Andrew Goodwin's 6 Features of a Music Video

Andrew Goodman stated that music videos ignore common narrative as they are essentially advertisements and, as consumers, we make up our own meaning of a song in our mind. Many different themes and conventions can be found within different music videos, with Goodwin labelling the following 6 features as the 6 conventions of a music video:

Relationship between lyrics/visualsA relationship between the lyrics of the song and the visuals of the music video can be used to illustrate, amplify or contradict the music and video. This is a convention nearly every music video uses. An example of this would be the music video to song "AVOCADO, BABY" by Los Campesinos!. This is illustrated the most evidently with the music video being based around a washed-up presenter of a television chat/game show, complimenting the lyric "And I feel like I'm the host of a terrible game show, and the guests on today's quiz are celebrities. Won't respond to any clues, they're just cracking jokes for views and the answers to these questions mean everything."

Seeing the sounds (thought beats)
These are visuals that are edited in time to the rhythm and lyrics of the song. This is similar to the first convention stated in that it further accelerates the relationship  between the music and visuals, albeit in a more visual way, as opposed to the symbolic way that the first convention uses. A notable music video that uses this would be the song "DO I WANNA KNOW?" by The Arctic Monkeys that has a visual animation that moves in time to the lyrics and instrumental of the song.

Genre-related style/iconography present
This is where music videos become more distinct as a result of the conventions of their respective music genre. This reflects the different ways in which music genres are given recognition as a result of conventions found in that specific genre, in that the music videos for each genre have different codes and conventions that they abide by. An example of this in a music video would be the indie song "TINY LEGS" by Then Thickens. The video features actor Joseph Gilgun (Misfits, This Is England) lip-syncing the song whilst being humiliated on camera. This can signify the lack of theatrics in the indie music genre, as well as the lack of recognition that the indie music genre often receives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ySalXvHEJc




Multiple close-ups of main artist/vocalist
This is a convention used in most music videos to signify the artist/frontman gaining more recognition within the public eye. An example of this would be the music video for "AMERICAN IDIOT" by Green Day, which has multiple close-ups of the band's frontman, Billie Joe Armstrong. In doing this, the video gives the audience an insight into the voice of the band, as well as the angsty/punk vibe that the band will emit in their music.

Voyeurism plays major part
An attractive (usually female, backing up Lara Mulvey's "Male Gaze" theory) person who is portrayed as a sexual object throughout the video. An example of this would be the female dancers used in the music video for "BLURRED LINES" by Robin Thicke feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams, where the dancers are increasingly sexualised as a result of their actions and the attitudes of the artists towards them.

Intertextual references
This means the referencing of another type of media within the music video, such as a film, a book or another song. An example of this would be the music video to "MOVIES" by Alien Ant Farm, that pays homage to the films 'GHOSTBUSTERS', 'WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY', 'EDWARD SCISSORHANDS' and 'THE KARATE KID'. Another example would be the music video to the song "PORK AND BEANS" by Weezer, which features several different people that are well-known throughout the popular video-sharing website, YouTube, as well as paying tribute to YouTube culture as well.