Theory: Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin, the author of 'Dancing in The Destruction Factory' His theory is based around 3 main concepts of music videos; Illustration. Amplification and Disjunctive.

Illustration:

- Always cuts to the beat

- Images illustrate the literal meaning of the video. Often it is just a band/artist singing and dancing to their song.

- In the band area people will be singing, dancing and playing musical instruments such as Guitars, drums and pianos. The performers would be dressed as expected.

Amplification:

- The video has mainly cuts the the beat, but on occasions it has cuts off the beat in places where it wants to emphasize a certain bit in the video.

- Images are used to amplify the lyrics, a specific narrative may be used if needed.

- The band takes on fictional roles in the narrative.

Disjunctive:

- Music cuts off the beat - sometimes this is the sign of a bad music video, but if a band is well established they can get away with taking risks like this.

- Images used in the video can be nothing to do with the song or lyrics.

Example of an Amplification video:

Scouting for Girls: This aint a Love song is a song with sad lyrics about a man who is saying goodbye to someone - it is set in an airport. But as well as people being sad and leaving each other their is also happiness, frustration and Love shown in the video. Clips are played of families and couples being reunited, and even a man having an argument. The lead singer is walking through the airport singing but is almost not aware of the other people, and visa versa.

Example of a Disjunctive video:

The lead singer from the band 'Texas' dressed up as Elvis in one of her music videos and performed the song in a way that elvis would, this is not something you would expect for the singer to do.

Killers - Somebody told me Analysis

'Somebody told me' is a rock song by 'The Killers', It was released on the 15th March 2004 and directed by Bret Simon. The video does not have a narrative and is an abstract performance based music video.

0.00

This is an opening scene with all the band, there are strange effects in the shot which shows the slip is abstract and uses editing.

0.30

Here we see a performer with a large screen behind him - the screen has an image of him on it. This is a very abstract shot and has no place in any story.

1.00

This shot shows 2 of the band members, 1 singing and one playing an instrument - the playing of instruments is typical of the rock genre.

1.30

This shows a drummer, most rock bands have drummers - in the background you also bright lights which may attracts the viewers attention.

2.00

This clips is set outside on sand, the band are all playing instruments and performing infront of a white screen.

Paramore - Misery Business Analysis

Misery Business is a song performed by the rock band Paramore. It is

the first single from

the bands second album 'RIOT' and has reached platinum

classification. It is

owned by the record label 'Fueled by Ramen'.It is 2 minutes and 20 seconds long.

0.00

This is a close up of one of the female band member - Hayley williams. We can she that she is making eye contact with us which may make us feel involved in the song and feel as though she is singing to us.

0.30

This is a medium long shot which has 2 characters involved, this clip shows the narrative in the story of 2 girls fighting over a boy.

1.00

This shot shows the lead singer and a drummer in the background, by playing instruments it also shows this is a rock video.

1.30

This is a close up of the female in the story, it shows narrative and by looking into the camera it makes us feel involved.

2.00

This over the shoulder shot shows a that a conversation is going on, which suggests the narrative in the music video.

Queen - Dont Stop Me Now

Don't Stop Me Now is a song by rock group Queen under the record label EMI, featured on their 1978 album Jazz. It was written by Freddie Mercury and it was recorded in August 1978 in Nice, France. It has a length of 3 minutes and 37 seconds.

0.00

This is a medium close up of the lead singer singing into a microphone, the song is just starting up.

0.30

This is now a medium longshot showing the person singing into a microphone.

1.00

This is a shot of one of the performers doing a guitar solo.

1.30

Close up of the lead singer singing into a microphone.

2.00

This is a longshot of 3 of the queen group, this shows them all performing.

2.30

This is a shot of the guitarist doing a solo.

3.00

Forms and Conventions

A music video is a visual accompaniment to a song, the music video usually involves a performer/performers doing things such as acting out a narritive or dancing to the music being played. Concert footage is often used as a music video.The music video can be narritive, abstract or performance based - usually depending on the genre of song or the artist. They are usually 3-4 minutes long and include quick cuts, cuts to the beat, editing and sometimes computer graphics. Sometimes music videos can also be like mini-movies, for example micheal jacksons hit 'Thriller'.

Music videos started to become a feature in the 1950's and they became extremely popular with the arrival of MTV in the 1980's - at this time most songs had a music video.

Most modern videos are used as marketing and feature the performer doing actions which give them a particular image which they want to portray of their selves.

List of Genres:

- Rock

- Rap

- RnB

- Country

- Pop

- Blues

- Hip - Hop

- Garage

List of Conventions:

- Lip Syncing

- Long Shots

- Concept

- Lots of Cuts

- Close Up

- 3 - 5 Minutes Long

- Eye Contact

- Abstract

- Montage

- Cut on Beat

- Performance

- Costume Change

N dubz - Ouch Analysis

Ouch is a song which is performed, written and produced by the hip-hop trio N-Dubz, which start for North West. The track was released on September 29th 2008 on the cd format and for digital download. N dubz consists on 3 people - dappy, tulisa and fazer who produce their own songs under the label - 'All around the World'. Its peak position in the chart was 22nd. The narritive in teh story is a woman who find out her boyfriend has being seeing someone else and they argue about it through the lyrics.

0.00

In this shot we see that the screen is split up into 3 sections - 1 is dappy standing. The second is tulissa who is laying is a bed and the 3rd is an unknown woman who we can see from behind.

At this point in teh song there are no lyrics just music.

0.30

This is a 3-shot of the group members all standing - the performance is them dancing and lip syncing to the song, they are wearing hip hop, fashionable clothing which shows the young, cool image they are trying to portray.

1.00

This is a long shot in which we can see the female leaving in her car, this shows how angry she is and stress's the narrative in this video. During this scene the chorus of the song has just begun.

1.30

This is a shot of fazer with a black background and white lights. This scene is abstract and separated from the main story of the music video.

2.00

This is a midshot showing dappy, he is standing on a roof in an urban environment which may be to show where he is from as he sings about being from the 'slum.