Goodwin analysis

2. Andrew Godwin’s music videotheory appliedto the
videoof “Hey there Delilah”by Plain White T’s

3. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
“What’s it like in New York City” “Tonight I’ll be right beside you”
“It’s what you do to me” “Times are getting hard”

4. As shown on the previous slide I have found a number of instances in the music video where the
lyrics are matched to what the audience visually sees. For example when he sings “What’s it like
in New York City?” there is a shot showing the location of a busy street at night with lots of
bright lights (suggesting it’s a city).
Another way the visuals reflect the lyrics is through the mise en scene. The colours throughout
the video are very dark, especially as Delilah's part which is mainly in the city at night. The mise
en scene can be seen as an example of amplifying the lyrics because the lighting reflects the
sadness of the lyrics, such as “I'm a thousand miles away "which suggests he’s sad they’re so far
apart and this is amplified by the dark lighting and lack of colours.
It can also be described as an amplifying video because the lyrics suggest the song is about him
trying to comfort ‘Delilah’ about them being apart by saying ‘I’ll be right beside you’ however
the editing of the video adds another level of meaning to this. Dellilah’s section is an example of
a montage because it shows her at different points of a journey and so shows lots of movement
because she’s actually going somewhere. But the lead singers part of the video just seems to be
a linear sequence of him singing the song, as he just stays sat in the same place for most of the
video. This juxtaposition between the two characters’ lives, which is brought directly to the
audience's attention through the use of split screen, therefore suggests he is trying to reassure
himself everything’s going to be fine and not Delilah because he’s the one who’s not being able
to move on with his life as shown though his lack of movement.

5. There is a relationship between music and visuals
The main way the music is referenced in the visuals is through the
props of the instruments which appear in a lot of the shots of
the lead singer, with the guitar even appearing in the master
shot of the room to highlight its importance.
Also there are instances in the video in which the visuals are
edited to the beat of the music. A good example of this is at 9
seconds where there is a cut from Delilah to the singer in time
with the start of the beat cycle. This really puts emphasis on the
beat because the visual change is so obvious, this is again an
example of n amplifying segment of the video.

6. Music videos demonstrate genrecharacteristics
About the relationship between a boy and a
girl
The close ups of instruments and performance
aspects
The dark colouring

7. The music video for “Hey there Delilah” is redundant because it features so
many genre conventions that it is almost predictable. On the previous
slide I have screen-shotted some of the most obvious examples of
generic conventions of Indie Pop that appear. These include:
• the mise en scene of the video with lots of dark colours like black,
particularly emphasised by the night time setting
• the theme of the video being about a boy and a girl’s relationship.
This is incredibly over done in music videos and I think makes the video
somewhat boring because nothing new is achieved or even attempted.
What is slightly less predictable is the fact that it’s the male lead singer
who is missing the girl, where as stereotypically it would be the girl getting
emotional over a boy. Whilst this is less stereotypical it is still redundant
because it’s about their relationship, which is expected from the song
lyrics.
• in the genre of indie the music is seen as being the most important
thing about the video. This is referenced in “hey there Delilah” with the
constant use of close ups of the guitar and the singer lip synching, which
adds a performance based element to the video

8. The demands of the record label includesthe need
for closeups and the artists develop
Extreme Close ups of the lead singer
Medium close ups contributing to his star image

9. Most commonly in the music video the shots of the artist are extreme
close ups of different facial features, e.g. eyes, mouth. I think this is
mainly done to add to the narrative because, along with the editing
technique of using a split screen, it adds to a jigsaw like effect being
created. This could amplify the song because it shows the two are
like jigsaw pieces that together become complete, but when apart
it doesn’t quite make sense.
However to meet the needs of the record label, conventional medium
close ups are still included. These are mainly shown during the
chorus “It’s what you do to me”, in which the lead singer is using
direct address by looking straight at the camera. This eye contact
along with the words “you” breaches the fourth wall because it
makes it feel like he’s singing to you the audience. This in turn
would add to his star appeal because it could make girls feel more
attracted to him as they feel there is a connection between them.

10. Voyeurism
Examples of voyeurism are not that common in this music video,
however there are some instances. For example at the beginning the
camera uses a mid shot to show Delilah’s upper body but then pans
down to only show her legs, this use of camera work can be suggested
as voyeuristic because it is focusing in on body parts in order to
sexualise them, especially as with this example the pan seems to be
mimicking the act of looking. Although a few examples do exist I don’t
view the video as voyeuristic because of Delilah’s costume which isn’t
particularly exposing (big coat) and her body language and behaviour is
also not sexual. This suggests the shots are not supposed to be
sexualising but more to create a jigsaw effect, like with the lead singer.

11. Voyeurism is also the notion of looking through other non-direct
sources like cameras. In “Hey there Delilah” there is an example of
this when she is doing her make up in a shop window and we see her
reflection. This gives an insight to the audience what Delilah is going
through/feeling because effectively we are looking through her eyes.
Furthermore the whole of Delilah’s part has a hand held effect and as
she doesn’t use direct address it appears as though someone’s
following her, which is also voyeurism. This can be seen from the long
shot (on the right) where she has her back to the camera.