Zara McDermott

Discuss the medium of a music videos how they maybe analysed. use at least four music
videos to support your ideas.

The music industry, in my opinion, is the biggest industry that exists in the world today. It is clear to
see that the industry is not only exhumed through auditory means, but also visual means. Music
videos are the prime example of this. They are often made to compliment, or sometimes juxtapose
the piece of music originally made. In order to augment a piece of audio/song, music videos are
made to fulfil other senses in terms of visuals. The human brain is such a complex thing and when a
piece of music is played the brain automatically derives some sort of visual to compliment it. In the
mid 20
th
Century, when the newly developed technology of the television was becoming a household
essential, artists and producers recognised this gap in the market and intended to fill it. The music
video was created.
Music videos are different to other types of media yet can be considered as closely linked in many
ways. In a lot of professional music videos, the audio and the video are created separately and are
after dubbed together to look as if the audio is digetic to the visuals when really it isnt. The words in
the song are usually simply mimed by the artist featuring in the video. In TV shows and movies, the
human voices (apart from narration) occur on set and are picked up by the microphone, so the
visuals and audio synchronise as one as they are digetic. Music videos and TV shows and movies are
similar in the sense that they usually have some sort of storyline. Sometimes, the storylines in music
videos do not translate into the song, and the song simply acts as background to the story. This is
similar to TV shows and films where there is always a storyline and music is used for effect to create
a particular atmosphere.
Music videos can usually correlate to the following codes and conventions:
Intertextuality
Exhibitionism
Music
Lyrics
Camerawork
Editing
Genre
Movies
Music videos are often analysed through several of these codes and conventions, as well as being
looked upon through the eyes of Andrew Goodwin, who offered his own viewpoint in his 1992 book
named Dancing In The Distraction factory:
There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating,
amplifying or contradicting the lyrics.
There is a relationship between the music and the visuals, with the visuals illustrating,
amplifying or contradicting the music.
Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music video style and iconography.
Record companies will demand a lot of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist.
Voyeurism is present in many music videos, especially in the treatment of females, but also
in terms of systems of looking. Some examples are screens within screens, cameras, mirrors,
etc.
There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films and TV
texts, these provide further gratification and pleasure for the viewers/fans.






In Katy Perrys music video for her hit single Roar, a few of
Goodwins conventions are drawn upon. The most obvious is
the multiple close ups of Perry used throughout the video,
making her the main focal point of the video. In addition to
this, the song title Roar could suggest that there will be
animals involved; and indeed there is, showing a clear
relationship between music, lyrics and visuals.
The music video for Taylor Swifts Love Story amplifies the
relationship between lyrics and visuals which were discusses
by Goodwin. As she says youll be the prince and Ill be the
princess, the mise-en-scene suggests just this, with her
dressed in medieval princess clothes and her partner dressed
in medieval prince clothing. The costume creates a direct link
with the lyrics.
Goodwins comments on intertextuality are drawn upon in
another of Katy Perrys music videos called Last Friday Night. At
the beginning we see her logging onto a social networking site
named Friendplace which is clearly a spin off of Facebook and
MySpace. The font is also similar to that of the Facebook logo.
This is both humorous and relative to the target audience as the
audience will inevitably know what the producers were trying to
refer to.
In Jason Derulos music video for his song Wiggle we see many
examples of voyeurism due to the masses of female dancers who
we seem to be watching as an audience. Snoop Dog is also seen to
be looking though binoculars illustrating his desire to watch the
women dance in a sexual manner.