Andrew Goodwin Theory

Andrew Goodwin's Theory of Music Videos is that a music video can be identified by set features. Here are what he believes to be the conventions of a music video:

• Each genre of music has its own conventions that can be seen in a video.

E.g. a stage performance is typical of rock, a dance routine is typical of pop bands, and women in skimpy outfits usually appear in rap.

• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images.

This can clearly be seen in George Michael's music video below, where as certain lyrics are sung the words will appear. For example at 0:24 the lyrics are "to be free", and the words on screen are "To B Free".

• There is a relationship between music and visual. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music.

Sinéad O Connor's music video has clearly sad music, and the visuals in the video complement this. As the music becomes more passionate, and sadder so does the video as Sinéad O Connor cries whilst singing.

• The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. This leads to the 4th wall being broken in most music videos, because the artist will look and sing directly to the camera/audience.

Lady Gaga is an example of an artist who has a recurring theme, which is her costume always being quirky.

• There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

Sometimes voyeuristic images are shown with a camera angle which suggest the audience is secretly watching such as through a keyhole.  The notion of looking can also be referenced by the use of props such as a mirror, a television screen, a magnifying glass or a camera. This convention of Goodwin's theory can relate to male gaze theory, where in some music videos the camera will zoom in on the female body.

Below in the music video 'Littlest Things' voyeuristic references are shown with the use of props. For example the mirror at 1:35. In addition at 2:53 a reverse zoom is used where we find that the image is being watched by the audience on a camera.

• There are often intertextual references.

Katy Perry's music video below includes frequent intertextuality throughout it. The whole video as a whole is an intertextual reference to 80s teen movies. This is signified by the opening the costumes in the video, which are all 80s clothing, additionally Katy Perry is the geeky character who after a makeover changes completely and becomes popular, which was typical of many films in the genre. Another intertextual reference is at 1:46, where Rebecca Black opens the door, the girl infamous for her music video 'Friday'.

Censorship in Music Videos

MTV's first banned video was the band Queen's 'Body Language' in 1982, because of its homoerotic undertones by showing lots of skin and sweat. It was viewed at the time as unsuitable for television audiences. Additionally, in the '80s the video for 'Girls on Film' was banned on Top of the Pops, as it featured topless women mud wrestling. However, MTV did air this video, but a highly edited version. Another video banned in the 1980s was the Sex Pistols 'God Save the Queen' by the BBC for calling the UK fascist.




Michael Jackson's 'Black or White' was banned in 1991, because it showed him touching himself "inappropriately". Madonna is renown for music video censorship. Many of her music videos have been banned, because she includes controversial images in her videos. One of her most controversial videos is 'Justify My Love', which included sadomasochism, homosexuality, cross dressing, and group sex. This video was banned on MTV.




In 2001 Bjork's 'Pagan Poetry' was banned by MTV because it featured sexual intercourse and fellatio. In 2011 Rihanna's video 'S&M' was banned in 11 countries, because it featured the singer whipping a tied up man, taking hostages, and kissing another woman. Katy Perry's 'Dark Horse' in 2011 caused offense to some Muslims, because Katy Perry turns a man wearing a pendant which says Allah into sand. However it was not censored.



Over the years more has become acceptable in music videos, with fewer being banned. For example sexual undertones are displayed in many music videos today, when quite a few of them would not of been deemed acceptable 30 years ago. Videos that have been censored have pushed boundaries, and are the reason that censorship is more lenient today. Additionally, this leniency of censorship is not exclusive to music video, but has happened to the media as a whole. Perhaps, this has happened because society has changed, becoming more accepting of once unacceptable features of music videos.

Censorship in music videos is becoming more difficult to enforce. The main reason for this is the internet. If a video is banned it may still be released online, for anyone to use. Also, if a music video is certified with an age rating on a website such as YouTube, anyone can still view it. Even if someone underage wishes to view the video they could simply pretend they are the right age in the check box.

Feedback Response

After presenting our pitch, we decided to hand out feedback forms to our audience. From the results we have received advice, which we will be considering. The majority of the suggestions were to do with the age of the actor we will get to play the lead singer in our music video.

The suggestions we received mostly said that we needed an older actor to play the role. Because we are still going to use an actor who is quite young we are going to edit the plot slightly so that it works with a younger actor.

Our plan is to use an actor who is 18 years old to play the protagonist. This will emphasise the danger of him gambling away his money, because the people he is gambling with will be much older than him. It will show the audience how the main character has mixed with some dangerous people, but must continue the risk because he is in debt. The story of the music video is that the protagonist has no choice but to try and gamble this money to get out of his high gambling debt. This is a secret from he is keeping from his family, because he is putting them at risk by betting their money, and because if he cannot pay his debts there will be harsh consequences.

 

Timeline of Music Videos

Musicians have been featured in 'videos' since the start of cinema, however it was not until the 1950s when music videos were created. In the 20s many musical short films were produced, these were very similar to what we now call music videos.

In the 1930s to the '50s many musical films were created. A famous example of one of these films is 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' which starred Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russel.

The mid '70s was the beginning of music television. This was the time the long running, popular British TV show ' Top of the Pops' began to air music videos.

In the 1980s music videos became mainstream, beginning with the launch of the U.S. video channel MTV. This was the start of 24-hour music on television. In this period the directors of music videos began to add a plot to music videos. In this time Michael Jackson's song 'Thriller' was created, which was, and still is, a very iconic music video.

Present day the internet is the most popular way of watching music videos. Social networking is a key reason for the popularity of watching music videos over the internet. YouTube is a very popular way of watching music videos, because of its ease of use and speed. Some music artists now can become famous entirely through the internet, by having their music videos on social media. An example of this is the band OK Go, that achieved fame through its video 'A Million Ways', which became famous through the internet.