Andrew Goodwin Post

Andrew Goodwin Theory

Andrew Goodwins stated that there was  Key Aspects of a Music video which  us as an audiences look out for:

 - That there are relationships between the lyrics and the visual; With the visuals Illustrating, Amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.

- A relationship between the music and the visuals; with the visuals Illustrating, Amplifying or contradicting the Music.

- That there are multiple Close Ups of the Main artist within the Music Video

- That there was Voyeurism relating to females.

- Genre-related style and Iconography is present.

- That there are Intertextual references to other media text.

Illustration:
This is where the lyrics of the song matches the visuals of the video. This can also be said as a story (Narrative). A good example of this Illustration is Eminem - Stan. This music video shows a clear Story which matches the lyrics of the video. To show that Eminem has matched the lyrics with the visuals at 2:28 the woman in the video is pregnant to match that the lyrics says "My girlfriend's pregnant too, I'm bout to be a father..." With these types of styles it shows that artists may have ran out of ideas but Eminem has shown a story that is interesting.  Other artists who have not mastered these skills may leave themselves standing in a puddle of unsuccess due to the fact that the video may become boring and tiresome. These types of Music Videos have no benefits towards the artist because he/she is not showing their true potential and are just trying to take short cuts through the music industry. Another part of the music video "Stan" at the time code 2:22 it shows him scribbling on the letter he is writing to Eminem and the lyrics states "Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em".

Intertextuality:

This is where one media text refers to another media text. This can include Movie scenes inside a Music Video which Ashanti has shown us in her music video Foolish where she uses a reference rom Good Fellas the Movie. This can state that the artist is portraying what may have happened in her life or she wants to show that she may like the movie itself and she wanted to show that within her music video. An example where she uses a scene from the film Good Fellas is at 2:55 where she is on top of the man being angry and depressed. On the other hand on the video of Good Fellas it also shows that the woman is on top of the man feeling depressed and very sad. In the Good Fellas scene below it shows at 1:31 that she is on top of the guy crying and feeling cheated on where Ashanti shows the exact same Midshot at 2:55.

Voyeurism:
This is where the males in the video are barely exposed to the audience and the women in the video are exposed to an extent that it is seen as visually sexual. The women are the main focuses of the video which helps the audience stay in attention throughout the whole music video. A very good example of Voyeurism is Dizzie Rascal - Something Really Bad.  Throughout the video the women who are with Dizzie Rascal are exposed because they want to get the viewers attention. This technique is showing that women get treated differently to men and are lower in society and that men have more power over them. They are treated like sex objects and these types of videos can be pleasurable for a man. At 0:47 you can see that the bottom half of the women legs are exposed and she is acting as if she was to be a sex object. For men this is pleasurable for a female viewer this puts them in a state where they think about how they are treated in society.

Close Ups:

This technique id to show that the main artist is who he/she is. They are the main attraction of the whole music video. This shows that the artist wants to get recognized properly via the record label. A good example of the use of close-ups is Beyonce - Countdown.  The first 14 seconds of the music video from 0:00-0:14 is a Close-Up of Beyonce's face. Within that 14 seconds Beyonce is staring directly into the lens of the camera to show that she is looking the audience in their eyes. This helps her to reach out to her fanbase/audience and to show that she is directly talking to them. At 0:22 it shows another close up of Beyonce and shows a costume change. The use of close-ups shows that she is the main person of the whole music video and she wants to express her emotions to the audience whether it is sad or happy.

Iconography:

Iconography shows that there is something related to the artist to identify them.  This can include elements that may relate to their type of genre or themselves. A good example of this would be Lil Wayne - Mirrors. Lil Wayne is identified by his Tattoos all over his body. He is one of the few rappers to have all of his body filled up with tattoos. At 0:05 we see the tattoo that Lil Wayne has embossed into himself. This shows messages and things that he has been through his life. He is also known for his Diamond encrusted teeth which is shown at 0:32. This is iconic because he has legitimate diamond teeth where other rappers have one that you just put on in the mouth. This also shows the type of genre Lil Wayne is portraying which is rap; the reason being he has expensive teeth and rappers tend to have a lot of tattoos on their bodies.

Amplifying:

This technique is used to show or feel the mood of the song through the artists' music video. This can be a happy and joyful mood or a dark and dismal mood. It depends on the lyrics of the song but artists can also subvert the technique and use happy visuals for a sad song; This can lead the artist to be unique but when another artist copies it saturates the technique and then the artist will become normal again due to the fact that his technique has been used. A good example of Amplifying is Eminem - Mockingbird. This invites the audience to stay by Eminem's side as he goes through a tough time being a father. The lyrics also match the visuals of the video itself; for example at 1:39 he says "Hush little baby don't you cry.." and the video correlates with the lyrics with a baby crying on the video. He also shows the relationship between him and his daughter Hailey. He shows as a father he raised a baby without a Mother who was always in Jail most of the time.

Contradicting:

A song that contradicts itself is a song that goes against the mood and the lyrics making it contradict itself. A good example of this is MGMT - Kids. The video shows a kid that is being scared by the devil/satan. At the same time the video is very misleading at the first 1 minute showing that the song is going to be dark and gloomy with the tone of the music. But then straight after 1:00 this is where the audience hears the up-beat song and see that it is contradicting itself because the baby is being taken by the devil which is not supposed to be a happy mood where it has to be a serious and scary mood. Also around 1:59 the lyrics are subverted because the lyrics state "crawling on your knees" but on the visual side of the video it shows the parent holding the baby. Another part where the lyrics contradict is where the lyrics says "  We like to see you laughing" where on the video the baby is actually crying. The video itself is very contradicting because as the audience we expected to see children having fun but we are shown that not all music videos are going by the name of the song itself.