Music Video Analysis

Goodwin’s 6 Point Theory

1) Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics• Costume

The typical costume set-up for an R&B music video tend to portray the modern fashion trends of the time, also being subject to the demographics that the singer associates themselves with. For example, an aspiring R&B singer is conventionally from the lower bracket of the class hierarchy therefore music videos from these singers will tend to have generic costumes attributed to those who live in, arguably, less privileged (or not rich) areas. The majority of audiences will be able to identify more easily with this kind of clothing as it was a popular style of clothing at the time. In comparison, audiences would struggle to identify with them if they wear wearing suits, for example, because they would not wear suits very often- if not at all.In relation to our video, the filming will take place in Central London, however the artist’s own cultural background will have a greater influence. To clarify further our artist is of Latino-Arab descent so her cultural inheritance may influence the costumes used during the filming. This also in a way defies the conventional clothing used in R&B music videos as the majority of R&B singers are black and therefore tend to have similar clothing influenced by what other modern black men & woman wear. One could argue instead that the conventional clothing has transcended race and is now instead a typical convention of the R&B genre.

Race: As I mentioned earlier a generalization of the R&B genre is it being a predominantly black scene. This music video follows this convention with most of the actors being black. In terms of our music video, we may challenge this convention by having multiple ethnicities included.

Britney Spears in early 2000s

2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

“Come Mr. DJ won’t you turn the music up”(0:20)

Lyrics Visuals

“Let the bass from the speakers run through ya sneakers”(1:44)

“Come and put your hands up to the ceiling”(2:55)

“All the [girls on] the dance floor wantin' some more”(0:25)

SummaryBecause the song is a dance anthem there is more emphasis on dancing during the middle than linking the lyrics to action at the beginning and end. That is why out of the four lyric-visual references two occur at the beginning. Our own video is also a dance anthem so in terms of the planning of our own video we will consider minimal focus on lyric-visual references and continuous emphasis on the dancing.

3) There is a relationship between music and visuals• The changes in pace of the song are echoed through the editing. The

length of each cut is at its shortest during the lead up to the chorus. This may be because the chorus is used as an opportunity to showcase organised choreography whereas the dancing during the verses is more scattered.

• When the arrangement of musical instruments lessens (or in other words the beat ‘drops’) the pace of the visuals also drops. The synching of the slowing down of the visuals to the slowing down of the beat puts emphasis on the performance of the artist and amplifies the awe or overall enjoyment of the video by audiences .

1) Emphasis on the lead singer

In correspondence with one of Goodwin’s many ‘Points’- “the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style)”-

5) There is frequent reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body

There if often intertextual reference