Andrew Goodwin's Theory for music videos

1. Andrew Goodwin’s Theory
Applied to
Naughty Boy – La La La
ft Sam Smith

2. The Theory
Andrew Goodwin’s theory consists of 5 main
aspects that all contribute to creating a
successful music video.
These are: -
• Thought Beats
• Narrative and Performance
• The Star Image
• Relation of Visuals to Song
• Technical Aspects.

3. Thought Beats
Thought beats refer to the
audience ‘seeing the sound’,
most commonly used when a
section of the video is repeated
on choruses. By doing this the
audience can identify that this
section is the chorus or a
particular line in the song. In
Naughty Boy – La La La ft Sam
Smith this has been done when
the repetitive La La La is sung
the boy in the video covers his
ears and mimes the words. This
has been done in most cases
when this line is sung however
closer to the end there is an
occasion where it does not.

4. Narrative and Performance
Andrew Goodwin believes that
music videos do not present
the audience with the
completed story instead they
must interpret it and finish the
story themselves. When
watching the La La La video it
can be seen as a re-enactment
of the popular film Wizard of
Oz, with a more modern spin
on it. There is a man who
receives a heart and also a
man dressed almost like a
scarecrow. The lion in this
adapted story is instead a
Chow Chow dog.

5. Narrative and Performance
Although in the Wizard of Oz
Dorothy wishes to go home,
from the video the audience
gets the feeling the boy does
not. At the beginning of the
video it shows an abusive dad
and it does not show the boy
returning home. This leaves
the audience to decide
whether or not he has returned
home. Despite the act that the
video portrays the story of The
Wizard of Oz it is in act based
on a 19th
century ‘word of
mouth Bolivian legend’. (http://
creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Bolivian_Tradition
)
Andrew Goodwin also says that
music videos should have a
combination of performance and
shots of the artist singing/miming. In
this particular video it is all narrative
and the artist is not shown.

6. The Star Image
Andy Goodwin says that: The creation of character
identities for stars provides a point of
identification for the audience/spectator which is
especially important when lyrics often lack
depth.
By becoming a particular character it detracts
attention from the lyrics and allows the audience
to focus and relate to what the artist is doing
rather than singing. In the Naughty Boy – La La
La video the artist is not shown and therefore
there is not a star image. However the audience
feel for the young boy and he becomes the
character that some may be able to relate with.

7. Relation of Visuals to Song
When creating a music video it is important
to get the best possible response from the
audience as possible. There are 3
different ways in which to do this.
These are: -
• Illustrate
• Amplify
• Disjuncture

8. Illustrate
This is when the visuals in
the music video
correspond/illustrate the
lyrics of the song. In this
video it has been done
when the boy mimes “La
la, la la la”. This is the
only piece of illustration in
the video as it follows the
storyline of both the
Wizard of Oz and the
Bolivian legend rather
than a storyline based
around the lyrics of the
song.
“La la, la la la...”

9. Amplify
This is when the emotion/mood of the song is
repeatedly put into the audience’s head. It is
mostly based on the visual aspect rather than
putting emphasis on the lyrics.
This is what has been used in the Naughty Boy
video as the lyrics of the song have not
influenced the narrative. Instead the meaning of
the video can be understood without hearing the
song, the audience can see that the boy is trying
to escape and wants to help others escape too.

10. Disjuncture
Disjuncture is when the performance/narrative in
the video has nothing to do with the lyrics of the
song. It is often referred to as being ‘abstract’.
An example of this can be Rudimental – Waiting
all Night as the video is based around BMX
tricks and stunts whereas the lyrics of the song
are “Tell me that you want me, tell me that you
need me” which are not usually associated with
BMX bikes. However the genre is Drum and
Bass so the pace of the BMXs help to amplify
the bass in the song.

11. Technical Aspects
The Technical Aspects of music videos include lip-syncing,
close ups of the artist and the artist looking into the
camera. The only one of these used in the Naughty Boy
– La La La video is lip-syncing when the boy is miming
the words “La la, la la la”. Other than this the technical
aspects are missing as the artist is not in the music
video.
It is most often that close ups and looking into the camera
are used in music videos for more well known artists as it
is the artist that will sell the song. For example
Beyonce’s Single Ladies music has all of the focus on
her as she lip-syncs the song as well as close ups and
her looking straight into the camera.