Andrew Goodwin’s theory

By Dom Coleman

Goodwin’s theory wrote about his view on music videos and suggested that they all follow certain rules or codes & conventions. Music videos follow these codes & conventions so that they promote an artist and most importantly so that the record companies can make money off the artists.

Goodwin’s theory consists of the main aspect which are a necessity in music videos which contributes to help promote the song/artist.1) Narrative and Performance2) Stars (Star image)3) Lyrics relating to visuals (story)4) Technical aspects of the video5) Thought beats (seeing the sound in your head)

Narrative & Performance

The narrative is the story of the music video, the narrative consists of the link between music/lyrics and the visuals and what the story’s meaning is. The performance of the artists acting and body language used to show the story within the music video. The audience play close attention to this, if the acting is poor the video won’t attract a big audience.

Stars

Using the artists face in the music video (close ups) creates a star image for the audience. Newer upcoming artists are more likely to show close ups of them so that they can show their face to possibly gain a larger audience and to establish themselves more. More established artists may not show their identity as much in music videos because the audience already recognise their voice.

Lyrics relating to visuals

This is self explanatory, the lyrics which are being sung by the artist(s) relate to what is being produced in the music video. This convention is affective because audiences would enjoy watching how the artist interprets his/her lyrics onto a screen.

Technical aspects of the video

The technical aspects of the video consists of the micro features (mise-en-scene, editing, cinematography, lighting and use of effects.) The lighting and use of effects sets the mood of the video, if there is low key lighting this will suggest that the video is sad and depressing. The mise-en-scene is the most important as this determines whether the video is professional or if it is lacking quality. A video with good mise-en-scene will show a clear setting producing a story for the audience.

Thought beats

The thought beats is seeing the sound of the music/beat inside of your head. It is how you interpret the song and break it down inside your head. E.g. breaking down the chorus and verses. The music video creates the story the artist has made, the artist is the creator of the story and they are portraying their thoughts into the video for the audience.