A music video is a piece of visual narrative which is linked directly towards a certain song. Since the launch of MTV on 1st August 1981 the music video has been very important to artists, as it is a way of advertising and promoting their song, album and most importantly themselves. A music video allows artists to perform their song, inform the audience of the story behind the lyrics, and represent themselves to the consumer and media. The first music video to be played on MTV was ‘Radio Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles. To help us produce our music video, I am going to look at the seven features Andrew Goodwin felt made up the majority of music video narratives:
· There is a relationship/link between the lyrics being sung and the visuals. This means that the visuals illustrate, amplify or even contradict the lyrics.
· There is a relationship/link between the music and the visuals. Therefore in a rock music video there will be many shots of the band playing instruments, however if the music is pop the visuals would be of the artist singing and storyline which corresponds to it.
· Certain music genres may have their own music video style and iconography. So a rock genre video’s style and the messages it conveys, will be much different from that of a pop genre music video.
· There is usually a demand on part of the record company for many close ups of the main vocalist/artist. This is done to firstly get the artist recognised by the target audience and the media, but also due to the ‘female gaze’ and the ‘male gaze’.
· The artist may develop their own star iconography. An example of this is Lady Gaga, who has created her own image through her music videos, as well as her celebrity image which characterizes her in the media.
· There is likely to be reference to voyeurism. This means that the audience feel they are ‘watching’ the artist, or gaining a taste of their life by being with them in the video without the artist knowing. This usually happens in videos which have a storyline to them, and not just a performance.
· There are likely to be intertextual references. Therefore links and references to other music videos, films or TV programmes.
As well as following Andrew Goodwin’s codes and conventions of music videos, it is very important that a music video has the correct cinematography, mise en scene, editing, lighting and sound.
Cinematography- A music video has to use many different types of shots, to make the video more exciting and keep the audience entertained. These shots include close-ups, long shots, tracking shots, zoom in/out shots, low/high angle shots etc. As well as keeping the audience entertained, different shots are used to get the artist recognised and for the male/female gaze.
Mise en scene- It is important that the visuals in each clip relate to the song and its lyrics, and most importantly the genre. This is because different costumes, props and locations are used in each genre, and the mise en scene is one of the factors which separates one genre from another in a music video.
Editing- In a music video it is important that the pace of the editing, type of shot used and transformations between shots are correct to the song and lyrics. This is because a music video would not look professional or correct if to a slow ballad the pace of editing was fast, the images didn’t link to the lyrics, and any rubbish transformation was used between clips.
Lighting- Different lighting types are used in different genres of song, and songs where a different emotion is being portrayed. Therefore in our music video we have to use the correct type of lighting for the song genre, lyrics and depending on what emotion or mood we want to create.
Sound- The sound in the majority of music videos is just the song itself played alongside the visuals. However other videos have extra narrative in the music video, such as Lady Gaga and Beyonce’s Telephone, others use the natural sound which was recorded when filming the visuals.
When creating our music video we need to consider all of these aspects for our video to be successful.
A music video example which has considered all Andrew Goodwin’s codes and conventions, as well as the five key factors is Beyonce’s ‘If I Were a Boy’:
In Beyonce's video there is firstly a link between the lyrics and the visuals as it illustrates the message Beyonce is conveying in her song, which is that if she were a boy she would act differently. This is shown through her boyfriend’s actions in the video, and their arguments. The paces of the clips are also in time with the music, highlighting the link between the music and visuals. As this song is of the pop genre, the video clearly illustrates the lyrics and tells a story, this is typical of pop music videos unlike rock music videos which usually show the performer. To satisfy the male gaze theory, there are also many close ups of Beyonce in this music video which again follows Andrew Goodwins codes and conventions. I feel the video also reflects the star iconography Beyonce has achieved throughout her career, that she is an independent woman who can stand her ground and have her own opinion. This characteristic Beyonce has developed is clear in almost all her songs such as Single Ladies, Irreplaceable, Independent Women and Survivor, some of which are songs from when she was a member of Destiny's Child. Another of Goodwins conventions of music videos, is voyeurism which is when the audience feel they are watching the performer without them knowing. This is easily visible in this music video as the whole narrative is a story, where she is not performing to the camera, but playing a character to make up the production. In this video I am unaware of any intertextual references, however I feel there may be some links to film narratives within the storyline.
The video also has the correct amount and uses the right types of cinematography, editing, mise en scene, lighting and sound. Firstly many different shots such as POV, close up and long shot are used in this video to make the narrative more interesting. Although I am not sure whether the black and white greyscale effect was edited afterwards or shot like this, this could have been achieved in editing, along with the pace and choice of clips. The mise en scene also follows the lyrics and music, as this music video tells a story. It is especially clear as this video is in black and white, that each shot has been lit perfectly, due to the fact that it looks natural. The sound has also been changed in this music video compared to the song, as there are sections of narrative, such as at the beginning and near the end where it is made clearer what Beyonce means when singing this song.
Through analysing this music video by Beyonce, it is clear that all aspects of Andrew Goodwin’s codes and conventions as well as the cinematography, editing, mise en scene, lighting and sound are all considered when creating a music video.
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