Andrew Goodwin's 6 features of a music video;
1. Music
videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
(e.g. stage performance
in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip
Hop).
2. There
is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are
represented with images.
(either illustrative, amplifying,
contradicting).
3. There
is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere
of the visual reflects that of the music.
(either illustrative,
amplifying, contradicting).
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 recur
across their work (a visual style).
5. There
is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens,
mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the
female body.
6. There
are often intertextual reference (to films, tv programmes, other
music videos etc).
Best
alternative video – uk
London Grammar – Wasting My Young Years
Director: Bison
Producer: Liz Kessler
Production Company: A+, Academy
Commissioner: Caroline Clayton for Ministry of Sound
1. The Genre of this composed music is alternative, so we as an audience expect the video to be different and somewhat quirky. We expect to see something we don't recognise as normal and something visually interesting but also strange at the same time e.g. the floating man. Also the video is quite artistic and gives an impression of intelligence or ingenuity as a lot of work has gone into creating the effects and managing the shots. This makes the music video original and 'alternative'.
2. In this particular music video, the lyrics are amplifying that of the visuals. For example 'You crossed this line. Do you find it hard to say it to me tonight?' amplifies that of the floating man because there is no communication between two people which would illustrate the lyrics and there is no contradiction. However, we do get a sense that the man who is floating has done something wrong, the floating representing a falling motion. This shows that the man has 'crossed the line'.
3. There is an illustrative relationship between the music and visuals. This is shown through the editing becoming quicker as the beat quickens. They are both increasing at a rate that 'fits' the music video.
4. There is a few close ups of the artist in this music video, a woman singing appears throughout and she dominates roughly half of the screen time.
5. This music video contradicts this point as there is no way in which the female body is enhanced and also there are no mirrors or notions to make the artist appear more in the video.
6. I don't think there is any intertextual references in this music video, which supports the idea of ingenuity/originality.
Overall, in this particular music video, there is a lot of contradiction to Goodwin's idea's of features of a music video. This could be due to the genre of music or could be because of how time has changed since 1992. However, the majority of music videos today still apply to theses idea's e.g. One Direction (Boy band) are featured a lot in their music video's and take up almost all of the screen time.
Overall, in this particular music video, there is a lot of contradiction to Goodwin's idea's of features of a music video. This could be due to the genre of music or could be because of how time has changed since 1992. However, the majority of music videos today still apply to theses idea's e.g. One Direction (Boy band) are featured a lot in their music video's and take up almost all of the screen time.
