Music Video Theory

 There are many theories and theorists related to music videos. In my post, I am going to talk about some of the theorists I have began to look at in class as well as some I have researched myself.

ANDREW GOODWIN
 Andrew Goodwin identified 5 key aspects of music videos: thought beats (seeing the sound), narrative and performance, the star image, relation of visuals to song and technical aspects of a music video.
THOUGHT BEATS:  The first step is to look at the structure of the song (e.g. chorus, verse). Secondly, look at the voice of the song. The voice of the artist is very unique and can create a particular trade mark/way for people to identify them. (This also relates to Roland Barthes' theory of the grain of voice). Thirdly, focus on the artist mode of address. Music videos can be stories, therefore the artist can be the story teller.
NARRATIVE & PERFORMANCE: Goodwin explains that music videos should ignore common narrative as it is important in their role of advertising. Music videos should be of the same standard every time and narrative and performance should work together to keep the audience interested. The artist should also star in the music video to make it more authentic and realistic for the viewer (miming is still a popular music video technique; the artist just needs to make it look real and professional).
STAR IMAGE: This is a meta narrative which is a big story that describes the development of a star (the music artist) over time. This also takes into account the artist’s image which can change/develop overtime and plays a role in the production of their music videos.
RELATION OF VISUALS TO A SONG: There are 3 main ways in which music videos work to promote a song. The first is illustrate – this is the most common process where music videos use images to illustrate the meaning of lyrics and genre. Second is amplify where meanings are manipulated and repeatedly shown so the audience doesn’t forget. Third is disjuncture where the meaning of the song is completely ignored.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS: This includes camera, mise-en-scene, angle movement, sound, editing and special effects. Lighting and colour also help set the mood.

SVEN E CARLSSON
 He said a common approach to music videos is the use of binary opposites. These drive the narration of the video forward. He also believed that music videos fall into one of two categories: Performance (where the audience can see the artist singing or dancing) or Conceptual (where the audience watch something else in the video, not the artist).

 He also created the theory that most performance movies (music videos)  make the performer not a performer anymore because they are in fact restricted in the way they can perform. Artists are being used to sell their voice, face and lifestyle.

MICHAEL SHORE
 Michael Shore’s theory is different from the previous two. He concludes that music videos are recycled styles that contain an information overload so contain views of adolescent male fantasies. Therefore videos contain elements of speed, power, girls and wealth. All this conveys into soft-core pornography with clichéd imagery.