AS1: Task 2: Understand the styles and conventions of music videos

Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin's theory states that there are 5 key aspects to a music video. They are:

1. Thought through beat. (seeing what the lyrics mean in your head)
2. Relationship between song & visuals.
3. Narrative & Performance of the song.
4. Technical aspect of the music video.
5. Star Image (protagonist), lots of camera shots to make him/her the centre of attention.

Thought Through Beat

The first step of this process is to analyse and understand the music structure, and it's verses & choruses.

The second step, the voice of the artist would be unique compared to that of others, this gives the person a form of identification that shows them as the star, or of some significance.

The third step would be that of the story that the artist is trying to establish through their music video. It can portray the artist as more of a story teller, and can be used to aid us by showing us the video through the vocals of the song.

Relationship Between Song & Visuals

There are three categories that music videos fit into when analysing the relationship between song & visuals, they are: amplified, illustrative, & contradictive. 
Amplified: When you find yourself with an amplified music video means that the director is literally trying to amplify the lyrics into the visual. An example of this would be the song Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal, as it sets his star persona to be very outrageous and over-the-top. 

Illustrative: This type of video is a video where the visuals to the lyrics are put across very plainly and simply. It makes the viewer feel more involved with the music video. A good example of this would be the song When I Was A Youngster by Rizzle Kicks, in this video they add effects to portray themselves as younger versions of themselves, and also makes use of high key lighting.

Contradictive: Contradictive videos are videos where the visual is quite surreal and maybe quite random. This video is quite easy to spot out because the obvious links are either are either illustrative or amplified. An example of When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars. 

Narrative & Performance

Goodwin says that we tend to make up our own idea of the messages being sent sent in a song from a basic understanding of what it may actually be about. 

Music videos should be of the same standard every time, and the narrative and performance work together in order to keep the audience interested and not bored of the music video.

When the artist acts as the actor/singer as well as the participant in the music video, this makes the video authentic and original. Goodwin believes that miming is still the most popular thing done in music videos today, however, it is in the artists best interest to make it look like as real as possible to the audience. 

Technical Aspects of The Music Video

Technical aspects of the music video hold the music together. (camerawork, movement, mis-en-scene, sound and special effects.)

Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting and post production are all forms of "use of camera". 

Lighting and colour "helps set the mood" and adds emphasis to key moments.

Mise-en-scene is vital. The setting needs to look realistic in order to look professional therefore appealing to a wider target audience.

The cuts and beats go with the rhythm in order to make the video more entertaining. People like music that sounds good and not like it has been thrown together.

Star Image

Star image is a vital aspect of music videos.

Artists obviously want to look unique in order to stay current and for audiences to remember them. This star image develops overtime and plays a big role in the production process of music videos.