Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin states that "music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements."

He suggested that there are 6 main conventions used within music videos:

1 -  There needs to be a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. 
This is shown in many music videos, for example...

- Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' video amplifies the lyrics as they talk about his love for his partner and this video involves romantic dancing between the pair. She is dressed in a type of wedding dress outfit which highlights his love for her.












2. Thought Beats: Seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and the visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics). 

- For example, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk video where most of the actions are in perfect synch with the beat of the song, e.g. the opening with the feet walking to the time of the song.

3.) Genre-related style and iconography present. 

-Some artists have a trend of repeating certain actions within their music videos in order to establish the action as their 'trademark'. This can also be a location, for example, rock music videos tend to be of gigs.
- For example, Ariana Grande's song 'The Way' is a romantic song which could be classified as girly. The music video reflects this - you would expect this type of video for the genre of the song.

4.) Multiple close-ups of the main artist or vocalists: the creation of a star image to promote a recognizable band image. 

- Camera angles used to make the main character look good and stand out. Women are often sexualized using provocative angles. This also links to Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory, this can create a physical attraction towards the artist.
- For example, Iggy Azalea's video for her single 'Work' which primarily shows her wearing various revealing outfits.




5.) Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females. 

- Goodwin recognized that most music videos included voyeurstic angles of women in order to entice a male audience. This sexualises the artist.
- For example, OMI's Cheerleader music video which shows the main vocalist surrounded by girls dancing on the beach with very little clothing.



- Another, more obvious, example of this is in Robin Thicke and Pharrell's video for 'Blurred Lines'. In this video, the girls are the main focus and surround the men. They do not appear to have any purpose in the video apart from to please the men. They are all dressed identically which makes them seem even more like objects of attraction.




6.) Intertexual references to other media texts may be present, especially in humorous videos. 

- It is not uncommon to recognize the visuals or lyrics of a song to be a direct reference to another media text. This engages the audiences and provides them with gratification if they recognize the link.
- For example, Taylor Swift's video for Love Story which is reference to Romeo and Juliet. Although also mentioned in the lyrics, the locations in this video include a normal school setting but also a traditional party which looks like it could have been from the era in which Romeo and Juliet was set.