Research into Goodwin's theory
Andrew Goodwin discovered 7 conventions and steps to a music video that artists use to portray their songs when writing for 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' in 1992. Goodwin's is essential to consider when making a music video or analysing a music video as it gives a clear structure on things to consider if you want to make a successful video, with a number of conventions of music videos that can be made to suit any genre, including whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and the relationships between music and visuals and lyrics and visuals. Goodwin's theory gives an indication of how music videos more often then not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics.
The music video and artist I have chosen to analyse for Goodwin's theory is rap and R&B artist Drake and the song 'Started from the bottom'. Goodwin's theory suggests that lyrics will make constant references to the visuals on screen and the visuals will reinforce what the lyrics say in either a illustrative, amplifying or contradicting way. This is clear in drakes started from the bottom where he repeatedly raps 'started from the bottom now we're here' when showing glimpses and clips of him working in a supermarket to walking down the road in the snow wearing expensive clothing and with a white Bentley. This makes the lyrics used in the passage of the video illustrative and he is adopting the classic story of a rapper who 'started from the bottom' from as the video shows, working in a supermarket, and has made it against all the odds. It also has relevance to his actions and personality in the video where we constantly see him dancing around and preforming the song showing his happiness about making it in the industry. However this is also perceived as unconventional as rap artists don't usually express much happiness or emotion in there videos, especially when the lyrics or video tend to be quite deep and meaningful like 'started from the bottom'. He demonstrates the narrative of a young boy starting from the bottom to the top in his video as he likes to show off his wealth and present himself as a conventional rap artist by having a fancy, expensive car jewellery and clothes and as the lyrics show, he had none of that before.
The music video and artist I have chosen to analyse for Goodwin's theory is rap and R&B artist Drake and the song 'Started from the bottom'. Goodwin's theory suggests that lyrics will make constant references to the visuals on screen and the visuals will reinforce what the lyrics say in either a illustrative, amplifying or contradicting way. This is clear in drakes started from the bottom where he repeatedly raps 'started from the bottom now we're here' when showing glimpses and clips of him working in a supermarket to walking down the road in the snow wearing expensive clothing and with a white Bentley. This makes the lyrics used in the passage of the video illustrative and he is adopting the classic story of a rapper who 'started from the bottom' from as the video shows, working in a supermarket, and has made it against all the odds. It also has relevance to his actions and personality in the video where we constantly see him dancing around and preforming the song showing his happiness about making it in the industry. However this is also perceived as unconventional as rap artists don't usually express much happiness or emotion in there videos, especially when the lyrics or video tend to be quite deep and meaningful like 'started from the bottom'. He demonstrates the narrative of a young boy starting from the bottom to the top in his video as he likes to show off his wealth and present himself as a conventional rap artist by having a fancy, expensive car jewellery and clothes and as the lyrics show, he had none of that before.
Music videos will tend to demonstrate gender characteristics. These are depicted as there certain traits associated with the music genre, e.g stage performance in a rock/metal video, dance routine for boy/ girl band, is it conventional of the genre. There are many rap conventions and characteristics to present Drake for the music video for started from the bottom, the main one being the party scene at the end where he is sitting amongst a load of girls, spraying champagne and flashing his money, a characteristic that Drake has often used and gathered over the years in his videos and that has been used in generations of rap videos. It is also displayed in a expensive room in a house, presumably Drake's and this demonstrates the vast wealth and popularity behind Drake and the rap genre that we would expect. Another defining characteristic of the video is where Drake is seen bowling with his friends and Drake being a successful rapper means making honest connections with people seem blurry and how everyone only seems to want his money and fame but not him. This makes Drake honest and humble as the video shows him staying loyal to his true friends who helped him get to where he is today. The audience see this as a good personality trait for rappers to have and are able to relate to him because of this as they feel he is ordinary and a down to earth rapper and person that is no different to them, in comparison to other rappers such as Kanye West who like to think they are different and better then others. This makes Drake more of a popular and successful artist and, bringing more attention and expectation to his videos.
