Music Video Analysis

Using Andrew Goodwin’s Theory

Andrew Goodwin

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals3. There is a relationship between music and visuals4. The demands of the record label will include the need for

lots of close ups of the artist, the artist can develop motifs which recur across their work

5. There is a frequent reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body

6. There is often intertextual references

Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals and music and visuals

The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist

The video opens with an extreme close up of the lead singer of the band with half of his face covered in shadows and with his eyes closed. This automatically shows you that he is the lead of the band and encourages the audience to recognise him as such. The shot then goes to show him opening his eyes at which point the song begins. By doing this, it allows the band to create an atmosphere for the music video before it starts. This is commonly done in music videos as it gives the impression of the song being more personal due to the closeness of the artist and shows people who are unfamiliar with the band that they are the lead of the band as well.

During the narrative sequences throughout the video, many close ups are used of the two people in them. As they are the ones who are telling the story of the song, it makes sense to include lots of close ups to show the emotion of what is taking place. Also, the male in the narrative makes eye contact with the camera a lot more than the female does, this could be done to show that the narrative is being done from his perspective and to make the audience sympathise with what is happening to him. Where as, the female nearly never makes eye contact with the camera and is generally looking down or out of the frame or the close up is of her mouth/lips. By doing this, it creates an image in the audiences head as to what she is like as this could represent many different things. It could suggest that she is shy, secretive, feminine, mysterious or untrustworthy.

Throughout the rest of the video, close ups are used on all members of the band and on some of the actors during the small narrative scenes. This means that, if someone watching is a big fan of another member of the band, they still get to see them clearly rather than only showing the lead. It also helps to represent the emotions given out during the song as the close up focuses in on that one member to show how the song makes them feel. This gives the video a much more personal feel, and makes the audience feel closer to the band as well.

A close up of the lead singers mouth is used at the beginning of the song as well which reinforces the idea of making the song feel more personal towards the audience and it also makes you pay more attention to the lyrics as you are completely focused on him singing. This is a common convention of many different genres of music videos but it is used for the same reasons in each genre, to put the focus on the lead and emphasise the lyrics to the audience.

Instruments and motifsDuring the video, many of the close ups are of the instruments the band are playing, not just the members. This is a convention which is heavily used a lot in the rock genre of music videos, this is because, people who listen to the rock genre are more likely to be interested in; the “rock lifestyle”; playing instruments and wanting to get the same/similar instruments as their favourite band member. One Ok Rock cater to this interest by including so many close ups of the instruments and them being played.

It also makes the video more interesting and engaging to watch as, instead of only showing the band members and the actors, you get different shots of them playing the instruments – like pressing the foot pedal on the drum kit, playing guitar/bass, drumsticks about to play drums.

The shots that it is done with gives a lot of shadows as well which not only adds to the conventions used in the genre (dark settings, little light except to highlight band members) and helps to create a different effect when looking at it. This effect gives a more mysterious and dark atmosphere to the video when the band is performing which stick to the conventions of the genre. The mysterious feel that is shown in the video works well with the narrative in the ways that you could interrupt the woman's actions as well which helps to tie in the two parts of the video in a creative way. However, the narrative is done in a much lighter atmosphere so contradicts with not only the as live performance but also the genre of the band.

A motif which is commonly seen throughout all One Ok Rock videos is the lead singer pulling the microphone wire in a wide circle around him and other actions being performed with it. This is seen multiple times in this music video and many other music videos that they have done as well as when they are performing up on stage. By doing this, fans recognise this and expect it when they are performing and will associate it with them whenever they see it being done. It also creates something that represents the band and the lead singer and gives the image of them being an energetic and lively band which go with the generic rock lifestyle.

There is a frequent reference to the notion of lookingThe

Voyeuristic treatment of the female body

Fan references