(R) Goodwin's Theory

Andrew Goodwin's music video theory is made up of five key aspects:

• Thought beats (where the audience 'sees' the sound)
• Narrative and performance
• The star image
• Relation of visuals to song
• Technical aspects of a music video

Step 1 - Thought Beats

• The audience 'looks into' the music and interprets it by looking at the chorus and verses
• A particular artist's voice can often be unique and recognisable, therefore they can easily be identified by the audience
• The artist can be known as a storyteller as they're almost telling a story within their song. The music video can be seen to aid the story that the artist is telling the audience through the vocals

The story that I want to portray in my music video is that Becky (the main character) will be suffering from heartbreak from losing a loved one. It won't be clear how she has lost a loved one, or who that loved one was, be that male or female, friend, family or lover; it will be up to the audience to interpret it however they want. The vocals repeat the idea of 'summertime sadness' and the visuals will show Becky looking sad and desolate, although there will be cuts to Becky looking happier and as though she's interacting with the person behind the camera which will give the audience the impression that this person behind the camera is obviously no longer with her when she's acting out the sad parts: this person behind the camera can be anyone the audience wants them to be.

Step 2 - Narrative and Performance

• Goodwin says that audiences tend to make up their own idea about the messages being sent by a song via a basic understanding of what it is actually about.
• Narrative and perfomance work together to make it easier for the audience to watch the video over and over without losing interest
• When the artist acts as the singer and an actor in the video it makes it more authentic
• Goodwin believed that miming is the most popular thing done in music videos, however it is in the artist's best interest to make it look as real as possible

Although not all of the shots in my music video will include miming, I will include parts that will include it in order to fully appeal to my target audience and make the whole experience as authentic as possible. I will have to practice miming though in order to make it look as real as possible, because if it doesn't look real the whole effect will be ruined and on the whole, the video will look less professional and be less pleasing to watch.

Step 3 - The Star Image

• Star image is a vital aspect of music videos as it is how the artist appears to the audience
• This could include their costume, their represented personality and their overall iconography - these elements might not sell the artist but they do help represent the artist to their target audience
• The star image develops over time and plays a big role in the production process of music videos

Lana Del Rey's star image can be seen as being highly manufactured or very unique and 'pure'. Throughout her music, Del Rey is portrayed as being the victim (many of her videos feature abusive relationships or some form of heartbreak), thus wearing a lot of white in order to emphasise her purity and innocence. Furthermore, she is consistently constructed as very vulnerable and naive person, although her appearance is very sexualised. Her costume, hair and makeup can be classed as being very 'retro', as she seems to draw inspiration from other past decades - i.e. the 30s, 50s and 60s - and in many of her videos there's a very retro feel to them via the use of old 'classic cars', sepia tones and other filters that help add to the retro feel. Del Rey describes herself as being a "self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra".

I will transfer some of this star image into my own music video, drawing inspiration from the Instagram-esque filters and the 'retro' styled costumes, hair and makeup. 

Step 4 - Relation of Visuals to a Song

• There are three ways used to promote a song - illustrate, amplify and disjuncture
• Illustrate: using images and videos to set the storyline and illustrate the meaning of the lyrics and the genre
• Amplify: constantly repeating certain parts of the video so that it is drummed into the audience's vision and makes them remember what happened
• Disjuncture: this is where the meaning of the song is completely ignored

For my music video, I will use a mixture of all three of these aspects. I will use the amplifying technique mostly for any abstract images that I include, I will use the illustrating technique when showing Becky as her darker self - the one currently suffering from heartbreak - and I will use the disjuncture technique when showing Becky as her 'lighter', purer self - when she is shown during happier times.

Step 5 - Technical Aspects

• Technical aspects hold the whole music video together (camerawork, movement, angle, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and special effects)
• Speed, camera movement, editing, cutting and post production are all forms of 'use of camera'
• Lighting and colour help set the mood and add emphasis on key moments
• The mise-en-scene is vital, it needs to look realistic in order to look professional, therefore appealing to a wider target audience
• The beats are cut in order to match the rhythm of the music thus making the video more entertaining

The editing for my music video will be very Instagram-esque, just like Lana Del Rey's videos actually are. Throughout the video there are two sides to Becky, during the 'darker' shots the lighting will probably be quite dull and the editing and pace quite slow to match the music, although during the 'lighter' shots, the lighting will be brighter, the editing more colourful and the pace faster, perhaps with a time lapse being featured. The setting throughout the video will be a Nature Trust park, although I will need to film away from crowds of people in order to make the video look more realistic and professional.