Andrew Goodwin - Music video theories

Andrew Goodwin devised 6 key aspects for a music video to be successful these are:

• Genre Characteristics - Music videos of different genre display different characteristics of that genre to help the audience know what genre of music they are listening to. Examples of these genre characteristics include:
• Stage performance in a heavy metal music video
• Dance routines are very popular with more mainstream pop music artists
• Flashy cars and bikini clad women are synonymous with rap music video
• A relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals - this relationship can be complimentary or contrasting it just depends on the effect that the is trying to get across in his videos:

For example in Peter Gabriel's - Sledgehammer a sledgehammer appears during the

the video just before the word sledgehammer appears in the song thus linking the video

with the song its self

• A relationship between the music and the visuals - This is often done in the form of the instruments appearing in the video and playing the song thus grounding the performance in the world that the video creates and further linking the visuals to the song.

In this example from Olly Murs - Heart Skips a Beat ft. Chiddy Bang the keyboard being played is not the

main focus of the video however still being there increases the relationship between the song and the video.

• The demands of the record label - This can occur in all sorts of ways like:
• lots of close-ups of the artist
• A distinct visual style for example:
• Lady Gaga's insane outfit choices
• Michael Jacksons glove
• Voyeurism - The notion of looking this can apply to both men and women however it is most prominent with women. This point is expanded upon with Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory which is the idea that the camera is filmed from the perspective of a heterosexual male
• Another key component of a music video is that they often include intersexual references this is where there are references to other media like films, T.V and sometimes even other music videos.

I will use the key components of music videos from Andrew Goodwin's theory to help develop my music video. However I will not be including voyeurism as it is not related to my chosen song and I believe it would not add anything to my music video.