Music Video Theory

Summer 2020

Andrew Goodwin's music video theory is one of the most common collection of rules that people follow when creating or analysing a music video. Here is a breakdown of all 7 rules with examples.

RULE 1 - LINKS BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS

RULE 2 - LINKS BETWEEN LYRICS AND VISUALS

This rule is all to do with tempo, beat and rhythm. Music Videos are generally more pleasing if the video is cut to the beat of the song. We can also see links to visuals through walking, tapping or clapping to the beat. This Music Video for the song "Sing" by the pentatonix is a great example of this.

This rule is also to do with the lyrics of the song. Having the artist/model lip sync to the song creates the link between the lyrics and the video. Having the words to the song appear on screen also helps to link the two. Finally, having references between lyrics and video by actually having what is said in the lyrics play out on screen is another way of linking them together. This video from the film baby driver demonstrates this well.

RULE 3 - GENRE CHARACTERISTICS

Genre Characteristics can be seen in many genres of music, the genre that it appears most obviously in is in hip hop. These videos often include, the oversexualisation of women as well as bling and chains.

RULE 4 - INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES

Intertextual references are references to another media text. Normally a popular or iconic piece of media. This can often be satire towards that text. Ariana Grande's music video for "Thank You, Next" makes many intertextual references to iconic pieces of text like "Legally Blonde", "Mean Girls" and "Clueless" all iconic media texts most people would know of.

RULE 5 - NOTIONS OF LOOKING

RULE 6 - VOYEURISM

Notions of Looking are often seen when artists look through windows, frames or out of TV's. It can be as simple as clocking the audience. It is used as a way to better connect to the audience.

Voyeurism is closely linked to female representation in the industry and the oversexualisation of women. This is pretty clearly seen in this music video. It can also however be as simple as having a shot that is too close to the artists face.

RULE 7 - DEMANDS OF THE RECORD LABEL

Record labels are an essential part of releasing music and it is important to keep them happy. A demand of many record labels is to have the artist appear in the video. This can be seen in this video by Taylor Swift for her song "you need to calm down"

These are the seven rules that appear in Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory. Some are meant to be rejected and some are meant to be included in every music video that is produced.

Page updated

Report abuse