Post on 05-Apr-2018
7/31/2019 Applying Andrew Goodwin - Copy
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Applying Andrew Goodwins Theory to a music
video:
Track: You Belong With Me
Artist: Taylor Swift
Director: Roman White
Genre: Country pop
Relationship between the lyrics and visuals:
As the lyrics are and I wear t-shirts the camera shows Taylor looking into the
mirror pulling up her t-shirt.
Here is another good example of there being relationship between the lyrics and
visuals, as the lyrics say Im on the bleachers the camera shows Taylor in theschool choir.
7/31/2019 Applying Andrew Goodwin - Copy
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Relationship between music and visuals:
Towards the end of the music video when the tempo of the song begins to slow
down, this allows the audience to focus on the characters emotionswhich are
happy- We can visually see the couple falling in love, this is surrounded by dark
lighting and fairy lights which help portray the joyful and romantic moment.
Particular music videos have their own music style and iconography (codes
and conventions):
7/31/2019 Applying Andrew Goodwin - Copy
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Country pop music videos usually base their narratives on a love story which
we can clearly see in this music video. In addition to this, considering it is a pop
genre song, it is using the typical, American high school life showing the
different social groups such as the popular girls geeks and jocksimmediately suggest it is targeting teenagers, therefore, using these codes and
convention appeal to the intended target audience. The use of natural colours is
typical to see in an acoustic music video.
Often due to the demands of the record label, artists videos will include
many close ups of the artist and will often develop motifs that repeat
throughout the videothis allows the band to promote their image.
Here are a few close up shots from the music video in different angles. This
emphasising her emotions from two points of view, however focuses mainly on
the Taylors expression because it is the main feature in the music video.
7/31/2019 Applying Andrew Goodwin - Copy
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A frequently notion of looking:
There is no reference to the notion of looking through screens; however the
artist does look at the camera quite frequently, creating a connection with the
audience. There is also no voyeuristic treatment of the female body as it doesnt
fit within this genre of music. Although, in the photo above, there is looking at
the boy from Taylors point of view while she sings about what he is wearing.
Intertextual references from other forms of media e.g. films, television
series, music videos etc:
Taylor became inspired to write this song after she overheard a male friend of
hers speaking to his girlfriend through a phone call. This music video is
influenced by the typical social groups in American high school life such as
jocks, geeks, and popular girls etc, developing a storyline as if Taylor (blonde
geek) in the narrative is the girl-next-door. Due to the strong narrative the
video links to romantic films.