Research for Music Video: Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin is a theorist who feels that traditional narrative analyses don't necessarily apply to pop videos. He believes that it is not because pop videos are trying to be avant garde, they just approach narrative differently than novels or films. The structure between them is completely different. This is because:

- pop videos revolve around songs, and usually songs are not built around traditional structures, (normality-problem-resolution)

- the singer, or singers of the pop video dominate the scene because they are used as both a narrator and a character

- finally, the singer usually looks directly at the camera and has the most camera time than any other characters in the video, this is trying to get the audience involved with the performance.

He also claims that pop videos rely on repetition. This can be shown in repeated images in the pop videos, which mirror the way songs repeat choruses. Moreover, the video would be constantly playing on the radio or on the TV (music channel) or even in adverts so the song gets a sense of familiarity when listened to.

Some videos have very different ways as how they connect their lyrics to the pop video. The visualization of a song can go from a direct, literal meaning or it might have no meaning or contradict the lyrics completely. Therefore, we can say there are three types of relationships between songs and videos: illustration, amplification, and disjuncture. Below I have posted the meaning and an example of a music video that relates with the idea. Enjoy and try not to get too distracted by my amazing song choices :)

Illustration - this is where the pop video tells the story of the lyric. Dance is often used to express emotion and ideas in the video

Amplification - this is when the videos introduce new meanings and ideas that add layers of meaning to the song, but don't tell a complete story from finish to end.

Disjuncture - where there is little connection or no between the lyric and video, the video contradicts the lyric itself.

Until then!

Stephanie