Goodwin's analysis of music videos

Andrew Goodwin's theory states that there are 5 key aspects to a music video; 

• Thought through the beat, this is seeing what the music means in your head. 
• Relationship between the song and visuals.
• Narrative and performance of the song. 
• The technical aspects which form a music video. 
• Star image (protagonist), there will be lots of different camera shots/angles which make him/her the center of attention in every single one. 

Thought through beat; 

The first step of this key aspect is to analyse the music and grasp the understanding of the chorus and the verses. 

The second step is identify the artist, the main voice, its often very unique compared to the other voices and will give the artist a form of identification that can be related to the star or singer. 

The third step is the story of the artist, which he is trying to tell within his song, this can establish him as a story teller. The music video can aid this by showing the video through the vocals of the song. 

Relation ship through the visuals of the song; 

Illustrate - 

Music videos can contain images and shots to illustrate/explain the meaning of the lyrics for the song and genre.
Example ;

Disjuncture - 

In this case the meaning of the song is completely ignored in the music video and not represented art all. 

Amplify - 

This is when the images and camera shots are manipulated and shown repetitively through out the music video and is drummed into our vision. 

Andrew believed that a music video can promote a song by though the way it analysis the lyrics. This is shown in many music videos when a character does exactly what the songs say. 

Example - If the lyrics say "Jump, Jump, Jump" there will be people jumping in the music video. 

Narrative and performance of the song; 

Goodwin believed that the artist involvement is important in the video by acting out a role as the main character or singer. It helps make the song look more realistic and also allowing the audience to connect with the artist and get a good understanding of the song.

The song 'Roar' by 'Katy Perry' is a good example of this as she is the main character/actor in the music video and is also the main artist singing. This makes the video look more realistic and helps the audience engage a lot more, especially if the audience member is a huge fan of the artist. 

Star image; 

Goodwin referred to the star image as a vital aspect of the music video, he/she makes the music video look more appealing to the audiences while bringing a unique style to the video in the way he/she portrayed to the audience. The star image is always very unique in the way he/she is presented. e.g. the costume, moves and appearance. This helps to promote the artists/star's image in public and also helps to promote the video while creating a public reputation for the artist. 

Technical aspects; 
Andrew says that the technical aspects helps to hold the music video together through the use of mise-en-scene, special effects, sound, and editing, lighting and colour helps to set the mood for the music video and create emphasis on significant parts of the song to create a dramatic effect and thrill the audience. Mise-en-scene is also very vital to the production of the music video, it can help the artist gain authentication and also make his work appear more professional. The beats of the song are also very useful as they can help to create effective cuts that go with the rhythm of the song to make the music video look more exciting and entertaining.