Applying Goodwin's Theory: Still Into You

Andrew Goodwin's theory of music videos was based entirely on the way that pop music videos are displayed and created. All the aspects that he analysed were factors of pop music. Because of this, I'm going to use a rock music example to see if his theory applies to more than one genre of music.

Paramore's music video for Still Into You shows a lot of the elements that Andrew Goodwin said there were in a typical music video. Paramore fall into the 'pop/rock' category, therefore the theory could well apply to this.

Thought beats

Most music videos are able to project a beat throughout the song by editing and the way that characters are portrayed. This is done in Paramore's music video by the editing techniques and the physical response to the song. As an example, the lead singer claps to the song in the video. Also, throughout the video the lead singer is constantly miming to the words of the song, furthermore giving the audience the effect of 'seeing the sound'.

Narrative and Performance

The music video for Still Into You lacks narrative but it doesn't make the video any less interesting. The colours, clothes and the setting all make up for the lack of story in the video. The video was purely intended to be fun and happy due to the same effect that the song gives to the audience of upbeat and feel-good. The performance of the video isn't typical rock iconography however, due to the hybrid genre of pop/rock the performance including the bright colours, and ballerinas and the mansion themed setting could be argued as an aspect of the pop genre, therefore Goodwin's theory proving more to the point of pop specifically than another genre. The prop usage of the umbrella, bikes and oars show a lack of seriousness in the music video. Most pop music videos are less serious and focus on the fun element of music and this music video shows that.

Star Image

Every single shot in the music video involves the lead singer. In most music videos in every single genre the lead singer and/or the band will be in the music video. The two males are also the other two band members in Paramore but they're not focussed on as much than the lead singer. Goodwin says that there is a big demand from the record company for a lot of close-ups of the main vocalist or artist. The bright coloured clothes of the characters in the music video make the audience focus on them - there's no way that you could avoid those people in the music video. This then continues to emphasise and amplify the characters of the music video which makes the video more memorable and sticks into the audience's head.

Technical aspects of the music video

Lighting and effects are important in a music video to make it more obvious and to draw attention to the band. The audience are more likely to pay attention if the music video and bright and colourful. The effects in the music video include the brightly coloured clothing and the effect of the fireworks fading in in the background.