Task Two - Understanding styles and conventions of video.

Andrew Goodwins six key conventions

Andrew Goodwin is famous for his book Dancing in the distractions factory in 1992. In his book he identifies the features of a music video. This is how he came up with his six key conventions. These key conventions consisted of:

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. For example, dance routines in girl/boy bands. 
• There are relationships between lyrics and features in the music video. 
• There are relationships between the music and the features in the music video. 
• The demand for the record label will demonstrate the amount that they would have to use close ups of the artist in a music video.
• There is frequently used notion of looking (scenes within screens, telescopes etc) and particular treatment of the female body. 
• There are often intertextual references used in the videos. 

Andrew Goodwin states that different genres of music use different key conventions, For example a pop group will tend to use dance routines in their videos.

He identified that lyrics and music videos interlink with one another as a music video will use a set of images in relation to the words of the music. He proposed that their are three different ways of linking the lyrics and the videos together. The first way is illustrative, this is when an artist shows the words that he is singing in the video and shown everything he sings as part of the video for example in the chorus he sings the words 'running down to the riptide' and in this specific bit of the video it shows a women running down to a riptide.



They link the style of the clothes that artists wear to the style of the music video as people like lady gaga use their style as a way of demonstrating her striking and visual style to the video itself. In all of her videos she has a striking and strange outfit, and she will also have a large amount of costume changes throughout the video. In the video 'Bad romance' she uses a large number of different costumes as a way of shocking the audience of the video. Also in some of her videos she has a large amount of skin on show and this is so that she can show that she doesn't care about what people think of her.



The intertextual references that are famously used are videos such as 'The wanted' music video 'Walks like Rihanna', they demonstrate intertextual references as in this video they use references to previous famous music videos. In this video they use things that other famous groups have used as a way of taking the Mick out of them and try to show that they can do it better than many of those other groups have. Also in this video they use these references so that audiences know who they are trying to demonstrate as the references they use are from very famous videos.

In some music videos they try to make them as enjoyable as possible, this is because they want to be able to show that the singer is having fun and in some videos they will use dance as a way of showing the mood of the song. In some music videos they also use dance as a way of interpreting other emotions such as pain and in many will use it to signify a break up. In the video 'Happy' by Pharrell they use a large amount of people dancing to interpret the emotions within the video. They use a large group of people that are dancing in a funny way to show that they are happy. One of the strengths when having a music video like this is that it will get the audience excited and will keep them interested in the video. Some weaknesses of this is it may not get the point behind the video across and may also become boring after a short period of time.

In a song by a rapper they may use their video as a way of showing what the song is about, this can be used at the singers advantage as they can use this to interpret the full content of the video. Also a rappers songs are more elaborate and sometimes it is easier to understand then other kinds of music. An example of this is 'Love the way you lie' by Eminem. In this music video they try to she what the song is about through the video and it is easier to hear what the singer is saying. In the video it demonstrates abuse between a couple and to escape from her abusive boyfriend the women in the video sets fire to there house. In this video there are only small snippets of the singer, i feel like they have done this because they want to get across the point of the video and show what the song is truly about. The strengths of this video are that they focus on the concept of the video and try to interest people with the video. The weaknesses of this video are that as the song is quite explicit they will show to much in the video.

An example of an amplifying video is 'Candy' by Robbie Williams as the video is about a women who is self-centered. In the video the artist is the womens guardian angel and as he follows her around in the video he is telling the audience what the women is like. In the video the artist is their to try and protect her but this contradicts the lyrics of the song as in the lyrics of the song he shows what he really thinks of her, but he has to do this because it is his jobs. In the video he is trying to get her to change but because she cannot see him she does not know what he thinks.

A contradicting video is a video that has nothing to do with the song what so ever and an example of this is the song 'If i go' by Ella Eyre. In this song she is talking to a man about if she left. The video has nothing to do with the song as she is just walking around a room that is spinning. In the lyrics she asks what would happen if she left but in the video it does not show anything that would associate with the video. Also in the video she is not doing anything but walking around this room and in the video their are two doors one on the ceiling and one up a set of stairs. In the video their are also two men one that are walking in and out of the room, i feel as through these men are there to show that the man is confused by his feelings towards the singer. I also do not think that the video has anything to do with the song as i feel as though the artist is trying to decide what she wants to do, this is why she is unable to leave the room. 

