RESEARCH - Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin disagrees with the traditional narrative analysis applying to pop videos as he believes they take a slightly different approach to the way the story is told.  However, he feels that the ending of a video either builds to a climax or constant repitition before properly ending, and this can be demonstrated by for example, the last line of the lyrics being repeated before fading.  
 
3 reasons why the different narrative structures are different from films:

 • Music videos are based on a song so don't need to follow the traditional routine of (normality-problem-resolution)
 • Music videos normally portray the musician as both a narrator and a character
 • Direct address normarlly occurs from the musician (breaking the fourth wall), this is a mixture of trying to involve the viewer as well as maintaining their character within the video

Goodwin believes that pop videos often rely on repitition, and this could be a particular image appearing when the chorus starts.  E.G: In the video we watched in class 'The Streets - Fit but don't you know it', every time the chorus started a black man with sunglasses and no shirt on appeared, singing the chorus.  

Chorus of 'The Streets - Fit but don't you know it'

Adding to that, Goodwin feels that repitition also occurs in 'songs of parts or rhythms of other songs', which is known as intertextuality, allows the target audience to 'know what to expect' in music videos of a certain genre.   Goodwin also believes that repitition creates a sense of familiarity, as plays a big part in the way the song/video is broadcasted, e.g on the radio, on TV, on youtube, on adverts..etc.

 

Goodwin distinguishes between three types of videos:• ILLUSTRATION: where the video shows the lyrics in visual form and tells the same story
 •  AMPLIFICATION: when the video introduces new meanings and do not contradict the lyrics
•  DISJUNCTURE: where the is a small connection between the video and lyrics (contradiction between video and lyrics may occur)

Below are three different examples of each of the song types:

Illustration: Beyonce - Best Thing I Never Had

Amplification: T-Pain ft Chris Brown - Freeze

Disjuncture: Daft Punk - Around The World

Many pop videos have motif(s) that are easily recognisable, e.g Michael Jackson used to do the famous 'moonwalk' alot in his videos, and women used to be portrayed as 'objects' that the male desires, which normally occurs in heavy metal and hip hop videos.  Another recognisable motif is Ciara's famous bend, where she bends backwards showing off her flexability and portraying herself as a sex symbol.  Beyonce performed this move on her 'I Am..Tour' as well as at the Glastonbury festival, and female artists such as the two tend to deliberately portray themselves as objects of male desire, however, they look directly at the viewers through the camera and 'break the fourth wall.  Adding to that, female artists such as Beyonce has proved that women can be look good and still be fully dressed, and she proves this in her debut single 'Best Thing I Never Had'   

Beyonce - Best Thing I Never Had

Ciara - Like a Boy

 Some music videos vary from the actual song itself, as some of them have nothing to do with the song at all, some may be promoting a film with snippets from the film in the video, and some may just be providing 'visual pleasure' to make the video be repeated several times, and/or to also take the focus away from the song being quite bad.  Many music videos also try and appeal to a wider audience other than those they are targeted at, and this is simply because the more viewers that like them, the more chance their sales/views will increase.