Andrew Goodwin's Thories on Music Videos

Andrew Goodwin: Dancing in the distraction factory (1992) 



In 1992, Andrew Goodwin studied a very large number music videos and categorise them in 3 groups: Illustration, Amplification and Disjuncture. They were put into one of the three groups depending on the content in the music video and the editing used in it.

Illustration:

For a music video to be categorised as an illustration video, the video need to be: literal, how you expect, the images on screen directly relates to the lyrics and that the shots are cut to the beat of the music/song.

One example of this would be the music video, 'This is How We Do' by Katy Perry. In this music video, the lyrics that are being sung are directly related to whats on screen. In the video, the artist sings about playing ping pong, having her nails done and having a taco. In the screenshops below, we see shots of people actually playing ping pong and that artist on a ping pong table, getting her nails done and grabbing a taco. 

Also, another music video that can be classed an illustration video is 'Wrecking Ball' by Miley Cryus. In the song, the artist sings about breaking 'your' walls down coming in like wrecking ball. When she sings think, we see a shot of a wall being broken and falling down and the artist riding, swinging on a wrecking ball. This can show the lyrics directly relating to the shots on screen.

  

Amplification:

For a music video to be categorised as an Amplification video, the video needs: the images on screen to amplify the lyrics, for their to be some sort of narrative and the shots are cut on and off the beat of the music to add emphasis to the meaning of the song.

An example of this would be the Music Video 'Paradise' by Coldplay. The music video narrative is about an Elephant, escaping to the wild after being locked up in a zoo and finding its 'paradise'. As we can see from the screenshots, the elephant is running away and finding its paradise. The lyrics are also about finding a you own paradise which can relate with the video as they have abstractly shown someone, or something running away and finding their paradise. 

   

Disjuncture:

For a music video to be categorised as a Disjuncture video, generally: the shots what we see on screen do not relate to the music/song being played at all. This is normally done by bands who are already established worldwide and can afford to take risks.    

An example of this is would be the music video 'Do I Wonna Know?' by the Artic Monkeys. In their music video, they have sound waves which react to the music. This is completely unrelated to the music and the lyrics of the song. As well as this, the sound waves turn into animations which either appear for a period of time and then turn back into the sound waves again or will transform into another animation. Some examples of the animations or of people, cars or an eagle. Artic Monkeys can release this kind of music video as they are very well known worldwide. Due to this, viewers will watch the video for the music rather than to be drawn in by a music video like a newly started group would try to do to gain a big fan base.

Another example of this is the music video 'Da Funk' by Daft Punk. In the music video we follow a dog, walking around a city. This is really strange as the actual shots of the dog isn't something you would relate with a music video. Also, the music doesn't have any relation to the video what so ever, which also emphasises that it is classed as a disjuncture video. Daft Punk are able to release this video successfully as they are a well established band in the genre of dance and also creating their own fusion of electropop and house music. As the Band have such a huge fan base, they can also afford to take a risk, releasing such a strange music video.