The demands of the record label will include the need for close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. It is ultimately up to the record label to decide how they want to represent there artist and give them a visual style which helps to build a relationship with the artist, e.g the record label may decide to show a female artist as sexy and revealing in order to attract more of a male orientated audience. Drake is seen as the centre of attention throughout the whole video with every scene, concept or shot based around him. This is evident where we see a mid shot of Drake in the supermarket and him bowling with his friends and audiences crowding around him and treating him with respect and somewhat the leader of his 'team'. The whole visual image that the record label want to create for Drake is that he has earned his success and gone through bad times to get to the good. Therefore, they show visual images and close ups of his past through to him enjoying his success.
In music videos, there tend to be frequent references to notion of looking, screens within screens, telescopes etc and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The audience look at the artist is a voyeuristic way, which the artist does not realise. This is clear when Drakes friends and former colleagues, who he refers to as part of his team, are fighting over serving a girl who is wearing revealing clothing. This shows drake and his friends were disrespectful and childish when speaking to women when they were younger and less successful however they have now matured and become a lot more respectful. However, they are seen as only having harmless fun and showing good personalities i order to relate to their audiences and have a friendly competition/bit of fun with their friends. Audiences will watch this and be able to relate to drake as it is a real life situation not just in the rap genre but in real life and will see the funny side to his videos in order to be more entertained.
Music and the rap genre in particular often tends to include intertextual references to media platforms such as films, TV programmes and other music videos, however there is no intertextual references in this video and the only point of Goodwin's theory that is not included in the video as the video and song is focused around Drake and his development of a person rather then the media itself.
There is often a relationship between the music and visuals of the music video, much like the music and lyrics. They tend to be either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting, the visuals match the music beat through the micro-elements. The video and song adopts a steady tone and beat throughout the video in order for the audience to focus on the message in the lyrics and concept of the video, however on very hook and chorus the beat becomes a bit more up beat with the introduction of more instrumental music to play in time with Drake swaying and bowling down the road preforming his song to make it look like he is true to the image he gives himself and the lyrics. At the end of the video, the same beat is used on the chorus and this time it shows the start of a party setting with everyone sitting around enjoying there selves in honour of drake. This beat is used at the beginning of every chorus to show more upbeat, party like scene with more conventions of the R&B genre, showing Drakes wealthy and successful side to show a different personality towards him.
Lastly, the artist and record label company make the decision on whether the video will be primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and how elements of each is used in it. There are elements of each in the video, with performance narrative and concept all having the same importance as each other. The early stages of the video show Drake have more of an performance aspect towards the video as he raps in between scenes and maintains this throughout the video. However, each scene and new visual image marks a part of a narrative of drakes life and where he has come, hence the name of the song 'started from the bottom'. The concept of the video is also to show that he is humble and remembers where he comes from however he knows how to enjoy himself and its a wealthy and powerful R&B artist who isn't to be taken lightly. Rap artists often tend to use the concept element in their videos in order to tell the story of where they come from or life experiences that relate to the song or video such as where they came from, how they become an artist or the troubles they faced along the way and how they are recognised in the industry as one of the best and the biggest, something that Drake often includes in his videos and in started from the bottom where he talks about his rise to the top.
I have taken inspiration from this video and in particular Goodwin's Theory as it gives me a clear understanding on what needs to be included in my music video in order for it to be successful and conventional to my particular genre. This video makes use of all 7 points very thoroughly and clearly and is a good platform to take inspiration from and show aspects of performance, narrative and concept.