When there is demand for a record label it is important that the artist is shown throughout the videos and this happens consistently throughout the rest of the artists videos. In all of the artist videos there will need to be close ups of the artist because they need to know who it is in the video. Sometimes this may happen more then other because the artist will like this type of editing throughout their videos. Rappers are normally unpopular and will want to use this technique as a way of showing facial expressions or even just to show their faces to become more popular to their audience. An example of this is Eminem's 'Like toy soldier's', in this video he is trying to tell everyone that he cares about his family and friends so shows his emotions throughout the video. 

In some music videos they include intertextual references and these are when is videos an artist may use another artist or television show as part of their video. An example of an intertextual video is 'Roar' Katy perry. In this video she uses the theme of Tarzan as a way of showing that she could make it in the wild by herself. She also uses the famous reference by swinging on a vine as well as talking to animals and dressing as he dressed. She also uses the reference of getting lost in the wild by herself  and being taken in by the animals. 

There are different forms of music videos and these include digital or stop-motion animation, in-concert, studio based and cinematic. Digital music videos are simply videos that are filmed from one clip to the next. Stop-motion animations is when their is a large number of picture that are put together to look like they are moving. An example of a stop-motion animation is the video 'Somebody that i used to know' by Gotye, in this video he uses this technique as well as digital as they have to put together a large number of triangles and lines, as well as showing the artist in the video. The only way they could do this without stoping and starting again would have been for them to layer the two different clips of top of one another. 

There are also some music videos that are shown live where the performance is the same as they video itself. An example of this is the live performance of 'Chandelier' by Sia on the ellen show. In this performance they use the same performer and the same setting. They also use the dancer that was performing in the video who is doing the same dance in this particular performance. 

In a studio based performance it is where the artist stay in the same place throughout there whole performance, it just doesn't look like they have because they change what is going on. An example of this is DJ Cassidy featuring Robin thick and Jessie J 'Calling all hearts'. In this video it is set in a studio but it looks like they are moving rooms by the way the video is filmed.

Finally, the last is cinematic and this is when the artist is not shown in the music video as much as any of the other characters. This type of music video tells a story throughout the whole of the video and is not focused on the artist of the video at all. This is because the artist wants you to see the story of the video and not them in the video. An example of this is 'Stay the night' by Zedd and Hayley Williams, in this video they focus on the dancers and what they are dancing about. They try to show the emotion in the video through the dancing by the two dancers in the video and try to tell the story through the way that the dancers are acting towards one another.


There are many different forms of music videos these are things such as digital or stop motion animation, in concert, (as live) footage, and studio based.

An example of a music video is an narrative based video, this is when the artist is attempting to tell a story throughout the video. An example of this is Eminem's 'Stan'. In this music video Eminem has based it on a super fan of his that writes to him all of the time. Eminem does not respond to his letters as he is busy on tour and then this makes the fan angry, he then kills himself and his girlfriend because he was not wrote back by him. In the video he talks about how much he loves Eminem and how much they are the same and talks about his child being born and his girlfriend. The way that he acts worries his girlfriend and they get into arguments through this. The fan blames him in a letter for not replying and says that this is why he had to do it.

Another version of a music video is a impressionist video and this is when an artists video is interesting but there is no point to the video. An example of this is 'Bad' by David Guetta. In the video it shows a cartoon women and some zombies and they do not try and tell a story through the video they just try to show that the women is bad.








An example of another music video is a surrealist video, this is when they try to make something that looks impossible seem real. An example of this is 'Once in a lifetime' By Talking heads. In this video the artist is doing silly things that do not make sense and do not go with the concept of the music.

The next example of a music video is a pastiche video and this is when people use other films or a particular generation in their video. An example of this is 'Problem' by Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea. In this video they use the theme of the 50s by wearing clothes that are set for that period of time and making her set look the same.

A parody video is when someone is taking the Micky out of another video and can consist of changing the words to suit them. An example of this is 'Fancy' by Iggy Azalea. In this video it is taking the Micky out of a famous film 'Clueless' and in the video they use this theme by the artist wearing the clothes that the person in the film was wearing.

Finally, there is homage, this kind of music video is where an artist uses something in there video that isn't real but seems real because of the video. An example of this is 'Thriller' by Michael Jackson. in the video they use zombies as a way of trying to make the song more interesting and try to match it up with the kind of song they are trying to make.