MUSIC VIDEO ANALYSIS BY ANDREW GOODWIN THEOLOGYQuinn MacArthur

ANDREW GOODWIN’S 7 CHARACTERISTIC AND FEATURES IN A MUSIC VIDEO1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. (e.g. stage

performance in metal videos, dance routine for boy/girl band, aspiration in Hip Hop). 

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music. (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). 

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work (a visual style)

7. There are often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

TAYLOR SWIFT - SHAKE IT OFF

‘Shake It Off’ is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift which, as well as being released as a single, is on her album ‘1989’.This song is placed under the pop genre and is seen to be her transition to making purely pop music, as she is also known for creating music that can be placed under a mixture of genres.

“MUSIC VIDEOS DEMONSTRATE GENRE CHARACTERISTICS”‘Shake It Off’ is under the pop genre which means that, according to Goodwin's theory, this music video should share conventions that are known for pop videos.First of all, this video consists of mainly dance routines which is because, in this video, Taylor Swift is trying some of the different areas of dance. Dance routines are a popular characteristic for pop music videos meaning that this video may be used to support this theory.Another characteristic is that bright colours are used. As the pop genre is mainly known for being fun and upbeat, bright colours can be used to represent this. Shake it off is meant to be a fun and happy song meaning that this has to be represented in the music video to match the music. Therefore, the bright colours that are used reinforce this and match another feature of this genre.A lot of pop videos are performance based, meaning that the singer simply lip syncs the song and therefore creates a performance. Although other actions are going on in this video, such as the dancing, this video is categorised as a performance video as Taylor Swift is lip syncing.

“THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS. THE LYRICS ARE REPRESENTED WITH IMAGES.”As this song is performance based and therefore illustrative, there is no story that we would be able to match up with the lyrics. This means that the way we would have to match these up is if the action she is doing at the time is the same as the lyrics she is singing. However, the name of this song is ‘Shake It Off’ and this is also the line that she sings the most. As she is dancing and having fun, we could say that this is her way of shaking it off, therefore matching up the meaning of the song with the actions in the music video.As you listen to the song, she is saying a lot of things that belong to the semantic field of dance. As well as saying phrases such as ‘I’m dancing on my own’, she also sings phrases such as ‘make the moves up as I go’, ‘can’t stop, wont stop moving’, ‘its like I’ve got this music in my mind’ and ‘I never miss a beat’. All of this can be related to the action that she is doing, dancing. This therefore shows that there is a relationship between the action and the lyrics as a whole.

There are a lot of examples where we are able to find her performing the lyrics. This means that she is performing that action of the word that she is singing at the same time. Some of these examples are:‘Wont stop moving’

As Taylor sings the lyrics ‘wont stop moving’, this is when she is shown moving her body. This matches the lyrics as it shows the even though she is unable to do what the rest of the dancers around her is doing, she is still having fun and dancing in her own style.

One of the things that Taylor is showing in this video is that she is unable to dace like the other dancers in this video, however, she is trying to copy the dancing that they are doing. As she sings ‘make the moves up as I go’, she is trying to copy the other dancers around her but is putting her own twist on this as she is unable to copy them completely. This is therefore showing that she has matched the lyrics with the action in the video as she is shown to be making up the moves.

As she is singing the lyric ‘heart breakers gonna break’ she firstly starts of by creating a heart shape with her hand. When she then sings ‘gonna break’ she pulls her hands apart to give the impression that the heart is breaking. She is therefore emphasising the lyrics and showing the action that she is singing about.

‘Make the moves up as I go’

‘Heart breakers gonna break’

“THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VIDEOS. THE TONE AND ATMOSPHERE OF THE VISUAL REFLECTS THAT OF THE MUSIC.”The song is written to be quick pace and upbeat. Therefore, this has to be replicated in the video otherwise they would not match up. The video has quick cuts and a lot of shots to give the impression that the video has a quick pace. When these cuts take place, they match the beat of music making the video look clean and does not leave it looking jumpy. This means that the video therefore matches the tone and atmosphere of the music.

The relationship also comes through the close ups and mid shots of Taylor Swift lip syncing the song. From this, not only are we able to see her performing and understand that this is her song and video but we can also ensure that the action that is being shown is what should be there at that moment of the song.

“THE DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL WILL INCLUDE THE NEED FOR LOTS OF CLOSE UPS OF THE ARTIST AND THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS WHICH RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK.”There are a lot of close ups or mid shots of Taylor Swift throughout ‘Shake It Off’ which is important due to the number of people that are included in this video. This brings everything back to her and makes sure the audience is focused on her and her music throughout the viewing of the video. These close ups also reinforce the performance aspect of he video and reiterate the fact that she is lip syncing the song.

