Andrew Goodwin's theory (research)

Summary of Andrew Goodwin’s theory

Andrew Goodwin’s theory suggests that music videos do not follow traditional narrative structures. This is due to three things:

1. Music videos are built around songs.
2. The singer is usually a narrator and a character.
3. The singer often looks directly at the camera.

Music videos rely on repetition. Videos often repeat images in the same way songs repeat lyrics. The way different genres repeat images lets the audience associate different styles of videos with the genre they tend to appear alongside. For instance, most people would be able to tell that a video is for a rap song if there were lots of people in a club dancing promiscuously, just as most people would be able to tell that a video was for a rock song if there was a band playing in it.

Videos must have an ending, and the way the video ends is usually reflective of the song. If a song fades out at the end, then the video will most likely fade, or have an ending with no real sense of closure. If a song ends abruptly, then the video will usually come to a similar abrupt stop, with any narrative the video contains having an obvious ending.

Andrew Goodwin defined three different kinds of videos:

1. Illustration: when the video tells a story that reflects the lyrics.
2. Amplification: when the video gives a new meaning to the lyrics without contradicting them.
3. Disjuncture: when there is little to no connection between the video and the lyrics.

There are examples of all three kinds of video below.

Most videos have recognisable features other than the song or artist, which makes them stick in peoples’ minds after they’ve viewed them. A lot of the time, women are shown as objects of sexual desire for men, although there are videos that ignore this trope. Sometimes different instruments or parts of the song will be represented with different recurring images. If a song has been released alongside a film, then clips from the film will usually be in the video for that song.

Illustration

Muse - Hysteria

The lyrics of the song seem to be about suffering from hysteria (unmanageable emotional excess), and it’s clear that the man in the video has some strong emotions flowing through him.

Amplification

Rolo Tomassi - Party Wounds

The video takes place at some kind of party, which expands on the title, while some of the lyrics are related to parties.

Disjuncture

Radiohead - Just

The video has a clear narrative, but it’s in no way related to the lyrics of the song.