Music Video unit 29

Andrew Goodwin's theory of music video, states that all music videos contain either some or all of these elements

Have a link between visuals and lyrics

Have a link between visuals & music

Have certain genre characteristics

Have intertextual references - culture, society, films

Contain notions of looking  -  Lady Gaga - star of the music video - co starts will be drawing attention to her.

Shows voyeurism - sexual pleasure from watching others. - we are invited to watch.

Include demands of the record label - Rock DJ - moral and ethnic codes

Whether the video is performance, narrative (love story) or concept based.


Lady Gaga- "Lovegame"

Genre: Dance-POP.Electropop

Genre characteristics-

1. More often than not, music videos tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics. 


Examples of these include, for example, performance elements and dark colours are often used in music videos associated with rock songs or heavy metal songs. Or for pop videos, there is often dancers and bright colours are used. Below are two examples of both of these characteristics, on the left is a rock video and the on right there is a pop video.

2. There is often a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

For example, this also refers to the artist being shown singing the words as there are heard and also, as the lyrics are heard, the visuals in the video may match the words which emphasises their meaning to the audience.

3. 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).

This can also include what the artist may wear during their videos, for example they may create their own style which can be seen throughout their work. An example of this would be Lady Gaga, who often wears over the top outfits in most of her videos and this is her known style. Also, in many of Rihanna's music videos, there are always a lot of close ups of the artist which helps to break the '4th wall' element and this allows the audience to feel more involved and feel as though the song is being sung to them

4. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

The male gaze is one theory that surrounds this aspect of Andrew Goodwin's theory, and this means that certain aspects of the video will be added purely for one group of people, usually men, to look at. This includes the female body being used in a seductive way and being shown off as an object in order to attract an audience.

5. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc). 

This allows for audiences to feel as though they have a closer relationship with the music video and the song itself as often, the intertextual references that are used will be well known to most people. An example of this would be in the Red hot chili peppers video for 'Californication' as it references a video game for the entire video. This technique was also used in the The Wombats 'My Circuitboard City' video. These examples can be seen below.