Representation in Music Videos

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What music means to me

Goodwin's theory in practice

 

 

Britney Spears - Toxic

 

• - This video does not follow a narrative structure, a convention of a music video relative to Goodwin's theory.
• - There are multiple uses of close ups of the star, creating a distinguishable star image to make her recognisable all over the world.
• Voyeurism is used massively in the music video, with multiple shots of Britney's upper body and behind.
• Thought beats are also used, with shots changed in time with the sounds.

 

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

 

 

• Again, like Toxic, the music video does not follow any sort of narrative but instead simply focuses on the star, creating image (again like toxic).
• The video focuses solely on the lead singer, with only very few shots focusing on other members of the band or other aspects of the music video, yet again fuelling the star image that most videos strive to create.
• As the band are male, there is no voyeurism used at all.
• Thought beats are used to an extent, but not as much as toxic.

TEMPZ - Next Hype

 

 

• This video is a mixture between narrative and star image, with the first half of the video being totally narrative based with no music, and the other half being of close ups shots of TEMPZ (female gaze) and narrative segment of TEMPZ smashing things up in time with the music.
• There is a huge relationship with the video and the lyrics, with TEMPZ actually smashing the things he mentions in the song in the video.
• A limited use of voyeurism consisting of shots of his upper body.

2 Chainz - Birthday Song, the sexualisation of the woman.

This video utilises the sexualisation of women extremely, using a multitude of techniques such as voyeurism to present women merely as objects and not as people. For example the tracking shot of Kanye entering the party on his bike surrounding by attractive, partially clothed women who are simply following him show their inferiority and Kanye's dominance. Another example of voyeurism is the fifteen second tracking shot of a woman's behind, focusing entirely on it and allowing for nothing else for the viewer to notice and look at, essentially forcing it on the viewer.

There is also a medium shot of four women simultaneously lap-dancing four well-dressed men, again presenting the male dominance and knowledge over the women, who only serve to pleasure the males. There are also many fragmented shots purely of the female body parts and not of their faces, reinforcing them as objects and not as people.

Relationship between videos and lyrics: No Rest - Dry the River

 

What are the emotions it stirs?It stirs emotions of love and longing, as the song is about a long lost love (from what I interpreted atleast). The title of the song also reflects love, as the "river" being dry relates to love that should remain being destroyed as rivers should never dry up.

What do you visualise? How do you picture the music video?
I personally didn't visualise what the song intended and instead pictured a man's descent into turmoil after losing his job. I sensed anger in my first impression also, which relates to my visualisation.

What images are conjured up in your mind when you hear the song?
Images of destruction and sadness spring to mind the most.

Intertextuality, voyeurism, performance, narrative, abstract? A combination?
Mainly a mixture of a gritty performance of a narrative of the man telling his story of his fall from grace.

What did others say about their ideas for a music video? Which did you like the best?
One unique idea was the one about a roman peasant searching for gold to give to his lover. Another one was simply a man walking down the street with his limbs falling off one by one.

Andrew Goodwin Theory

1.    Do not follow normal narrative structure, as they are essentially an advertisement.

2.     Thoughts beats, video events synchronise with the song. “Seeing the sound.” Also emphasise the narrative within the video and give the artist a distinguishable identity.

3.    They illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics.

4.    Genre-related iconography – e.g. gangster rap and low riders.

5.    Multiple close ups of the main artist or vocalist, i.e ‘star image’

6.    Voyeurism is a major part – watching other people to lure an audience (especially with females)

7.    Intertextual references to other media texts, i.e Beat It and Westside Story.

Technical aspects:

Camera

Sound

Mise En Scene

Editing