Andrew Goodwin invented a theory in 1992 about the conventions of music videos. “Live It Up” is a model example in showing the 6 generic conventions that Goodwin created.

Each sub genre has its own video style, which can easily be distinguished when watching. “Live It Up” holds the genre ‘Dance’ with the subgenre ‘Pop’. The typical conventions for this subgenre showcase (usually complex) dance routines and performances. The dance routines are commonly based on the narrative of the lyrics to convey a deeper meaning. For the dance in the “Live It Up” music video, the choreography uses lots of hand and arm motions above the head. The meaning for that is that it conveys the image of a crowd dancing to a song, waving their hands around and living for the moment.

Shade and colour of these videos are extremely bright with a lot of typical gender based colours(e.g. pink and blue) or to symbolise certain moods e.g. red for love. In this particular music video J Lo wears yellow lipstick with yellow nails. The colour yellow denotes fun as it is extremely bright.

The main artist always wears the latest Runway High Fashion to stand out and be unique, and usually features around them having fun to attract a younger audience that can easily relate to the video. In editing most dance, pop videos have a fast cut rate.

There are certain links between the lyrics of the song and the music video. The title of the song, “Live It Up” is repeated throughout the song, which relates to the entire video as it is mainly centered around everyone dancing and having a good time, which is described through the modern phrase “Living it up” meaning you only live once and should make the most of your life.

As well as links between the lyrics and the video, there are also links between the music of the song and the visuals of the video. The most obvious technique is cutting to the beat, which provides the editing pace to be fast as the music is fast and upbeat. In the bridge of the song the music slows slightly down when Pitbull performs, and because of this the shots slow down before speeding back up when J Lo returns to singing. Also in the final dance music section of the song, the shots, unlike the rest of the video where they are fast, use slow motion to emphasize the fun that the people are having. Additionally, the dance shown in the music video is clearly linked to the visuals as the choreography dynamics are strong, sharp and fast mimicking the beat of the song.

It is imperative in music videos to have close up’s as they reinforce the star image and help carry the music video along and can even help promote products used. One of the main close ups used is when it keeps cutting back to the image of J Lo with the gymnast rings and also when she is lying down with bright coloured yellow lipstick (and nail paint) to show that she is high fashion and the star.

J Lo is also shown to be the center of everyone’s attention at the beginning of the video, when a cluster of people are surrounding her and making sure she looks the epitome of perfection. This definitely reinforces the star image that she is the center of attention and being a typical Hollywood diva.

There are many moments in this music video that show the notion of looking.The first example is shown through the first half of the video which is shot on a catwalk, in high fashion costumes with the crowd watching, showing that the way we look is important.

There are a variety of other shots showing the notion of looking, such as a video of a phone showing playing part of the music video on, models looking in mirrors, camera’s taking photographs of J Lo, and performances from J Lo on stage and on the catwalk.

The dance moves in the video are very provocative e.g. dancer dancing on a pole showing the voyeuristic treatment of the female body as people are only looking at them for ‘working’ their body.

Also the outfits show a lot of skin, such as J Lo wearing a red leotard and red over the knee boots, which attracts the attention of males as it shows bare skin and fits to her womanly curves.

The outfits combined with the shots taken are another aspect in showing the voyeuristic treatment of the female body, e.g. pans of the camera along specific parts of J Lo’s body and bare skin provide a voyeuristic response as it is titillating for the viewer.

For this music video there is no specific intertextual references to any other famous pieces of work. However the music video style is an exact replica to a previous music video, “On The Floor”, also performed by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull. This can be seen through the party atmosphere, the ‘Gaga-esque’ high fashion costumes and the products promoted (e.g. the closing of the Swarovski case), which can be seen throughout both the videos.

The high fashioned costumes could also be seen as an intertextual reference as the costumes could illustrate a style of high fashion or a brand of designer.