MUSIC VIDEO THEORIES!

ANDREW GOODWIN:

• Andrew Goodwin argues that music videos should represent stereotypes and conventions of the genre of which they are presenting- for example dancing in a girl band music video.

• Goodwin also argues that there should be a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals present in the music video- for example the video can be:

1. Illustrative- the visuals clearly and literally represent the visuals shown in the video.

2. Contradictory- a lack of link, where the lyrics contradict the visuals.

3. Amplification- The manipulation of the audience through repetition of key meanings.

4. Disjuncture- the song meaning is ignored and so there is no relationship.

ANDREW GOODWIN- THE TYPES OF MUSIC VIDEO:

• Illustration – Is the most basic concept to base a music video around as it is just a literal meaning to the song’s lyrics in visual form presented in the music video. Owl City have used illustrative ideas in their videos before, for example in ‘Fireflies’ when Adam young the artist in Owl city is singing and as he says ‘fireflies’ the word fireflies comes up on the screen to a little toy gadget.

• Disjuncture- is the process by which, the visuals of the music video intentionally ignores the meaning of the song, and the musical genre of the song. An example of Disjuncture in music videos, if ‘Fat Boy Slim’s ‘Praise You’ in this video there is no link between the song and visuals and therefore can result in the audience feeling quite confused.

Amplification-manipulation of the audience through repetition of key meanings. Key meanings are drummed into our vision throughout the video. An example would be Kanye West Home coming, as the repetition of home allows the audience to decode the meanings of coming home.

ANDREW GOODWIN-CONTINUED:Andrew Goodwin presents the idea of ‘the notion of looking’ – this means we are watching the performer and gaining pleasure from it- Its related to ‘Voyeurism’- Voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other actions usually considered to be of a private nature. Therefore we can argue this is closely related to Laura Mulvey’s theory of ‘The Male Gaze’

• Music Video’s often use windows , television screens, binoculars, or mirrors to display this or by other props.

• Voyeurism is widely used to sell music through an artists sex appeal- for example a recent example being ‘Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball’

Star Image-

• Goodwin argues that during music videos they promote the star in the visuals by using the frequent close up shot types and recurring motifs to represent the artist.

Intertextuality-

• Intertextuality refers to the visual references to other media texts (such as other films, songs etc.) which allows the audience to quickly decode the meanings. An example of Intertextuality would be ‘Destiny’s Child ‘Independent Women’ making references to ‘Charlie's Angels’ allowing the audience to encode the meaning of the song. Many artists have incorporated intertextuality in their music videos to make specific references to significant events, people or pictures.

• Marilyn Monroe in "Diamonds are forever" in the way that she dressed and the background. In the footage Madonna is dressed in a similar pink dress, she sports a similar hair cut and style, wears a similar necklace and bracelets with men next to her holding love hearts. People who saw this footage were able to know where the reference and inspiration is from because it was such an iconic Marilyn Monroe moment therefore gaining Madonna more viewers on her music video.

• One last intertextuality reference in music videos come from the artist Taylor Swift with love song "Love Story", a lot of people know automatically what the inter-textual reference is to. There is an prominent Romeo and Juliet reference to the music video. They have most likely chosen to use Romeo and Juliet as their inter-textual reference because it matches their song perfectly - the song is about love which fits with the passion and story of Romeo and Juliet. Using references that fit the song well will make the meaning more well known which can only be a good thing. As Romeo and Juliet is one of the most well known stories and films in the world she will gain a lot of popularity from this.

• Another example would be ‘Will Smith’s’ Men in Black, created primarily for the film men in black, therefore making references to other media texts and allowing the audience to decode the meaning..

SIMON FIRTH:

• In 1988 Simon Firth stated that “ Music videos may be characterised by three broad typologies:

1. Performance- Performance videos are the most common type of music videos. It shows the band or artist performing in concert, rehearsals or staged performances. The aim is to give the audience an in concert experience and closeness. Performance videos shot in the studio remind the audience of the importance of the actual music and not just the music video visuals.- For example ‘Gow 1992’ argues that “Performance oriented visuals cue viewers that, indeed, the recording of the music is the most significant element” Performance can also be used to persuade audiences to buy concert tickets. An example would be ‘The red hit chilli pepers hey oh and one direction little things- see next slide.

