Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements.

Conventions 
1. Relationships between lyrics and visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradicts the lyrics 
Jess Glynne - Hold my Hand "standing in a crowded room"

2. Thought beats: seeing the sounds (the relationship between the music and visuals, which illustrate, amplify or contradicts the music) - chorus, verse & instruments 
Nick Jonas - Jealous 

3. Genre-related style and iconography present 
Meghan Trainor - Dear future husband 

4. Multiple Close-ups of the main artist or vocalist: the creation of a star image to promote a recognizable brand image 
Beyonce - If I were a boy 

5. Voyeurism often plays a major part, especially in relation to females - male audience is enticed 
Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyonce 

6. Inter-textual references to other media texts may be present especially in humorous videos - taking things from other texts to use in your own. 
Flashlight by Jessie J 

Key Aspects 

Goodwin stated in his theory behind music videos that there are 5 key aspects that are used to combine a successful music video.

1. Thought Beats: When you 'see' the sound

• Goodwin categorized this aspects in 3 steps:

1. Interpret the music by looking at verses and choruses
2. Goodwin says this is the 'voice within the song' - this is when the artists voice is extremely unique and can be recognized for this quality.  
3. Goodwin states this step's where the artist is telling a story within their songs as therefore generates their reputation as a 'storyteller'. Music video is created to emphasize.

2. Narrative and Performance

• Goodwin stated that music videos should avoid the common narrative as their role is more to advertise than become a story. Lip Syncing and other actions featured in the video increase its verisimilitude  and therefore prevents the audience from disbelieving the narrative.

3. The Star Image 

• Goodwin identified that the star image is another key aspect within music videos. He believes that an iconic star image can increase the audience awareness of the artist and can show development of a star over time. 

4. Relation of Visuals to the song 

• Illustrate/ Amplify/ Disjuncture

5. Technical Aspects of a Music Video

• Camera (angle, frame), Sound (pitch, pace), Mise-en-Scene (lighting, props, costume, setting), Editing (cuts, special effects, pace of film clip)
• This key aspect identifies the different considerations when creating a music video to ensure its visual success.