Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin made a theory on the subject of music videos that enabled him and also others to identify different key parts of a music video. After devising this theory here are the main features from his theory he feels are important enough to be the key parts of any promotional video.

These are the six main key features any music should follow,

• Lyrics- Used to make connection between audience and band/singer, the lyrics of any track of music are made to use the emotion and mood of the song to sink into the viewer.
• Music- Depending on how fast or slow the tempo of the song, the editing should in turn follow this to allow for example quick cuts and short clips in a fast tempo video, and the other way round with longer shots and less cuts with a slower tempo.
• Genre- Represented through the style of the video in terms of props, mise on scene, themes and camera work styles and editing.
• Camerawork- Different styles of camerawork throughout a video can obviously determine the way in which the video is presented to the viewer and what feel and vibe the audience recieve, they are also important at the right time to show emotions aswell as dominace etc.
• Editing- Most common version being fast cut montage, rendering lots of different images together to produce quick viewing.
• Intertexuality- References from other well known sources of media for example TV or film, audiences enjoy to understand things other viewers don't.

Goodwin's Theory- Key Features of All Music Videos

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics- for example skinny jeans, darker style videos to create an indie feel.
• There is a realtionship between lyrics and visuals- if used effectively lyrics heard by the audience should suit the style and emotion of the visuals.
• There is a realtionship between music and visuals- the tempo, style and emotion of the music should represent similar visuals, for example a slower tempo song would have slower edits and camera shots.
• Demands of record label may influence video content- this could at times mean that the record label could force producers of the music video to include certain aspects such as close ups on the lead singer, or the main singer being involved in the narrative storyline also without the rest of the band.
• Voyeurism used in videos- this is typical of the more pop/rnb genre, however the inclusion of things like dancing women in bikins etc has become quite a common feature of music videos. This is obviously to appeal the audience from a sexual appeal side. Voyeurism could also be used within the narrative through the looking system.
• There are sometimes intertexual references within the videos- references from other forms of media such as TV or film are oftens included within music videos, these are used to provide satisfaction to viewers who manage to spot and understand their inclusion.