2. Conceptual-Conceptual videos rely on poetic form, primarily metaphor. These videos do not tell a linear story, making them differ from the narrative mode. They are used to create a mood or evoke a feeling in the audience. The video aims to create a similar atmosphere in relation to the lyrics, but would not tell a story or show a performance side to it. An example would be ‘afterglow’

3. Narrative- A narrative music video is one that tells a kind of story in a linear, cause-effect sequence. Love story song are the most common type of music video that follow a narrative mode of visuals- and often include a rather predictable storyline of Girl meet boy, boy looses girl, boy gets girl back. Action in the story is dominated by males who do things and females who passively react or wait for something to happen (Schwichtenberg, 1992). An example of narrative music videos would be ‘Beyonce if I were a boy’ and ‘Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland Dilemma’

SIMON FIRTH- THE THREE TYPOLOGIES:

Performance Music Videos: Narrative Music Videos: Conceptual Music Videos:

RICHARD DYER:

• Richard Dyer identifies that ‘Pop performer’ and ‘Pop star’ are not the same thing.

• He suggests that ‘Pop Stars’ have lasting significance and ‘Brand Awareness’.

• Richard Dyers star theory suggests that musical icons and celebrities are manufactured by institutions for financial gain. He argues that stars we see in the music industry are constructed to represent 'real people' experiencing real feelings and emotions. Stars are manufactured by the music industry to serve a purpose of which is to make money out of us as the audience, by allowing us to respond to various elements of the pop stars personality by buying records and becoming fans or both them and their music.

• He goes further to suggest that pop stars are artificial images- even if they are represented as being real people.

• Dyer identifies that it helps if the star has a unique selling point (USP)- “A unique selling proposition (USP, also seen as unique selling point) is a factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the lowest cost, the highest quality or the first-ever product of its kind. A USP could be thought of as “what you have that competitors don’t.- Taken from Google.

• He also highlights the advantage pop stars have over film stars, this is because their constructed image may be much more consistent and prominent over a duration of time is not reliant on the creative input of others.

• Dyer states “A star is an image not a real person this is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials (e.g. advertising, magazines etc. as well as films [music]).”

• This artifical construction of a pop star is far from understood however. Record companies think they know about it — but witness the number of failures on their books. TV programmes such as The X Factor show us the supposed construction process, how an ordinary person is groomed, styled and coached into fulfilling a set of record company and market expectations. This is not true stardom, which must happen through a combination of factors. None of them labelled 'X'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOGaX2W9lJk

RICHARD DYER- THREE FACTORS:Richard Dyer’s theory is split into three sections:

1. Audiences and Institutions – Dyer states stars are manufactured by the music industry to make money out of audiences, whom respond to various elements of star persona by buying records and becoming fans. Record companies nurture and shape their stars — as the TV talent show processes have shown us. They tend to manufacture what they think audiences want, hence the 'photocopied' nature of many boy bands such as ‘The Wanted’ and ‘One Direction, teen bands etc. Pop stars, whatever their nature, are quite clearly the product of their record company — and they must be sold. “Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strength of their meanings.” The music industry has to be aware of the range of audiences it caters for , the perky pre-school Tweenie fan to the ageing hippy, and it does its best to keep us all happy. Historically, the industry has provided us with a range of commodities all with different appeal. One way to achieve this is by producing new stars of different types playing constantly mutating genres of music - there's always something and someone fresh to choose from (important for the younger audience).Another way is to produce a star with long-lasting appeal, who, once their brand is established, can cater to a fan audience for decades (in the way U2 or the Rolling Stones have done). The 'conveyor belt' approach to new stars means that talent isn't developed, and a star's value may be very short-lived. A star may only be significant or relevant for two years, or two albums. An overload of focus placed on 'golden oldies' means that younger fans struggle to identify with stars, whom they see as belonging to their Parents' generation. A Healthy music industry develops both types of talent, and generates a diverse range of stars, who mean different things to different audience segments. For example Lady Gaga, according to Dyer, was modelled around fashion forward people so the audience can relate to her as a person and also her music.

2. Character and personality- All stars originate as ‘real humans’, with gender and rare characteristics. However supporting Dyer’s theory stars become constructed- however unlike fictional characters, stars are constructrued on the foundation of realism. We tend to see them as not-entirely-fictional, as being are very much of their time and culture, the product of a particular generation. Stars provoke feelings in audiences making audiences focus on ideas of what people are ‘supposed to be like’- e.g. for women the stars in music videos may transmit ideas that women should be thin and beautiful. they may support hegemony by conforming to it (thin/beautiful) or providing difference (fat/still lovable)- for example Megan Trainor ‘All About The Base’. Much of the discussion of stars in celebrity magazines is about how stars compare to the current hegemonic ideal, and how we compare to the stars- Think About Adele Rolling in the deep.

