Research - Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's Theory.. 

Andrew Goodwin believed that most conventional music videos do 8 conventional things which will appeal to an audience. These 8 things are seen in every music video, however not all 8 will be seen every music video, only some. This is because some music videos are quite controversial. 

Genre characteristics - Music videos often reflect their genre through the use of specific characteristics which makes them conventional. For example R&B music tend to use a fantasized set with bright and attractive scenery to attract the viewers. Luxurious objects are often used also to catch the eye of the viewer. The majority of R&B music videos tend to just have a fun and playful scenery because it matches the music.

 E.g. Chris Brown ft Tyga - Ayo


What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?
This is when a connection is show through the visuals relating to the lyrics. This is either; 

• llustrative - when the visuals are explained by the lyrics
• Amplifying - when the lyrics are exaggerated and displayed on the video
• Contradicting - when the visuals just tend to be visuals and do not relate to the lyrics purposely. 

These are all shown clearly, throughout the music video of 'Wet Dreamz' By J Cole. The video is portrayed by two dogs having human like behavior and the lyrics explain the visuals of a male and female dog having one seems to be similar to a human relationship.

What is the relationship between music and visuals?
Similar to relationship with lyrics and visuals, the connection between music and visuals are the same. They are also illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. The easiest way to identify this in a music video is when the music tends to be more up beat or slower the editing and visuals will also tend to be slower to make the music video seem more in sync and make more sense towards the viewers.

Star motifs
The music video would occasionally include many close-up shots of the artist to make them the clear main focus of the music video in which this may tend to be demanded by the record labels to make them identifiable and the star of the video as the artist is the one being promoted. 

Notion of looking
This is particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body meaning that woman that are seen as a sexual object, therefore young and attractive females tend to be used in videos dress promiscuous or half naked to attract more of the male viewers than the females. This is also known as the male gaze (Laura Mulvey's theory). There are many music videos nowadays that could fit into this section.

Inter textual references
in many music videos you will find there are often links to other films, TV programmes, other artist or real life events. Many artist with songs featured in a films soundtrack often have short scenes that are consistent throughout the music video in which the song featured the film in. This is an extra advertisement method used outside the film industry. Other methods of inter-textual references can be done in a more playful but can be a controversial way. This can be seen in the music video of Eminem's 'Without Me' or 'Just Lose It'. You will see references to the characters of Batman & Robin, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley in which Eminem plays a funny version of those artist and characters and can sometimes be seen as controversial and offensive to those who dislike it.

Performance, Narrative or concept based

• Performance - the focus of the music video would solidly be on the artist/band. For example Lil Snupe - Melo music video shows the camera just focused on Lil snupe in which this technique is used in many individual artists music videos.
  

• Narrative - means that their is a story attached to the video/lyrics of the song. For example J Coles - G.O.M.D has a slavery story in which J Cole portrays a young black slave owned by rich white men the conclusion of the music video is freedom.

• Concept - this is usually a single concept - obscure, surreal for the audience, more than likely including special effects. Some concepts can be very basic e.g. relationships, family, city etc. some may be very detailed and what seems to be a fantasy to the viewers for example Chris Brown's - Fine China is set in a futuristic world wear technology has upgraded immensely.
  
   

Technical elements

This is when the micro elements simply compliment the genre therefore the editing, cinematography , mise en scene and sound are purely relied or or seperately focused on e.g. some artist may want to have very good editing more than relying on the Mise en scene. An example in which these elements are used in is Tyga - Glitta. This is a music video with basic but clear use of the micro elements.

As a a group in class we created a table with the 8 points of Goodwin's Theory used to analyse the music video of Will Smith's song 'Miami'. Here is an image of the table we made and filled during class:

The class were then separated to complete the same task but individually. I then chose to analyse Eminem's Music video 'The Way I Am'

Here is my analysis of Will Smith's music video of 'Miami' covering the 8 points of Goodwin's Theory:

Features to look for	General examples present	Detailed example
Genre Characteristics	Dark, personal, hip hop, aggressive, not conventional to the hip hop genre	Dark, hip hop, not usually what we see in Eminem videos where his inter textual references are more funny and reckless.
What is the relationship between lyrics and visuals?	The lyrics relate to the narrative throughout the music video, telling a story, lyrics reflect on video	This song is more aggressive and personal therefore the visuals are more dark and gritty in the more gritty locations
What is the relationship between music and visuals?	The music is in sync with the editing of the video. The more up tempo the music gets the faster paced editing it gets.	With every loud beat or last word of a lyric the editing cuts to a different shot. This allows the music video to be in sync with the music, making sense to the viewer.
Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?	Many close ups showing the artist facial expressions. The narrative of the video portrays the dark and negative side to his life and how it is to live in the music industry.	These close ups showing facial expressions allow the viewers to identify what lyrics provoke different types of emotions to the artist.
Is there reference to the notion of looking?	Main focus is Eminem, there is no conventional use of the male gaze.	The video is of a dark atmosphere and focuses on the artist personal life which is unconventional to the expected hip hop genre portraying a glamorous lifestyle.
Is there inter-textual references?	The main inter textual reference in this video is the portrayal of daily events e.g. fans asking for autographs, pictures etc.	Eminem is a star and wants to represent himself in this video as a victim in the negative side of the music industry.
Is it performance based, or concept based? How much of each?	Both performance and concept, more concept than performance. Concept is the insight to the negatives in his life.	The small amount of performance in this video used is to help make a clear understanding to the viewers what he is trying to portray.

Conclusion

Learning Goodwin's theory has allowed me to analyse and break down a music video with the 8 points of his theory. This knowledge will now allow me to accomplish a production of a successful music video as this theory allows me to include all the right elements to create a great music video.