RESEARCH- Summary of Andrew Goodwin Theory

Summary of Andrew Goodwin Theory

Andrew Goodwin identifies 5 key aspects of music videos which he believes the audience should look out for which are:

• Seeing the sound
• Narrative and performance
• The image
• Relation to the song
• Technical aspects you would expect in a music video

Goodwin suggests that music videos differ from Todorov's theory as the equation below is as followed. 

equilibrium → disruptions → resolution

Sound: 
Sound is often visualised in our head where they audience is therefore able to create a picture from this. Goodwin puts forward the idea that songs are unique and attract the audience in there own way. Doing this in music videos interests the audience allowing them to hear things that are not what they usually hear and relate to the video who are then likely to understand the story the lyrics are saying.

Narrative and Performance: 
Not all songs give a clear narrative. When we listen to music and we don't understand the narrative we tend to make the video / story up in our heads to our own understanding. Goodwin explains that the audience should ignore the narrative as it is important in the role of advertising any music video. Narrative and performance are key they tend to link together in order to make the video more interesting and appeal to a more wider audience.

Star image:
The star/ artists  image is vital the audience need them in music videos as it helps the production process when there songs are out. Without an artist / star image it could effect the way people see them.

Relation of visuals to songs:

The visualisation of a song could go further than its original purpose therefore this leads to the three types of relationship between songs and videos which are illustration, amplification and disjuncture i have illustrated some examples below.

ILLUSTRATION : This is where music videos use a set of images to illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and genre. this is known to be most common. Eg the lyric 'pap don't preach' (Madonna) the dance is often use to illustrate the mood of the song.

The song is about growing up from a child to an adult. This music video often uses dance moves in order to illustrate the mood of the song well. Using the dance moves to illustrate the song helps allow the audience to remember the song as the dance moves used in this are very entertaining making it apply to the audience.

AMPLIFICATION: This is where the video introduces new meaning that do not contradict with the lyrics. meanings and effects are manipulated and constantly shown through the video so that it is fixed in our vision.

This song is a clear example of amplification where the video has not a lot to do with the lyrics in the song. The song is about 'calling someones name' we only see the character dancing which has no interference with what is being said. 

DISJUNCTURE: This is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored and there is no connection between the lyrics and the video for example Micheal Jackson 'man in the mirror' , the song is about self realization but the video is full of radical events. Shown below i have inserted a video which illustrates clearly disjuncture.

The meaning of the song 'man in the mirror' is completely ignored this is known as disjuncture. Throughout  the music video the audience come across many radical events such as children in poverty, homeless and starving when the song in a matter of fact  is about self realisation. Using this makes the audience feel some kind of emotion which has been portrayed though out allowing them to reflect and remember the lyrics more. The are many base tracks used in this video mostly we see them used when people rescue suffering people and animals to create more emotion for the audience when they are watching.

Technical aspects: Technical aspects are those in which hold the music video together through the use of camera work, 

CAMERA: Camera movement , editing, cutting , speed and post production are seen to be  all forms of camera. 

LIGHTENING: Lightening and color are used to set the mood and emphasize key moments of the video/ song creating a more dramatic effect and more entertaining to watch.

MISE-EN-SCENE: The setting of the video is essential it needs to look authentic and professional which also has to set not only the mood of the song but the words to.

Andrews believed that traditional analysis don't really apply to pop videos, he believed that they are just there to approach narrative from a different angle to novels and films. the reason for the different narrative structure is as followed:

• Pop videos are built around a song = this often means that songs do not pose traditional narrative structures.
• Pop videos use the singer both as the narrator and as a character.
• The singer often looks directly at the camera this is done during a performance as they are trying to involve the viewer at home with the performance that is taking place. 

Pop videos often rely on repetition. The video repeats images the way the song repeats the choruses or lines. We also see that the representation in songs of parts in other songs are known as an inter textual reference meaning that us as the audience become familiar with the genre and have a certain expectation. Lastly we will see the video being played on TV , the song would be played on radio and there might be a advertising film or TV making the song sound very familiar through the use of representation.

Pop songs and therefore videos, are shown not to have a form of closure and ending. The 3 minute single that s video is based on must end which is often reflected in the structure of the music.

Pop videos are also shown to have recognizable features. Micheal Jackson is key to this as he adds a lot of clues within his videos. Another feature is the way woman are presented as objects of male desire which is particularly true in heavy metal and hip hop videos. However artists such as Beyonce and Madonna deliberatly present themselves for males.