Research into Goodwins theory - Miss Georgiou.

Goodwin came up with a theory that explained all the elements that exist in music videos. His theory states that most of the time; music video’s do not have a clear conventional narrative structure this means that they do not set out to have a beginning, middle or end. Instead music videos are constructed by the lyrics; it is the relationship between the lyrics and visual representation. Furthermorethe artist/singer or a leader of band can play both the narrator and the participant. They tend to be repeated in most of the shots. Goodwins theory was made up of the following seven elements:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics:

The music video "Show Me" by Chris Brown is an example of how music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. As you can see in this screenshot Chris Brown is wearing an expensive gold watch and a baseball hat. Both of these are examples of genre characteristics as you would expect to see them in the rap genre as rappers often talk about wearing expensive jewellery. This therefore portrays the rappers as being rich and having loads of money. Furthermore there is a sexual objectification of women within this clip. This also is an example of genre characteristics as sexual women are often related to the rap genre. We see the sexual objectification of women within this clip through the use of clothing as the women are wearing little and revealing clothing. We can further see an example of this music video presenting genre characteristics as we can see Chris Brown in the club with his "gang", which is something that is very conventional within the rap genre. This is seen when Chris Brown is in the club, which is a glamorous location, another genre characteristic of the rap genre, as they are often filmed in glamorous and flash locations. Through demonstrating genre characteristics the artist entices its target audience. This is because the target audience will clearly be able to see that the music video belongs to the rap genre and this will persuade them to explore the artist and watch more of his videos. Overall this promotes the artist and increases their popularity.


2. The lyrics are in relation with the music video:

Goodwin's theory states that the lyrics and the music video should be in relation, we can see this in this music video as Kid Ink says "No time on the rolex" and as he says it he looks at his watch. This is used here to make it seem although the audience are watching some sort of narrative as they can see that the lyrics are in correspondance with the visuals in the music video. This also allows the audience to further understand the lyrics of the song as they are being illustrated. Furthermore it means that the music video will have more of an impact on the audience as the lyrics are being reinforced by the visuals, meaning that the audience is more likely to take in what is being said. This point of Goodwins theory appeals to the target audience as it means that the artist is communicating the lyrics of his song through visuals, this therefore means that a relationship between the audience and artist is made. In this video the use of visuals to explain the lyrics is specifically important as the artist is trying to show off in the lyrics by discussing girls and money and this is further reinforced and emphasised through providing the target audience with a visual.

3. There is a relationship between the music and the visuals

 The third part of Goodwins theory is the relationship between the video and the music of the song and whether it is illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. I would say that this music video is illustrative in relation to the music as there are a lot of images throughout that explain the music. We can see an example of this at the beginning of the song when we first hear the beat come in. Here the director of the music video matches the change of the beat with a change of frame, this creates a relationship between the music and the visuals making it more appealing to the audience as they can feel the full effect of the music and music video. Furthermore we can see a relationship between the visuals and music, as the pace of the song increases when the chorus of the song comes in, in correspondance to this the pace of the shots and editing increases, thus creating a link between the visuals and the music. This is likely to attract the target audience and appeal to them as they can see a clear link between the song and the video. A relationship between music and visuals is used in order to show that they go hand in hand, making it more appealing to the target audience. 

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which reoccur across their work.

Throughout this video we see a lot of close ups of both Kid Ink and Chris Brown, this matches goodwins theory. The impact of using a lot of close ups of the artists is that it engages the audience as they are seeing their idols close up. Furthermore it allows the audience to see the full emotion in their faces making the lyrics more relatable for themselves. In addition, using close ups of the artist in the music video is likely to appeal to the target audience as they are seeing their icons close up. In turn, this will create more profit for the record labels as the fans are more likely to purchase the album through seeing the music video. This also gives the record label control over how the artist is represented which means they are able to create an image surrounding the artist. The purpose of this point is therefore to to represent the artist in a certain way and make sure that the audience are engaged with the artist and the music video.

5. There if frequent reference to notion of looking, examples of this would be screens within screens or telescopes, and a particular treatment of the female body.  

In this music video we see the female body sexualised frequently. Again this is in accordance to Goodwins theory. In sexualising the female body the male members of the audience are satisfied and it also idolises the artists as it makes them look superior as they have women climbing all over them. Furthermore the female members of the audience are entised through the girls bodies that are being put on show. As a result of this both sexes are given reason to desire what is going on in the music video, meaning that they are likely to buy into the artists lifestyle by purchasing their albums etc. 

6. There is often intertextual reference.

In the video there are signs of intertextual reference. We can see this at the beginning of the video when Tyga is wearing "Beats" headphones. This conveys to the viewer that these headphones must be the best on the market because if they are good enough for Tyga then they are good enough for me. Furthermore we can see intertextual reference in the club scene when there are bottles of Ciroc vodka on the table. Again this creates a link between alcohol and having a good time, persuading the audience that this is the drink to buy. The purpose of this point is so that the produucers can maximise profits by including certain brands within the music video.

7. Whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based.

Music videos can be narrative, performance or concept based. This video mainly features performance. The performance part of the video is clear to see as there is a lot of dancing about within the club scene. The effect of this is that it is appeals to the target audiences eye and makes them idolise the artists as they may want to dance like them. Furthermore it means that the video is conforming to the conventions of the genre as you would usually relate dancing to this type of song. This also informs the audience that the song is not going to be serious and more about having fun, which will appeal to them.