Andrew Goodwins

Research - Andrew Goodwin

Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narrative analyses don’t really apply to pop videos; the main reason for this is that they approach narrative from a different angle to novels and films. These are the reasons for the different narrative structures:

1. Pop videos are built around song lyrics
2. The pop video uses the singer both as narrator and as a character
3. The singer often looks directly at the camera, breaking the 4^th wall, and trying to involve the viewer at home with the performance.

Some videos are independent from the music they come from. The visualisation of a song may go further than the original meaning. Sometimes the video provides a visual enjoyment that encourages repeated viewing which therefore promotes the music. Sometimes the videos might be promoting something other than the music, for example film. There are three types of relations between songs and videos: illustration, amplification and disjuncture.

Illustration is where the video tells the story of the lyrics. An example of this is Madonna – “Pap Don’t Preach” it fits into this category because the artist is expressing the words of the lyrics through the images in the music video. For example while she sings the following lines/chorus “Papa I know you’re going to be upset, cause I was always your little girl, but you should know by now, I’m not a baby” In the video she’s showing the audience how life is now she’s grown up, and how life was like when she was a little girl and how she used to play around with toys, with her dad in the garden. The dancing is often used to express the feelings/moods in the song.

Amplification is when the video introduces new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning. Lily Allen “Smile” is an example of amplification because as she sings “When I see you cry it makes me cry” images of the guy in the video being distressed are shown and the artist smiles. The audience becomes aware of the relationship which goes along with the lyrics.

Disjuncture is where there is little connection between the lyric and video or where the video contradicts the lyrics. An example of this is Michael Jackson “Man In The Mirror” It fits into this category because the song is about self-realisation but the video is full of radical world events. During the video when the artist sings the following lines”I’m gonna make a change, for once in my life, it’s gonna feel real good, gonna make a difference, gonna make it right” the video shows images of adults needing shelter and money for their children and as a result of not having it, they can’t afford food as so their children starve.