AG video theory
- 1. Andrew Goodwin Music Video Theory By Chloe Pilgrim
- 2. Andrew Goodwin Andrew Goodwin is a a Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of San Francisco. He is the author the Music Television and cultural theory book “Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music Television and Popular Culture” and he has published numerous articles on media and cultural theory. Goodwin identified 6 key aspects the audience should look for when analysing music video’s. They are: 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band) 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting) 3. There is a relationship between the music and visuals 4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artists and the artist may develop motifs which reoccur across their work (a visual style) 5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes etc and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body) 6. There is often inter-textual reference (to films, tv programmes, other music videos etc)
- 3. Peter Andre: Mysterious Girl I have chosen to look at the “Mysterious Girl” video by Peter Andre to see if the rules from Andrew Goodwin applies.
- 4. Genre Characteristics “Mysterious Girl” would come under the genre of pop and many of the characteristics of the video show this. The video is performance based like most Pop genre music videos are with Peter Andre dancing through out. Typically there is a scene towards the end of the video where him and fellow artists Bubbler Ranx and also another male are performing a synchronized routine to part of the lyrics which is a very common generic convention for a pop video. Many close up’s, mid shots and full shots are used so we get to see the whole of Peter Andre. Like expected he is the main focus of the video. The pace of the video is at a synchronized speed of the song and just as long as the song which is convention of music video’s.
- 5. A relationship between the lyrics and the “walking on the shore” visuals “I’m the only man” “mysterious girl” “mysterious girl” “move your body close to mine” “the tropical scent of you” “mysterious girl”
- 6. The lyrics of the song is illustrated by the visuals with in this video, in the previous slide I have print screened examples of this. Majority of the time the lyrics being sung would be performed by Peter Andre himself making this video also a performance based narrative. There is also an amplifying relationship between the lyrics and the visuals as when Peter Andre is singing the words “mysterious girl” or talking about this mystery girl, shots of the female actress is shown. It is evident from the setting that the video was shot on a tropical island and from the look of many of the villager characters we can assume that it is somewhere in the pacific, therefore this video represents the cross cultural differences especially through the movement which the main female actress does. We can see that it is all very soft and quite gentle as though she is meditating but we don’t exactly know why she is doing these movements. Also through out the video the female seem to be isolated majority of the time. This creates an element of mystery towards this girl which again illustrates the title and her being a “mysterious girl”.
- 7. A relationship between the music and the visuals The “Mysterious girl” video is an illustrative video as I have previously said and this also applies to the relationship between the music and the visuals. Through out the video when Peter Andre says the lyric’s “you” he points to the camera screen. Although not obvious this could be his way of enticing his audience especially his female fans so that when they watch the video they feel as though he is singing about them. When singing “takes me up above” he demonstrates this through holding both his arms up, pointing to the sky. The other artist featured in this video is Bubbler Ranx who has a rapping verse in his Jamaican dialect with in this song. He also demonstrates a relationship between the music and visuals as when he sings “sitting by the phone hoping you'd call” he gestures this through putting his fist next to his ear and shaking his head as though he is holding a phone, he also says “I feel ten feet tall” and “man a trip over man when time your name call”. He demonstrates these actions through pretending to trip and raising his arm above his head to show height. When Bubbler Ranx says “Just one kiss alone a make me heart go boom”, both artists and another featuring male perform the actions of putting up one finger then pointing to say “you” then placing there hand on the moths to represent a kiss and for the “boom” lyrics they all splash the water.
- 8. Star Image & Voyeurism Voyeurism is represented in this video through image of Peter Andre. In the video he is either wearing no top or a shirt with open buttons so the audience can constantly view his abs. Majority of the time also he is slightly wet ( as he has been in the sea or under a waterfall) which sexualises him highly. The muscle which we are seeing from him also helps to enhance his masculinity. All of this helps to increase his appeal to his fans.
- 9. Conclusion In conclusion the music video “Mysterious Girl” can be applied to majority of Andrew Goodwin’s key aspects. However there is no inter-textual references within this video.