Andrew Goodwin is a theorist that identified 6 key features of music videos. He made a book called "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" in 1992 where he analysed new ways to understand television and music. His 6 key features were:
Iconography
Illustrating
Amplifying
Contradicting
Voyeurism
Intertextuality
Iconography
Iconography in the media is an object that relates to a specific representation. It is an important aspect to a genre of a movie or music video. To briefly summarize iconography, a country music video, you would most likely see cowboys, forests, fields, horses and guitars in it. This is because a category of music needs a genre and a theme, either stereotyped or not. A main example of iconography I have used is 50 Cent's "Down On Me". I used this music video because well to state the obvious, it's a rap, hip hop themed one and you can count multiple objects that states it theme. At the beginning of the music video, 50 cent (above) is seen wearing big jewellery, sunglasses, a cap and there is an attractive woman walking around dancing. They are already 4 objects used to label their theme of music. In the middle of the music video, (01:50) you notice that the featured singer Jeremih, is wearing quite loose clothing and the lighting is dark and flashing with the effect of a shaky camera. Towards the end of the music video, there is alcohol being poured into a glass, so overall there are around 7 icons in this video that is shown in the music video quite frequently. This can be used in the industry but the audience could have a different on it. In many hip hop music videos, all that is mainly advertised is money. Money is an important factor in the music industry so they would happily love to advertise it in music videos where there would be expensive jewellery, clothing, drinks and cars. The audience however could think the complete opposite. There are quite a lot of explicit music videos being aired in this day and age now for publicity and money so if a half naked woman with an umbrella is dancing around quite seductively, it would be quite inappropriate for a younger audience and and also the lyrics itself could be discriminating towards woman or of a sexual nature therefore being to explicit and inappropriate for a younger audience. Illustrating
Illustration in the media is when the video directly corresponds to the lyrics or to a lesser extent mood of the song. This technique is used to understand the mood and feel of the song through the video itself because this will make the music video more interesting to watch. An example of illustrating I have used is Rebecca Black's "Friday". In this music video, the visuals show the exact illustration that is described in the song. At 0:17 seconds, Rebecca sings "7 am. waking up in the morning..." as she's singing this her alarms rings at 7am and she wakes up in bed. Another example i noticed is at 1:15 where Rebecca sings "7.45, we're driving on the highway..." as she's singing this, she is presented in the back of a car with her 2 friends beside her, driving to a party. This is an excellent example of illustration because throughout the whole music video, Rebecca is singing what she is doing.
Amplifying
Amplifying is when the video is designed to enhance the style and the mood of the song. An example of show an amplifying music video would be Britney Spear's "Everytime". In this music video, Britney returned home from a concert and was being neglected by her boyfriend, they got in their hotel room and had an argument what led Britney to having a bath. Whilst in the bath she noticed blood on her head and then shortly after, passed out and went underwater. Her boyfriend then found her, tried to revive her and the scene cut to her in hospital trying to be resuscitated by doctors, but sadly she died. The camera then slides to the room next door, where a woman had just given birth to a baby girl, showing how Britney had been reincarnated. The overall mood of this video is sad, depressing and slow, the music of this video is also slow, sad and depressing. it sounds almost like a lullaby. The music video is quite interesting because you want to know what happens to Britney through out the video and if she survives. Overall, the song and music video clash very well together and is personally one of my favourite songs. For the audience this song is quite touching and emotional, so therefore they should enjoy it. Contradicting
Contradicting a music video is when the song has a different mood and meaning to the music video itself. An example of a contradicting music video would be MGMT - Kids. In this music video the baby is being tormented by monsters and after watching this video, i feel some sort of remorse for the baby because it is upsetting. At 2:17, the lyrics say "we like to watch you laughing" but the baby is shown crying and traumatized. This could have a negative effect on the audience because seeing this video could be quite disturbing and inappropriate for them to watch. On the other hand, it is quite interesting. The audience could want to continue watching the music video to see what happens to the demons and the baby.
Voyeurism
Voyeurism is a technique used in music videos that show women - that are quite attractive- acting quite sexy, provocative to the male's eye for their own satisfaction and entertainment. This is used to the other way around as well with males; they are mainly very handsome, muscly and seductive on screen. This is used for the female satisfaction and entertainment. An example of female voyeurism would be Shania Twain's "Your'e Still The One". In this music video, Shania is singing about/to her extremely attractive boyfriend. His identity is like a mystery throughout the video until the end. Throughout the video, it is in black and white which adds more superstition and interest in to revealing what his face looks like. In 1:09 you see a glimpse of his body and face quite wet, making him look quite sexy in a way. From 2:02-2:09 and 2:28-2:40, it features him in the bath washing his face and back and then the gets out and there's steam coming off of his body whilst wrapping himself in a towel. This scene would entertain the female eye because it is very seductive and flirtatious.
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is a name for when a music video is based upon a film or television programme. I have used a personal favourite which is Madonna's 'Material Girl'. This is based on the movie Gentleman Prefer Girls with the famous scene of Marilyn Monroe singing 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend' because Monroe is Madonna's inspiration and role model. In this music video, Madonna has a love interest and the video was the first to show Madonna's acting ability, as it combined the dance routines of 'DAAGBF' with the story line of a man who impresses Madonna with daisies rather than diamonds.The institution would use this to make a popular scene of a film re-recognized and so it become popular, benefiting the film and the artist by them gaining profit.
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