ANDREW

ANDREW

GOODWIN

GOODWIN

BY LA

RELLE B

ENJAMIN

-FORRESTE

R

About Andrew Goodwin• Andrew Goodwin is currently a

professor in cultural studies at the University of San Francisco

• He is also the author of a well known book on Music Television and Cultural Theory called ‘Dancing in Distraction Factory: Music Television and Popular Culture’ made in 1992

• His main interest are Media Aesthetics, critical theory and popular music.

• He has published a vast amount of articles on media and cultural theory

• Lastly, Goodwin is a significant theorist for music videos.

His theory on music videos is made up of 6 key features which consist of:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics for example stage performance in metal videos and dance routines for boy/girl bands

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals that either illustrate, amplify or contradict

3. There is a relationship between the music and visuals.4. The demands of the record label will include the need for

lots of close ups of the artists which may make the artist develop motifs which reoccur across their work (a visual style) that makes them identifiable.

5. Commonly, there will be references to notions of looking: screens within screens, mirrors, cameras and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference to TV programmes, films and other music videos.

According to Andrew Goodwin, we as the audience analyse music videos in

five particular ways.

1. Thought Beats – Seeing the sound in your Head

2. Narrative and Performance3. The Star Image4. Relation of Visuals to Song5. Technical Aspects of Music Video

Music Videos demonstrate Genre Characteristics

In Hip-Hop videos, the style of video tends to be thematic because it takes the themes of a song and makes a video out of it. In this video, the theme is based on ‘ Goldiggers’ who Kanye West and Jamie Foxx rap and sing about. Rather than following a storyline, hip-hop music videos follow the genre and are very iconic.

A common generic convention in hip-hop videos is the use of close ups, long shots and establishing shots. The effect of this, is to draw the audience’s focus on the main artists (who they will become familiar with) as well as everything that is going on in the video. The use of close ups are also used to draw attention to the artist’s expensive jewellery and other recognised brands that they wear.

As well as the artist being shown in the video, it is conventional of a hip-hop video to feature other artists that may either sing in the video or appear amongst other people within the video. In this video, Jamie Foxx is shown singing in the video whereas John Legend is shown being seduced by one of the attractive women in the video.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals

In this music video, the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals are very clear. According to Goodwin, there is three ways in which music videos work to promote a song which consists of Illustrate, amplify and disjuncture. In this music

video, the relation of visuals to the song is amplified which is similar to repeatability. The meaning and effects are

manipulated and constantly shown through the video. This is the reason as to why there is fast editing between Kanye West and Jamie Foxx singing/rapping the lyrics and the women who are shown as ‘Goldiggers’ because it signifies to the audience the main meaning of the video and the relationship between the lyrics and the song. As the visuals become drummed into

our vision, the audience become repeatedly aware of the lyrics and the meaning and overall, the message that the

artist and director are trying to promote.

“Oh she's a gold digger way over town, That dig's on me” is the lyrics for the visual shown. This firstly implies to the audience that the girl in the video is a ‘Golddigger. This is made clear through the close up shot of her whereby she appears to be well looked after. Her make up is very immaculate which suggests that she uses quality expensive products and her hair is in rollers that is likely to have been done by the hairdressers. This idea of this is emphasised by her touching her hair. In the second shot her shoulders appears in the frame (almost as if she is holding the camera) showing her pearls that immediately imply some type of wealth. The way in which her eyes seductively looks into the camera portrays two meanings. One of which could portray her as a sexy seductive woman and another that could relate to the lyrics whereby as a ‘Goldigger’ she digs on Jamie Foxx despite living way over time meaning she uses him for money majority over the time even though she lives so far away. By using an eye level shot, it creates a type of engagement between the audience and the female.

