Analysis Of 3 Music Videos- Goodwin’s Terminology

By Tayla BurtonBy Tayla Burton

Paramore- Misery Business directed by Shane Drake

• In this video, Paramore were just getting started, so you can really see here, them developing their own iconography. Their image here is the band wearing really brightly coloured clothes (including front woman's Hayley Williams iconic hair ) and this being contrasted with the black and white 'riot' performance set.

Goodwin says 'there is a demand on the part of the record company for lots of close-ups of the lead singer' which is

definitely the case here. There are lots of close-ups of Hayley, most of the frames

centre her. These shots are also exaggerating her image.

In this video there is also a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. The song is about a a 'mean girl' who pretty much controls and terrorizes everyone around her and particularly a guy, and the lead singer sets out to stand up to her about it. This is very literal in the video.

I like the way parts of the video have been edited

when it completely fades to almost white and then brings back the colour.

Because the beat is really fast to this song, the camera cuts to it. So must shots are less than a second. It’s very fast paced and effective.

Jay Z featuring Rihanna & Kanye West- Run This Town

directed by Anthony Mandler

• The genre of this music, is hip hop, and the video has its own style relating to this genre. The setting in the video shows this, as it's pretty underground, with dark colours and spotlights. The lyrics relate to the visuals, because the camera shows the gangs and fire and then Jay Z, and therefore shows who's going to 'run this town'.

• There is lots of iconography in this video, as Jay Z keeps up with his star image. And also  collaborating with Rihanna, and featuring Kanye in his video- these are other big artists of similar genre to him. There are lots of close- ups of all, but mainly Jay Z.

The blue light here suggest dystopia, which shows something bad could happen. I like the way the dark figures are contrasted against the blue light to make them look more mysterious.

Lily Allen- 22directed by Jake Scott

• This video is set in more ordinary, every day settings than the others. There are lots of close-ups of Lily as she is the main artist, and these amplify her star persona. Also the outfits in her video reflects and exaggerates her star persona and image.

• The lyrics relate to the visuals again here as the camera  shows the artist in the mirror as young, sleek and glamorous. And then in reality it shows an older, messier version of herself.