Andrew Godwin's Theory (research)

In an attempt to simplify the concept of Andrew Godwin's theory it can be identified that he feels that music video's narrative structures are approached from a different angle in comparisson to novels and films. Pop video's conventionally use the singer as both the narator and as a character.Generally the singer often looks directly into the camera in an attempt to actively involve their audience with the performance, unlike TV dramas where the characters are portrayed to take a more passive approach and so therefore do not look at the camera.

Typically pop videos rely greatly on repittion, sometimes there are also intersections of rhythms and parts of other songs which immediately makes us become aware of the type of genre to expect. Additionaly the video will be marketed effectively and so will be played on TV and on the radio. Where advertising is concerned there will be a visual link between the video and the advert in order for people to be able to assosciate the two. This use of familiar repitittion allows for effective marketing.

Generally, music videos build towards a climax or establish a constant repittion before the song ends. However some videos are autonomous in that the visualisation of the song may drift to a deeper interpretation then the original meaning. On the other hand a music video may be promoting a movie in which case there will be visual images from the movie incorporated into the video in order for the audience to be able to establish a connection between the two. Which brings me to the three types of relations between songs and videos, of which consist of illustration, amplification and disjuncture. To emphasise this I am going to provide three examples of the three categories listed above.


Illustration



This video falls into the genre of pop and tells the story of a man who faces rejection from the opposite sex throughout his life. The video is told in three stages as it shows him as a child, a teenager and then an adult; it is illustrative in that the lyrics have almost a direct link to the narrative. There is an element of disruption in the video when the roles are reversed and he becomes the lady killer and is looking down on the girl he'd been chasing all his life.


Amplification



This video by Lady Gaga also falls in to the genre of pop and the narrative tells the story of her boyfriend trying to kill her and her seeking revenge. This exhibits amplification because at face value we would assume that that's all the video is telling us but after careful evaluation I have identified that the video has a deeper interpretation. Lady Gaga is trying to express her love for fame and show us how important it is to her so much so that she would kill her boyfriend to remain loved by the public and the paparazzi. This was shown when she reads the front cover of the magazine and it says new it girl 'no more gaga' an idea that obviously did not sit comfortably with her. This ultimately ties in to her entire wacky persona.

Lastly...

Disjuncture


This video also falls into the genre of pop. I have selected another pop video as ultimately this is a genre that my group are considering pursuing for our own music video. This video demonstrates disjuncture as there is no connection between the lyrics and the video there are only elements of dancing used to convey and express the feelings and mood of the song.