“In these terms it can be argued that stars are representations of persons which reinforce, legitimate or occasionally alter the prevalent preconceptions of what it is to be a human being in this society. There is a good deal at stake in such conceptions. On the one hand, our society stresses what makes them like others in the social group/class/gender to which they belong. This individualising stress involves a separation of the person's "self" from his/her social "roles", and hence poses the individual against society. On the other hand society suggests that certain norms of behaviour are appropriate to given groups of people, which many people in such groups would now wish to contest (e.g. the struggles over representation of blacks, women and gays in recent years).Stars are one of the ways in which conceptions of such persons are promulgated. Richard Dyer – The Stars (BFI Education 1979)There is braod differences between film stars and pop stars, of which Dyer Identfiies, Film stars are represented primarily through their roles — written by faceless screenwriters. The personality and characteristics making them similar/different are created for them by others, and their overall image is constructed from many fragmented parts, which may or may not contradict each other. They may indeed represent a perceived appropriate norm of behaviour but it takes several similar movies to create this effect. Film stars may survive individual flops — there are always other movies in the can — and embody several different values simultaneously. It's more difficult if you're in the music industry. Contrastingly to this Pop stars, establish their character and personality through songs and performance and will strive for immediate star identity with a first album. They appear to have more control over their persona in that many of them write their own songs, and that their body of work develops, chronologically over time, along with society. Pop stars don't do aberrant costume dramas or science fiction movies which take them out of place in time and space and confuse their audience. They produce 45-74 minutes of music which gives a clear indication of their interests, moods, appetites and lifestyle at a particular point in time; audiences read music=person, and will base their understanding of the star's persona on the sentiments expressed by their songs. This understanding may be very personal and intimate, the star's music can infiltrate every corner of a fan's life. Albums are continually read and re-read as texts think of the 100+ times you might listen to a track, whereas films tend to be watched once or twice only. Because a pop star's persona is constructed on the basis of a narrow text, continually re-read and reassessed, this may lead, in many cases, to second album syndrome, when an artist is unable to sustain their persona over a period of time (largely because they got rich off the back of the first album and bought all the houses, cars, etc. they'd ever wanted) and they are unable to create a consistent account of their character and personality in their second major release. The root of their persona then disappears, or becomes confused.A pop star's persona, therefore, as depicted in terms of character and personality, is a fragile thing which needs constant nurturing, and is the product of constant discourse between the star and his or her audience- Think about Mumford and Sons First Albums.

3. Hegemony / culture-Stars represent shared cultural values and attitudes, and promote a certain ideology. Audience interest in these values enhances their 'star quality', and it is through conveying beliefs, ideas, and opinions outside music that performers help create their star persona. A star may initiate a fashion trend, with legions of fans copying their hairstyle and clothing. Stars initiate or benefit from cultural discourse (e.g. via their Twitter feed), and create an on-going critical commentary. Now more than ever before, social networks give pop stars the opportunity to establish their own values outside their music. Lady Gaga tweets frequently about LGBT issues, and expects her Little Monsters to engage with that discourse just as much as she expects them to listen to her music.Stardom, and star worship in general is a cultural value in itself. Ideologies drawn upon include materialism and sexuality. Whole sites of institutional support (e.g. radio & TV shows, magazines, websites) are devoted to star scrutiny, and it seems we can never get enough information. Stars also provide us with a focal point for our own cultural thinking — particularly to do with Youth & Sexuality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THdoZMeJx1Y&safe=active

STEVE ARCHER’S THEORY:

• Steve Archer suggests that there needs to be a strong and logical relationship between narratives and performances in music promos.

• He argues music videos will cut between a narrative and performance of the band or artist performing a song in concert or studio- etc.

• A specifically choreographed dance may be classed as part of the artists performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor.

• Mostly rock and indie bands would shoot their music video as a performance as there is an emphasis on the instruments and individual players, it is also much cheaper and feasible for a low budget music video. If the music video predominately shows a story of some sort then this type of music video is known as a ‘narrative’; In this type of music video the musician would often tell the story of their past be it love, lost, relationship, partying etc..

• Steve Archer's Theory states that “There needs to be a strong and coherent relationship between narrative and performance in music promos.