This is a research task for my A2 media. This powerpoint contains Andrew Goodwin, Sven Carlsson and Michael Shore's music video theories.

1. Music Video Theories

2. Sven E Carlsson
There are many approaches when music videos are
being dissected. The most common method is to
break it up into black and white boxes so that they
are viewed as opposites – trash or art, male or
female, commerce or creativity etc.
Through this method, music videos fall into two
categories; performance is when the clip is showing
the performer singing and dancing whereas
conceptual shows a story instead, it gives the
audience something to watch other than the singer

3. Modern Mythic Embodiment
 There are three general types is which the video artist and their
performance can be represented.
 1) Commercial exhibitionist – the performer is not a performer but
rather a monger selling everything to be in the spotlight. They want
success and evokes the charisma of stardom and sexuality in order to be
a celebrity.
 2) Televised bard – they sing banal lyrics and use television as a
medium. They use on screen images instead of personal ones and
sometimes acts in the story. They create audio-visual poetry if
successful. They transform the lyrics into a story of life and death.
 3) Electronic shaman – the performer is often invisible and only the
voice anchors the visuals. They are our guide on a spiritual journey
through images and attributes and promises there is a hidden meaning
in everything. Their voice forms the life-line that connects images and
sounds, creating new experiences for those involved in the journey.

4. Perceiving Music Videos
Music video pictures can be interpreted as the merging of
three moving images – singing performance, visual- story
telling and the non-narration of modern art.
Singing Performance – take a popular singing performer
and place them in a setting in the song’s setting or one
that mirrors it
Visual story-telling – make it as easy to follow as a TV
soap
Non-narration of modern art – collages, paraphrases,
animated abstract art and unexpected combinations of
pictures may appear and can be interpreted as the
provocative modern art tradition or teenage rebellion.

5. Video Styles
Standard clip – it contains three visual traditions. A singer is
blended with images and is influenced by the experimental
film tradition.
It has many variations and the vocalist can participate in the
story whilst standing outside the video, offering a
commentary.
Performance clip – it contains mostly filmed performance and
shows the vocalist in one or more settings. It can be a song,
dance or instrumental performance.
Narrative clip – it is understood as a short movie to a musical
background and contains a visual story that is easy to follow
Art clip – it contains perceptible visual narrative or lip
synchronized singing

6. Andrew Goodwin
He found four key elements of a music video:
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics – it can
help establish the target audience as we are able to
discover key features
2. The demand of the record label will include the need for
lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop
motif which recur across their work
3. There are frequent references to the notion of looking
and particularly erotic treatment of the female body
4. There is a relationship of lyrics and visuals and music
and visuals

7. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics – it
can help establish the target audience as we are able
to discover key features
E.g Beyoncé's ‘Single Ladies’ is a stereotypical dance
video which displays three women in small, tight,
dacning attire

8. The demand of the record label will include the need
for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may
develop motif which recur across their work
E.g Lady Gaga is most commonly known for her
costumes and makeup used throughout all her music
videos.

9. There are frequent references to the notion of looking and
particularly erotic treatment of the female body
There are copious amounts of examples of music videos
which display this reference.
E.g. Perhaps the most controversial in this decade is Robin
Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ which has two version to the video
– one displayed women in revealing clothing and the other
video had them wear no clothing at all. The lyrics used
corresponded with the image portrayed in the video.

10. There is a relationship of lyrics and visuals and music and
visuals
This is when the lyrics and video correspond with each
other
E.g. A prime example of this is ‘Harlem Shake’ which took
the viral public by storm, causing the entire world to
publish videos of themselves depicting the Harlem Shake

11. 5 aspects of music videos
1)Thought beats
I. We have to look at the music itself and take into
account the structure of the song.
II.The voice of the song is also important. It is unique
and can form identification that works with the
image of the artist.
III.Songs can be seen as stories based on the artist’s
mode of address. The artist can be a storyteller,
allowing the music video to become a two
communication devise.

12. Narrative and Performance
I. As an audience, we create our own interpretation of the messages
being presented in a song.
II. Goodwin argues music videos should ignore common narrative as
an important role in advertising.
III. Music videos should display repeatability in the sense of quality
of the video. Narrative and performance should work together
well in order to keep the audience entertained and remain
interested throughout.
IV. When the artist plays the part of the singer and actor in the video,
it increases the authenticity and keeps the video original
V. .Goodwin believes miming is the most popular choice in videos,
however have to be completed to the upmost quality to make it
look believable for the audience as well as their interests.

13. Star Image
I. The image is another vital aspect of the video.
II. Artists want to look unique in order of remain
appealing and current for the audiences to
remember them.
III. The artist’s image develops overtime and plays a
huge role in the production process of the video –
meta narrative is the term used to describe to
development of the artist overtime.

14. Relation Of Visuals to the Song
There are three ways to promote a song
I. Illustrate – music videos can use a set of images to
illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and genre
II.Amplify – meanings and effects are manipulated and
constantly shown throughout the video and drilled into our
vision so that we associate the meanings to the song
instantly
III.Disjuncture – the meaning of the song is completely
ignored and the artist takes a completely different direction
as to what their song truly means.

15. Technical Aspects
I. They hold the video together through the use of camera
work, camera movement, angle, mise-en-scene, editing,
sound and special effects.
II. Lighting and colour help set the mood and add emphasis
on key moments for extra effect.
III. Mise-en-scene is vital for creating the setting of the
video. It needs to look realistic in order to remain
professional and aesthetically pleasing, therefore
appealing to a wider audience.
IV. The cuts and beats go with the rhythm of the music in
order to make the video more entertaining

16. Michael Shore
He concluded that music videos are recycled styles
that contain an information overload and views of
adolescence male fantasies.
Most music videos contain elements of power,
wealth and girls. All this conveys soft-core
pornography with clichéd imagery.
It depicts the ‘ideal life’ most young males crave.
This links to current issues within the music industry
where it is argued that videos contain too
provocative images that is inappropriate for all
audiences.

17. Michael Shore continued...
Women are highly sexualised and objectified in hip-
hop and rap videos and are often referred to as
“video hunnies”.

18. A good example of Shore’s theory put into place is
T.I’s ‘Whatever You Like’. The video shows the artist
showering his ‘hunnie’ with gifts and both lead the
ideal life.