Taylor Swift does not appear to create any motifs in this video because of the amount of actions that she is doing in the video. The difference of every shot, I feel, is what makes this a successful video.

“THERE IS FREQUENTLY REFERENCE TO THE NOTION OF LOOKING AND PARTICULARLY VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE BODY.”Taylor does appear to watch the dancers in this video a lot. This could be linked to the fact that this is what we, as the audience, should be doing rather than watching her. This automatically makes the audience look and watch what she appears to be looking at, which may be the intention. This could also be related to the fact that she is trying to copy the other dancers so has to watch them in order to know what to do. She does also look down the camera whilst singing which means that she created a quick connection with the audience. Music videos tend to be the only place that the rule of not looking down the camera is broken and it is used a lot in music videos. This is because it makes the audience feel as though they are involved in the video and they create a connection with the band members.In terms of the other music videos available, I would say that this video is relatively innocent and there is no big voyeuristic treatment of the female body. There is one section of the video that could be seen as a little controversial but this could also be argued that this is a style of dance and is the action they do in this style of dance. The clothing is all typically what people who dance in this style would be wearing also so in terms of costume, there is not necessarily and voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

“THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS OR ICONOGRAPHY THAT RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK”Taylor Swift is known for belonging to more than just the one genre. For example, she has popular songs that are classed as being country. However, she now wants to be purely pop and create only this music and ‘Shake It Off’ is seen to be the song where she has changed this.This means that if she did have any motifs before, this would have most likely not been carried on into this music video as this would have affected her transition. Therefore, there are no, or at lease no obvious, motifs that have been carried out throughout her videos and are part of this one. In this video, she may have began to create her own style that would be passed on to future videos but we would not be able to tell from this video.Also, as there are so many different costumes that she is wearing in this video, not only is she changing her clothes but she is also changing her hair and makeup to match this. This means that we are also unable to say that there is a particular style that has been passed onto this video. However we may be able to say that something that is consistent is her use of red lipstick, although this is not used in all of the shots, she is wearing this is a lot and it therefore could be said that this is part of her style and look.

“THERE ARE OFTEN INTERTEXUAL REFERENCES”This video could be linked to a lot of other media, for example, films. There are a lot of films that are based on dance and this video could therefore be linked to them. Some of these examples are:

The street dance and ballet theme could be liked to ‘Street Dance’. This is because, in this film, there is the competition between the street dancers and ballet dancers before they decide to join dances and create their own dance. This video represents the difference in ballet and street dance but does bring them together by not only putting them in the same video, but also by Taylor trying to do both.

ELLA EYRE - DEEPER

‘Deeper’ is a song by Ella Eyre, a British singer-songwriter. As well as being her debut single it is also on her debut album, Feline. This is therefore the song that has set Ella Eyre up for her career as this is her first song that she has created herself, opposed to featuring on another artists song.

“MUSIC VIDEOS DEMONSTRATE GENRE CHARACTERISTICS.”

‘Deeper’ is classed as a pop song meaning that to fit this criteria, it has to share features commonly used in the creation of pop music videos. First of all, this music video contains a dance routine which is a popular convention for pop music videos. The dance that is in this video is performed by two people, a man and a woman. This is used a lot throughout the video meaning this part of the video is made obvious. Another characteristic is that Ella Eyre performs a lot of the song. When the video is not focused on the two dancers, it cuts back to Ella where she is lip syncing. This is a popular convention for pop music videos so this video can be said to share some of the genres characteristics.A lot of the video is also well lit, which is a common feature in pop music videos, however, this does change in some of the dancing scenes. Sometimes, when we are shown the dancers, the lighting is very dark, and the only lighting is some coloured lights. When the scenes are well lit, they would share the characteristics of a pop music video.

“THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS. THE LYRICS ARE REPRESENTED WITH IMAGES”This song is mostly performance based, meaning that there is no story that is shown, the only thing that is shown other than Ella Eyre is the dancing. This could be said to be telling the story that she is singing, they may be dancing her words.However, this song is about her not being in love with someone who loves her so we may be able to link the meaning with what is going on in the video. We could say that because she is singing on her own, that is her showing that she needs space and she is trying to work out her feelings. There is also the two people dancing, which then could be said to represent where she wants to be with the person whom she is singing about. Also, it looks as though the two people dancing have only just met and this could be to represent how she feels as though the relationship was moving too quickly.

“THERE IS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS. THE TONE AND ATMOSPHERE OF THE VISUAL REFLECTS THAT OF THE MUSIC.”

