Research - Andrew Goodwin - The Stucture of a Music Video

Andrew Goodwin

• Pop videos are built around a song and often songs do not follow the traditional narrative structure which is Normality - the Problem - then the Resolution.
• In Pop videos they usually use the singer for both narrator and main character.
• The singer/Artist often looks directly at camera trying to involve the viewers with the performance.
• Pop videos rely on repetition so that we become familiar with that specific genre and have expectations
• There are 3 different types of relations between the song and the video:

1. Illustration - When the video tells the story of the lyrics and expresses feeling and emotions through the dances.
2. Amplification - When the video introduces new meaning that matches with the lyrics but also adds layers of meaning.
3. Disjuncture - When the video has no connection with the lyrics.

Here are some examples:

 

This an example of Illustration - fits within this catergory because the video shows the lyrics throughout so it becomes familiar to the viewers, due to the repetition. The second video, the main character is also the narrator.

This is an example of Disjuncture - lyrics do not match the video.

This is an example of Amplification - the music video introduces layers of meaning.