Relationship between Lyrics and Visuals

“If you sleeping with this girl then you better be payed; You know why, It take too much to touch her” is the lyric for this video because it simply shows how these so called ‘Golddiggers’ will appear if you don’t pay them their money in which they feel they are entitled to for there good deed. The result of this is evidently, a girl who wants revenge which is made clear through the torch that she holds within her hand. By the background being black which contrasts well with the red/orange lighting from the torch, it connotes danger, hell and evil. It also suggests the lengths that she will go to in order to find him. Her stance (which appears like an action figure) and facial expression also emphasises the idea of her seeking revenge.

“From what I heard she got a baby by Busta” is the lyric for this visual that is made very clear to the obvious. By placing the woman within a magazine cover with a headline saying ‘Baby by Busta’ it simply implies that she has had a baby with Busta Rhymes and is yet, a Goldigger who is likely to hide this information from the man she gets money from.

“She got one of your kids got you for 18 years” is another clear visual in relation to the lyric as it shows a boy who represents the Goldigger’s son who she had with the guy she gets money from. However, the mise-en-scene could suggest some type of negativity because the young boy is shown dressed up in a devil costume. This could imply that by having a hold on him for 18 years (due to their son) she and the child has caused him great stress, depression as the child has been almost like a demon child. This displays a deeper meaning between the lyrics and visuals.

In regards to the lyrics and visuals and the relationship between the two, Hype Williams who directed the video, promotes the song by

‘Illustration’ within the video. This means that the music video, uses a set of images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and the Hip-Hop

genre.

Relationship between the music and visuals

Throughout the video, there is a clear relationship between the music and the visuals. The theme is

based on ‘Goldiggers’ which is made known to us by the first visual that we see. However, the use of the

word ‘beware’ suggests that these women are people to look out for as they are of danger to men with

money. As these visuals appear on screen there is the sound of a film rolling creating the idea of a show that would have been viewed 10-20 years ago. After the

acapella introduction by Jamie Foxx whereby he sings about Golddiggers, there is extremely fast editing

that matches the beat of the drum at the beginning of the song. The effect of the beat being up tempo and

alarming creates a fun, lively ready-to-dance atmosphere - almost as if its counting in the audience to begin singing along or dancing. Within this part of the video there are extreme close ups that focus on

breast, eyes, teeth, shoes, and a fade in of Kanye West in the background. These group of shots portray every aspect of women as your typical looking gold digger who presents themselves in a nice way by

wearing good make up, expensive clothing and living up to her name as a Goldigger.

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist motifs which reoccur across

their work

In order for the audience to engage and have a relationship with the artist, close up shots are very significant. Within this music video, there are various close ups and extreme close up shots of

Kanye West, Jamie Foxx - whilst they are singing/rapping – and other people within the video. By using these shots it enables the audience to familiarise themselves with the artist, take note of

what they are saying through the movement of their lips as well what they are wearing. Within the video, Kanye West does a particular head movement to the beat of the song alongside others and

alone. However, he repeatedly does it in the chorus whereby he sings ‘Broke Broke’ which is catchy and appealing phrase. The effect of this is to engage the audience in to something simple by which they can recognise Kanye West for within the video as well as if he does it in other videos. This is called the artist motif. The artist motif not only makes the artist identifiable but can also create a connection between the viewer and the artist as it enables the audience to do the movement with

Kanye West in the chorus.

There is frequent reference to notion of looking

All through the music video, there is frequent reference to notion of looking from both the

audience’s perspective and the artists. As the artist, they look into the camera at direct

address to make it look as if they are singing/performing to the viewer. This can also be done to create a connection. From

the audience’s perspective, we look at all the different ideas and people that the video

portrays to us. In particular, the voyeuristic treatment of the female body which appeals

to men and gives us a deeper meaning behind what is shown by the intimate

behaviours shown that would be usually of a private nature.

There is often intertextual reference

The intertextual reference that is most dominant, is the portrayal of women

sexually and seductively that occurs in many music videos of a Hip-Hop genre. At

the beginning of this music video Hype Williams has some reference to 90s TV programmes that would begin with the film rolling as background music and an unbalanced camera showing the title of

the video, the creator and the director. It could be said that the music video also

begins in a film like style.