due to the fact that the lyrics have no relation to the visuals which suggest why the video is seen as a concept.
8) Technical Elements:
The technical elements to every music video are
- Cinematography
- Editing
- Mise en Scene
- Sound
These elements help create the foundation and basis of every music video because without these, the video would not be able to progress into the other sections of Goodwin's theory. Cinematography decides on what camera sizes, angles and movement fit each scene accurately which needs to be picked well in order to fit the video. Also, editing decides on which types of edits will fit. For example, if the song is fast there will be fast pace editing and fast motion in order to emphasise the song's lyrics and music. Mise en Scene are the different elements such as iconography and settings. This can determine just how popular the video gets because the settings need to be relevant to the song and also the right iconography needs to be used. Lastly, the sound is the actual song which the music video is being made for.
One example we did as a class was Will Smith's song "Miami" where we had to apply the 8 theories to the music video.
We also then applied Goodwin's theory to another music video of our own choice in pairs. We chose the song "First Position" by Kehlani. This is because most of Goodwin's theory does accurately fit the video.
Positive Comments:
- Theory is easy to apply to all videos
- Allows you to breakdown the content of video
- Allows you to analyse lots of media ideas (representation, micro elements, genre etc)
Negative Comments:
- Very reliant on mainstream music and pop
- The question whether Goodwin should even be credited for his theory or is it natural?
Overall, I will use Goodwin's theory in my own music video because from looking at a various amount of music video's, they fit the theory accurately. This suggests that I should follow in the same direction in order to get the same publicity and popularity.
A highly proficient post here on Goodwin's theory. Each characteristic is well discussed with some examples chosen and discussed to support your points.
ReplyDeleteTo improve;
-introduce Goodwin a little better in terms on who he was
-can the videos you analysed be applied to his theory?
-your opinions on the theory?
-In your conclusion, be more specific to how you plan to use Goodwin's theory