Tuesday, 20 October 2009

Key features of music video by Andrew Goodwin DU

Andrew Goodwin, in Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992,
Routledge), has identified the following features of music videos:
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage
performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either
illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. 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 (a visual style).
5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens
within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic
treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes,
other music videos, etc).
It is also worth considering:
Whether the video is primarily performance-based, narrative-based or
concept-based and how elements of each are used in it.
You can use Goodwin’s categories to analyse music videos for
yourself.

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