Questions regarding music video theory and the narrative structure of a music videoZara McDermott

What more can you say about the type of music video that is the most

prominent today?Throughout my research, I have found a clear correlation in the sense that as time has progressed, there seems to be an increasing amount of narrative based music videos. In the mid 20th century, almost all music videos were based around the idea of performance. The artists let their facial expressions, gestures and lyrics create an atmosphere tell a story. The concepts of the music/videos were meaningful and emotional, and it was felt that this was most easily and best portrayed through the performance of the artist. The fact that music videos were not diverse was probably due to the lack of technological development too; special effects were almost non-existent and shots of the artist/band were lengthy due to the lack of cameras which could portray different angles. Nowadays, technology is incredibly advanced and it is easy to create special effects on downloadable software; almost anyone can do it. It would be boring if the artists simply stood at the front of a stage and performed to a camera, therefore artists now try and create a storyline that is almost a mini film in which audience members can identify with intertextual references (as they would in other types of visual media) to establish a connection with the video. Even though often in videos the artists still ‘perform’ as such (through miming), they often do this within the storyline itself. For example, in Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” video, she acts as some sort of ancient princess/goddess with significant powers, however throughout the ‘story’, even though still in character, she performs the lyrics with her mouth. These lyrics correlate with the action going on in the scene. This is done not only to ensure that the audience can make links between the lyrics and visuals, but also to establish who the artist is in the video.

Why does the type of music video depend on genre?

I think that when analysing genre, it is important to note which genres

generally place their emphasis on the pure instruments and which place their

emphasis on the voice. Notably, those videos where most emphasis is placed

on the instruments will have some sort of performance within them because

the genres which do this see this as the most crucial element of the music to

portray visually. Other genres place more emphasis on not only the voice, but

also on sounds heard in the music which are not authentic, i.e. they have been

manipulated in a piece of music production software (this is where most

sampled dubstep sounds come from). In my opinion (and according to my

research), these factors influence the types of music video sourced by each

genre. It also depends on the meaning of the song. For example, a lot of pop-

ballads have deep meaning and will therefore be performed or will be used

within a narrative, however electronic music with minimal meaning will use

concept videos.

Which genres tend do which and why?

Rock music: usually performance, sometimes there is an element of narrative. This is due to the emphasis on the instruments.

Electronic music: usually concept due to the minimal meaning.

Country music: a mixture between performance and narrative due to the emphasis on both meaning and instruments.

Pop music: most often narrative due to its intertextual nature and the fact that its easy to correlate such lyrics to a storyline.

R&B: could be any of the above, but most often there is an element of performance often with a group of dancers in a club. Could be due to the light hearted nature of some of the songs.

What more can you say about the theories that Goodwin

analysed and how they relate to music videos

today? What genres do they reflect most?>

Goodwin’s Theory is based on 8 main principles:

Links between lyrics and visuals: there is often always some sort of direct link between what is said and what is done. This is more influential in pop music videos, more explicitly when in One Directions “What Makes You Beautiful” we see a girl flipping her hair just as the artist sings “the way that you flip your hair” . Links between Music and Visuals (complimentary, contradicting or amplification): In a lot of R&B videos, there are short jump cuts to the beat, directly linking with the idea of the notions of looking, as men are seen to be observing women. Similarly, electronic/dance music videos are often edited to a strong beat but with no relevance any meaningful notion. Genre characteristics: It is a known idea that most music videos will incorporate characteristics/ conventions specific to their genre. However, some artists think that by breaking the codes and conventions of their genre, they are making themselves appear different from other artists. For example, in this day and age where most female artists are doing their best to appear as exhibitionists,Beyoncé rebels against this in her video for “Irreplaceable” by covering up her body and dressing in unfashionable clothes perhaps in order to break the stereotype and show that she can be successful without revealing her body (or maybe for the fact that it adds to the effect of her video and that of which the song is trying to portray). SEE RIGHT

Intertextual references: pop music is a genre which is most likely to feature intertextuality.

This is due to the fact that there are a lot of references to pop culture and what is current, and

pop music is the genre which is most listened to in terms of being on the radio and on TV. Iggy

Azelea’s “Fancy” video is a direct reference to the film “Clueless”.

Notions of Looking (objectification of women): this is more commonly exhibited in R&B

music videos because the songs are usually about the sexualisation of women.

Voyeurism (direct gaze, other people looking at artist, insight into artists life, screens and mirrors): again, R&B videos are usually the ones that exhibit these types of ideas because often they show the artist as being desired by others. It makes people feel almost privileged to see the artist from such a close perspective.

Demands of the Record Label (representation of the artist): all genres are responsible for this convention. In a lot of videos where the artist is the focal point, the artist is seen to represent a specific unique style and in order to show them off a lot of closeups as well to show both the artists face and body.

Performance based, narrative based or concept based music videos (these of which have been previously discussed).