The demands of the record label will include the need for close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. It is ultimately up to the record label to decide how they want to represent there artist and give them a visual style which helps to build a relationship with the artist, e.g the record label may decide to show a female artist as sexy and revealing in order to attract more of a male orientated audience. Drake is seen as the centre of attention throughout the whole video with every scene, concept or shot based around him. This is evident where we see a mid shot of Drake in the supermarket and him bowling with his friends and audiences crowding around him and treating him with respect and somewhat the leader of his 'team'. The whole visual image that the record label want to create for Drake is that he has earned his success and gone through bad times to get to the good. Therefore, they show visual images and close ups of his past through to him enjoying his success. 
In music videos, there tend to be frequent references to notion of looking, screens within screens, telescopes etc and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. The audience look at the artist is a voyeuristic way, which the artist does not realise. This is clear when Drakes friends and former colleagues, who he refers to as part of his team, are fighting over serving a girl who is wearing revealing clothing. This shows drake and his friends were disrespectful and childish when speaking to women when they were younger and less successful however they have now matured and become a lot more respectful. However, they are seen as only having harmless fun and showing good personalities i order to relate to their audiences and have a friendly competition/bit of fun with their friends. Audiences will watch this and be able to relate to drake as it is a real life situation not just in the rap genre but in real life and will see the funny side to his videos in order to be more entertained. Music and the rap genre in particular often tends to include intertextual references to media platforms such as films, TV programmes and other music videos, however there is no intertextual references in this video and the only point of Goodwin's theory that is not included in the video as the video and song is focused around Drake and his development of a person rather then the media itself.
There is often a relationship between the music and visuals of the music video, much like the music and lyrics. They tend to be either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting, the visuals match the music beat through the micro-elements. The video and song adopts a steady tone and beat throughout the video in order for the audience to focus on the message in the lyrics and concept of the video, however on very hook and chorus the beat becomes a bit more up beat with the introduction of more instrumental music to play in time with Drake swaying and bowling down the road preforming his song to make it look like he is true to the image he gives himself and the lyrics. At the end of the video, the same beat is used on the chorus and this time it shows the start of a party setting with everyone sitting around enjoying there selves in honour of drake. This beat is used at the beginning of every chorus to show more upbeat, party like scene with more conventions of the R&B genre, showing Drakes wealthy and successful side to show a different personality towards him.
Lastly, the artist and record label company make the decision on whether the video will be primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based and how elements of each is used in it. There are elements of each in the video, with performance narrative and concept all having the same importance as each other. The early stages of the video show Drake have more of an performance aspect towards the video as he raps in between scenes and maintains this throughout the video. However, each scene and new visual image marks a part of a narrative of drakes life and where he has come, hence the name of the song 'started from the bottom'. The concept of the video is also to show that he is humble and remembers where he comes from however he knows how to enjoy himself and its a wealthy and powerful R&B artist who isn't to be taken lightly. Rap artists often tend to use the concept element in their videos in order to tell the story of where they come from or life experiences that relate to the song or video such as where they came from, how they become an artist or the troubles they faced along the way and how they are recognised in the industry as one of the best and the biggest, something that Drake often includes in his videos and in started from the bottom where he talks about his rise to the top.
I have taken inspiration from this video and in particular Goodwin's Theory as it gives me a clear understanding on what needs to be included in my music video in order for it to be successful and conventional to my particular genre. This video makes use of all 7 points very thoroughly and clearly and is a good platform to take inspiration from and show aspects of performance, narrative and concept.
This post demonstrates some understanding of Goodwin's music video theory. Although you have identified the main points of the theory, the examples that you have included are a little vague and this is because you keep referring back to the RnB conventions, whereas Drake is a rap artist! So these points need to be changed.
ReplyDeleteYou also need to focus on the relationship that is created further and why the target audience are interested and engaged with the music video. Finally you need to focus on the characteristics that you would like to include within your own music video
This post now demonstrates a good understanding of Goodwin's music video theory. You have now explored the theory points in detail and have focused on the conventions and audience relationship in more detail throughout.
ReplyDeleteAim-
1) Be specific about what characteristic you would like to include within your own music video and the effect it will have.