Andrew Goodwin's Theory of music videos

Music videos intend to have some cliche trends and stereotypes when it comes to genre characteristics. These is used to distinguish what kind of artist is performing. For example stage performances are typical for metal bands , dance routines for boy and girl groups and girls with bikinis at the a pool and flashy cars for a rap artist. 

Music videos can also link to film genres this is knows as intersexuality. For example heavy metal videos may be influenced by horrors for example the kill by 30 seconds to mars which is based on the film the shining while pop songs would be influenced by rom coms. 



Storyline and Performance 

Songs do not give us a complete narrative. We only usually get a glimpse of the meaning then we make up our own idea of what it means. Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common narrative because it is important in their role of advertising. Music should coherent repeatability. Narrative and Performance work hand in hand to make it easier for the audience to watch over and over without loosing interest. The artist acts as both a narrator and a participant which helps t increase the authenticity however the lip sync and other mimed actions remains the heart of music videos. The audience need to believe this is real. 

Intertextuality Reference 

There are sometimes intertextual references (to films and tv programmes) this allows the audience to have a much clearer understanding of the music video meaning what its related to. A goof example is Demi Lovato's song Let it go for the film Frozen. And Beyonce's Listen for the  film dreamgirls.


Lyrics and Visuals 

There is a correlation between lyrics. The lyrics are represented with images that are either illustrative , amplifying or  contradicting. This used to make clear what the artist is singing about. For example they might have the artist acting out what the lyrics are saying.

• Illustration is the simplest and easiest concept to a music video. An example of illustrative ideas is fireflies , when the artist says 'fireflies' the world fireflies some up on the screen to a little toy gadget. 
• Amplification keeps the links with the lyrics/songs however constructs complementary layers of meaning. For example scientist by coldplay
• Disjuncture intentionally ignores the content of the song and genre of the music and tries to create a whole new set of meanings. These music videos don't tend to make a lot of sense and can often use abstract images. An example is chandelier by Sia which has gone viral. 

Star Performer 

The stars image is a vital part of the music video. This summarises who the star is and what makes them different from other stars.

Voyeurism 

Voyeurism is widely used to sell the artists music through sex appeal , a recent example being Miley Cyrus. This is usually seen from female artists.