Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin's music video theory is based on the universal elements that make a music video and comes in the form of 5 key points:

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
• There is a relationship between music and visuals
• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
• There is often intertextual reference to other works
• Frequent references to notion of looking (Particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body)
• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist to create a 'Star Image'

Here are some examples of Andrew Goodwin's theory in practice within both the song 'Rude' by canadian band, MAGIC! and R&B Classic Low by Flo Rida.

1. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

The song is about the artist asking his girlfriends father to have his daughters hand in marriage, only to be constantly rejected. The music video portrays this story, showing the artist asking the father wether he can marry his daughter, only to be rejected and have the door shut on him during the chorus. This is a great example of the relationship between lyrics and visuals, as they are both telling the same story, following Goodwin's second point of his music video theory.

2. There is a relationship between music and visuals

The relationship between music and visuals is also clear in this particular in this video, particularly as we see lead singer Nasri's eccentric dancing to the beat of the music. Goodwin's second point isn't hard to find within the performance aspect of this piece, as we see the band playing the song on their instruments and their subtle gestures like the nodding of the head and tapping of the foot complimenting the soundtrack.

3. The music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

Flo Rida's video demonstrates an array of genre conventions for R&B music, and is the perfect example for goodwins third point. First of all we see it is set in a nightclub, a typical scene for music videos within the genre. The most noticable convetion it clearly portray however is the use of women, particularly surrounding the artist. This is a very typical shot for the R&B genre with rappers in particular, as women are used as eye candy with their suggestive dance moves and clothing... or rather lack of it. This video proves many stereotypes surrounding R&B music, not to mention the Lamborghini sports car, and plays to almost every genre characteristic there is going.

4. There is often intertextual reference to other works

The video and soundtrack for Flo Rida's was in fact made for the film Step Up 2, which was released in 2008. For this reason, the music video shows various clips from the movie, and shared the whole club vibe as Step Up 2. Due to this, the video contains multiple intertextual references to other works, in this example the music video relating to the Step Up franchise.

5. Frequent references to notion of looking

The music video also gives a good account for another of Andrew Goodwin's points, this time of the frequent notions of looking, here shown by the artist looking down at his mobile phone. It is only one example of many that are found throughout, another being where the lead singer is looking at the father at his front door whilst in conversation. Despite often being unnoticed, the notion of looking is very common in any genre of music video and usually related to voyeourism or usually partnered with a close-up of the person looking like the example shown in the first point above.

6. References to voyeourism (Particularly to Women)

As previously meantioned, Flo Rida's music video has more than its fair share of intreguingly dressed women, with their very suggestive dance moves. The song and video seem to revolve around the female body, and we certainly get a sense that we are meant to be lavishing in the womens sexual behaviour. We are invited to watch on as these women show off their toned bodies and their boderline raunchy dance moves in order to capture the straight male's interest.

7. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist to create a 'Star Image'

MAGIC!'s Rude is riddled with close ups of the lead singers face, and its clear to see that the record label wants you to remember the face. The band is not currently very well known, and this is likely to be a ploy to get them recognised. Nevertheless it plays to Goodwin's 7th point that is the presence of many close ups of the artist(s) to create the 'Star Image'.

These are all of Andrew Goodwin's points within his music video theory. As we can see, these are applicable for various genres of music whether it be old or quite recent. It is important to note these theories and conventions both to analyse existing videos, and to develop my understanding in producing a music video, gathering ideas of what to include in my own.