Andrew Goodwin’s Theory

Applied to

Naughty Boy – La La La

ft Sam Smith

The Theory

Andrew Goodwin’s theory consists of 5 main aspects that all contribute to creating a

successful music video.

These are: -• Thought Beats• Narrative and Performance• The Star Image• Relation of Visuals to Song• Technical Aspects.

Thought BeatsThought beats refer to the audience

‘seeing the sound’, most commonly used when a section of

the video is repeated on choruses. By doing this the

audience can identify that this section is the chorus or a

particular line in the song. In Naughty Boy – La La La ft Sam Smith this has been done when

the repetitive La La La is sung the boy in the video covers his ears and mimes the words. This has been done in most cases when

this line is sung however closer to the end there is an occasion

where it does not.

Narrative and Performance

Andrew Goodwin believes that music videos do not present

the audience with the completed story instead they must interpret it and finish the

story themselves. When watching the La La La video it

can be seen as a re-enactment of the popular film Wizard of Oz, with a more modern spin

on it. There is a man who receives a heart and also a man dressed almost like a scarecrow. The lion in this adapted story is instead a

Chow Chow dog.

Narrative and PerformanceAlthough in the Wizard of Oz

Dorothy wishes to go home, from the video the audience gets the feeling the boy does not. At the beginning of the

video it shows an abusive dad and it does not show the boy returning home. This leaves

the audience to decide whether or not he has returned home. Despite the act that the video portrays the story of The Wizard of Oz it is in act based

on a 19th century ‘word of mouth Bolivian legend’. (http://

creepypasta.wikia.com/wiki/Bolivian_Tradition

)

Andrew Goodwin also says that music videos should have a

combination of performance and shots of the artist singing/miming. In this particular video it is all narrative

and the artist is not shown.

The Star ImageAndy Goodwin says that: The creation of character

identities for stars provides a point of identification for the audience/spectator which is especially

important when lyrics often lack depth. By becoming a particular character it detracts

attention from the lyrics and allows the audience to focus and relate to what the artist is doing rather

than singing. In the Naughty Boy – La La La video the artist is not shown and therefore there is not a

star image. However the audience feel for the young boy and he becomes the character that some

may be able to relate with.

Relation of Visuals to Song

When creating a music video it is important to get the best possible response from the audience as possible. There are 3 different

ways in which to do this.

These are: -

• Illustrate

• Amplify

• Disjuncture

Illustrate

This is when the visuals in the music video

correspond/illustrate the lyrics of the song. In this video it has been done

when the boy mimes “La la, la la la”. This is the

only piece of illustration in the video as it follows the

storyline of both the Wizard of Oz and the Bolivian legend rather than a storyline based around the lyrics of the

song.

“La la, la la la...”

Amplify

This is when the emotion/mood of the song is repeatedly put into the audience’s head. It is mostly based on the visual aspect rather than

putting emphasis on the lyrics.

This is what has been used in the Naughty Boy video as the lyrics of the song have not

influenced the narrative. Instead the meaning of the video can be understood without hearing the song, the audience can see that the boy is trying to escape and wants to help others escape too.

Disjuncture

Disjuncture is when the performance/narrative in the video has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song. It is often referred to as being ‘abstract’.

An example of this can be Rudimental – Waiting all Night as the video is based around BMX

tricks and stunts whereas the lyrics of the song are “Tell me that you want me, tell me that you need me” which are not usually associated with

BMX bikes. However the genre is Drum and Bass so the pace of the BMXs help to amplify

the bass in the song.

Technical Aspects

The Technical Aspects of music videos include lip-syncing, close ups of the artist and the artist looking into the

camera. The only one of these used in the Naughty Boy – La La La video is lip-syncing when the boy is miming the words “La la, la la la”. Other than this the technical

aspects are missing as the artist is not in the music video.

It is most often that close ups and looking into the camera are used in music videos for more well known artists as it

is the artist that will sell the song. For example Beyonce’s Single Ladies music has all of the focus on her as she lip-syncs the song as well as close ups and

her looking straight into the camera.