This song is quick upbeat meaning that the quick pace editing song with the variety of different shots works well with the music. The cuts also match the beat of the music, meaning that not only does it match the pace, it also matches the rhythm. This is important when creating a music video because it has to match the music otherwise it wouldn’t work.

There is also a lot of shots of the artist ‘singing’ the song, which means the lyrics of the song matches up with the action in the video. By showing her lip syncing, it emphasises the fact this is her song but it also allows the audience to understand her thoughts in the different parts of the song through things such as her body language and facial expressions.

“THE DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL WILL INCLUDE THE NEED FOR LOTS OF CLOSE UPS OF THE ARTIST AND THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS WHICH RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK.”

There are a lot of close ups of the artist throughout this video, all of which are similar. All of the images that I have displayed are all taken from different parts of the video, however, they are all identically framed. Not only this, but she also looks the same in terms of her hair and make up. The close ups of Ella Eyre are important in terms of reinforcing the fact that this is her video, as this may be forgotten due to the shots of the dancers. In all of the close ups, Ella looks directly into the camera, as if it were to communicate to the audience, or to the person she is directing the song at. She is also pulling very similar expressions each time which may be part of her look.

“THERE IS FREQUENTLY REFERENCE TO NOTION OF LOOKING AND PARTICULARLY VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE BODY”When the shots of the artist are shown, she is either looking into the camera or looking down. When she is looking at the camera, she is engaging and connecting with the audience, making them continue to watch the video. However, when she is looking down, it looks as though she is showing her pain which we, the audience, are meant to be hearing through her music.When there are shots of the group of people, they are all looking at each other, none of them look at the camera. This gives the impression that this is a real-life situation and as though they did not know the camera, or the audience, were watching them. This also makes the audience want to see what the actors are looking at as they will be watching the action too.When the clips of the dancers are shown, they are always watching each other. This shows that they are engaged in each other and are focused on the action the other is doing, so that they are able to respond to this accordingly. This is important as the audience are meant to believe that this dance is improvised and created on the spot, this means that they would have to focus on the other to know what they were doing.There is no voyeuristic treatment of the female body in any way, this video could not be seen to be sexual. This is mostly because of the way the women are dressed, none of them are in any revealing clothing.

“THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS OR ICONOGRAPHY THAT RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK”

One of the most popular features that Ella Eyre is known for is for her hair. For this reason, she always wears it down, this therefore creates part of her look. In this video, she is wearing her hair down and has left it natural, like it always is. As this has become part of her identity, it wouldn’t work as much if this was changed and she had her hair in a different style.She also wears red lipstick a lot, which is made apparent through a lot of her music videos. She is wearing red lipstick in this video which emphasises her mouth when she is lip syncing. This also adds continuity throughout her video.She pulls similar facial expressions throughout this video which may be a motif and may be part of her look. This may just be part of who she is and may be the facial expressions she feels is best for certain songs she performs, this being one of them.Other than these things, I can not see a particular thing that she does throughout her videos.

“THERE ARE OFTEN INTERTEXUAL REFERENCES”I do not feel as though there are any intertexual references through this video. If any have to be made, the video could be linked to some dancing films purely for the dancing aspect of this video. Other than this, I do not think I would be able to make any links from this video to another media text. This could be said to add originality to the video, ensuring the audience that the whole aspect is created purely by themselves and no choices have been influenced by other factors.

ECHOSMITH – COOL KIDS

‘Cool Kids’ is a single released by Echosmith in 2013, which also features on heir debut studio album ‘Talking Dreams’. This American indie pop band is made up of 4 siblings, 3 brothers and 1 sister, Sydney, Jamie, Noah and Graham Sierota.

“MUSIC VIDEOS DEMONSTRATE GENRE CHARACTERISTICS.”As this song fits in to the ‘indie pop’ genre it is likely to take influences from both the indie and the pop genre, creating a mix of characteristics. I believe something that is taken from the pop genre is the fast pace of the video, as each shot is only shown for a short period of time. Pop music videos are likely to be very upbeat and fast pace which is why I believe that may have been a characteristic taken from this genre.I feel that the styling of the male members of the band is mainly based on the indie genre. This is because clothes such as the patterned shirts and hat are mainly seen to be indie clothing. This means that although the video may be seen to includea lot of pop characteristics, it is still always brought back to the indie genre also. However, I do feel that the

styling of Sydney is primarily seen to be more pop based. This shows the mix of the two genres within the band and also therefore appeals to fans of both of the genres.

“THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS. THE LYRICS ARE REPRESENTED WITH IMAGES”

The connotations of the lyrics relate to schools as when ‘cool kids’ are mentioned, you automatically picture the typical school scene. Within this video, there are a lot of shots of inside schools. This therefore links the audiences interpretation of the lyrics to the visuals they whiteness from watching the video. However these shots are very quick and mostly blurry showing the negative view the students have of school life.

There are a lot of places within the music video where a lyric is sang and there is a corresponding shot which includes action which links to the words. This creates a link and also emphasises parts of the lyrics which the band may feel is important for the audience to pay attention to when watching the video and listening to the music.

‘In the background’ As she sings the lyrics ‘in the background’,

there is a shot of the lead singer standing in a group of people where she would probably be unseen if the camera did not only focus on her face. This is emphasising the lyrics and demonstrating how a lot of people feel as though they are just ‘part of the crowd’ and often to completely unnoticed.‘I’m talking with a big smile’As the lyrics ‘I’m talking with a big smile, but they haven’t got a clue’ are sang, there is a quick shot of another person smiling. This shows that these lyrics apply to a lot more people than Sydney and she wants to emphasis this. It shows that a lot of people feel the hurt she is singing about but it is not obvious.

‘Can’t see what he is going through’ There is a shot of a man crying when

the lyrics ‘can’t see what he is going through’ are sang. This shows the hidden pain of some of the people she is singing about. Also, with the dark background, it shows how he is hiding away his feelings, not allowing them to be seen.

“THERE IS RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS. THE TONE AND ATMOSPHERE OF THE VISUAL REFLECTS THAT OF THE MUSIC.”This song is quite upbeat which links to the fast pace of the cuts between each clip in this video. The high number of shots that are used in this video keeps the video interesting and links to the sound. The cuts of the video also match the beat of the music, therefore making the cuts run fluidly. It is important that the visuals reflect the music because it is a simple way of connecting the two.

There are also a lot of shots of the lead singer singing the lyrics. This not only makes sure the audience know that she is the person who sings the song, but it also creates a strong link between the visuals and music and it matches them up.

“THE DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL WILL INCLUDE THE NEED FOR LOTS OF CLOSE UPS OF THE ARTIST AND THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS WHICH RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK.”

There are a lot of close ups of the lead singer, Sydney, throughout this video. This continuously brings the song back to her and emphasises the fact that this is her song despite the amount of people they have included in this video. The close ups allows a connection to be made between the singer and audience and make them feel as though she is explaining a story. People who are knew to this band are also automatically aware who the members of the band are. There are some close ups of the other band members but not as much as there is of Sydney.

“THERE IS FREQUENTLY REFERENCE TO NOTION OF LOOKING AND PARTICULARLY VOYEURISTIC TREATMENT OF THE FEMALE BODY”

There is not necessarily any voyeuristic treatment of the female body because although there are a lot of women included in this video, they are meant to represent the kids that feel like they are ignored and aren’t ‘cool’. This means that they have to be styled in a way that easily represents this or people would be unable to relate to the video.

Although Sydney is not styled the same as the actors and is dressed stylishly, it is not voyeuristic. This may be because, at least for this song, she wants to relate to a younger audience meaning she has to dress relatively innocently. However, you could argue that she is used for the male gaze. This is because she is the member out of the band that is focused on the most, when all of the members could be seen as equally important. She also happens to be the only female member of the band meaning this could link to the video trying to appeal to the male gaze.

“THE ARTIST MAY DEVELOP MOTIFS OR ICONOGRAPHY THAT RECUR ACROSS THEIR WORK”Throughout the different music videos, there are some things that could be said to feature in all. As this is a relatively new band, there are only three music videos that have been released, meaning that if there are any motifs, they would be easy to pick out. Something that stayed consistent throughout all of the videos was the way in which Sydney was styled. Although wearing different clothes each time, she is always wearing a dress as well as her hair and makeup being almost identical in each video. There are also similar shots in each video, with all three having close ups where Sydney is facing a way in which the camera focuses on her left hand side whilst looking directly down the camera and lip synching.

“THERE ARE OFTEN INTERTEXUAL REFERENCES”I believe that this video could be linked to a lot of American films based in a high school, such as Mean Girls. This is because the song and video separates the students into ‘cool’ and not. In a lot of these films, there are a lot of different groups of students based on their personality, such as the ‘geeks’, ‘popular’, and ‘sporty’ students. The song strongly focuses on how these people want to be “like the cool kids”, therefore focusing on the kids that would be in the ‘popular’ group. The film ‘Mean Girls’ strongly focuses on this groups and emphasises how the rest of the school want to be like them, therefore linking to the lyrics and therefore the video. The setting of the school in the film also links to the shots of the school use in the music video.