Friday 30 September 2011

Andrew Goodwin's Theory & Music Videos

The Five Key Aspects
Andrew Goodwin believed there was 5 key aspects to music videos. These include:

  1. Synaesthesia
  2. Narrative & Performance
  3. The Star Image
  4. Relation of visuals to song
  5. The technical aspects of the video

Synaesthesia
In Andrew Goodwin's case of the Synaesthesia, the first step is to take into account the structure of the song (chorus/verse, etc)
Next, listen to the 'Voice of the Song'. The Artists' voice can instantly form connotations and identify key aspects, not just of the music, but of the person themselves. Roland Barthes theory of the grain can related to this, as he sees the singing voice as an expressive instrument in itself.
Finally, Goodwin points out the artists' mode of address; the artist is the storyteller, the song is the story itself.

Narrative & Performance
When listening to a song, we only seem to get a general idea of what it is about, the rest is formed in our own heads. Goodwin explains to us that music videos should ignore common narrative as it is important in their role of advertisement. Narrative and performances should work hand in hand, as it makes the audience find it easier to watch, and therefoer, easier to lose themselves in. The audience needs to believe this is real.

The Star Image
The Star Image is vital in a music video. Meta narrative which is a big story which describes the development of the star (the artist) over time. It is important in the production process.

Relation of Visuals to Song
There are three ways in which a music video can be made.

  1. Illustrative : The video can use images which completely illustrate the lyrics of the song. An example of this is used in "Busted - What I go to school for" ("I drop the pencil on the floor" and he does so).
  2. Amplifying : This takes the base 'layer' of the song - the general meaning - and adds new layers on top of it. An example of this is "Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down".
  3. Disjunctive : The song meaning is completely ignored and he director can do anything he feels like. This is rare in today's industry. It is hard to pull off well.

The Technical Aspect of the Video
The technical aspects range from camera work & editing, to sounds, Mise-en-scene & special effects. These hold the fabric of the music video together.
Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting & post production are all use of cameras.
Lighting and colouring help set the mood and emphasise key moments in the song.
The Mise-En-Scene needs to look authentic to uphold a decent level of professionalism.
Music video's can also have 'beats' in the video cut in time to the music to hold a level of entertainment.

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