Goodwin's Theory:

Andrew Goodwin identifies six features of music videos, these being:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performances in rock band videos, or dance routines in girl pop bands.)

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop a visual style that recur across their work.

5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (e.g. films, TV programs, other music videos etc)


Goodwin's Features in my Music Video:

1. My music video demonstrates a stage performance as the band is a typical rock band. I have shown this through the use of a lead singer (miming) and shots of generic instruments being played (Guitars, drum kit etc)

2. At times I have taken the lyrics literally and shown this in the video, a prime example:

"When I look in your eyes..."


"...tell me why you can't look back..."

I have also demonstrated this point by using a break up as the main focus of the video because, after analysis, this is what I believe the lyrics are saying.
Initially in my pitch I was going to use a photo album to represent the singer not being able to "Turn the Page", I still used this idea however as a reoccurring image and not as the main focus, I feel the repetition insinuates the singer's emotions going round in circles.

3. Like most bands performance plays a key role in their videos, I have also chosen to do this which therefore shows a link between my visuals and music.
In my video I have used a band of people to mime the playing of instruments for me so as to add realism to my piece and make it a stereotypical and effective video for my genre of music. I have also achieved this realism through the use of a lead singer miming the lyrics so as it feels to the audience that the song is actually being sung.

4. I tended to focus upon the face of the lead singer mainly as he is to be my voyeuristic image for young female audiences. I used close-ups of the singer when singing to try and get across the emotion he is portraying through the lyrics.
Each of my band members wore befitting clothing for the genre of music, for example, skinny jeans, spiky belts, baggy t-shirts etc to create an image of the band for the audience, this style also reoccurs in my digipak with similar clothing being used to create consistency.

5. Although there was no female voyeurism in my video, as this was not the style, I tended to focus mainly around the lead singer for the purposes of attracting a young female audience (typical of bands like this, examples being 'All Time Low', 'The Rocket Summer' etc). I also used the lead singer within the narrative to further promote this idea and create pity for him from the attracted audience.

An example of the singer being the forefront of the band:


6. Unfortunately my video makes no intertextual references in my video apart from the advertisement of the phone Sam uses to ring Maddie.

Auteur Theory

Translated from the French, auteur simply means "author".
In film criticism, the 1950s-era auteur theory holds that a director's film reflects the director's personal creative vision. Auteur theory has influenced film criticism since 1954, when it was advocated by film director and critic 'François Truffaut'. "Auteurism" is the use of auteur theory to analyze films or to understand the characteristics that identify the director as auteur.


"There are no good and bad movies, only good and bad directors"


Auteur Theory suggests that the best films will bear their maker’s ‘signature’. This may manifest itself as the stamp of his or her individual personality or perhaps even focus on recurring themes within the body of work. Alfred Hitchcock plays this idea up in most of his movies where he makes sure that he appears on screen in a brief cameo spot.

Music Video Theory: Voyeurism

This idea comes from Sigmund Freud and has been used in media to explain the gendered pleasures or cinema.
Voyeurism refers to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure, for example it has been argued that the male viewers gaze can be captured by the objectified female body on display. Similarly in male dominated music videos they will use scantily clad females as their dancers to flatter the male star's ego.




Voyeurism can also be shown in music videos via characters watching performers on TV, webcam, CCTV etc within the narrative.




My Video:

I will be trying to incorporate voyeurism in my video as boys in bands are classed as voyeuristic to females watching. In particular I will front the lead singer as this is the generic member girls prefer to watch.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory

"Richard W. Dyer is an English academic specialising in cinema."

'Stars' was Dyer's first full book. In it he developed the idea that the viewers' perception of a film is heavily influenced by the perception of its stars, and that publicity materials and reviews determine the way that audiences experience the film.


His theory suggests a 'star's' construction takes several forms:

The Star is a Construction:

The image of the star has been developed by the star themselves and/or the management team across a wide range of media (advertising etc). It helps if the star has a USP (unique selling point) for example, Lady Gaga's range of headpieces, Madonna's Leotards etc, this construction brings with it connotations of the artist i.e. Lady's Gaga's hats suggest she is eccentric and wants to stand out from the crowd, whereas Madonna's leotards show she wants to be a voyeuristic icon who relates best to the 70/80's style of dress as this was her best era for music.

The Star is a Commodity:

A record company will listen very closely to audience demands and will construct stars that will appeal to the likes and tastes of various different audiences. Stars are constructed to meet audience demand, for example, Girls Aloud were constructed to appeal to a female audience who would most likely try and copy the band's fashion and dance moves. Whereas the Kings of Leon were constructed to appeal to more grungy and down to earth audiences of both males and females.

The Star is an Ideology:

The star represents a set of values and attitudes that reflect audiences own values. For example, Miley Cyrus gained lots of media attention after claiming she is a virgin and wouldn't have sex till she is married - young girl audiences might follow her lead and this could be beneficial to society and its problem of underage sex etc.
Stars are very often connected to religious and/or moral beliefs which connect them to their audiences, an example being Eminem's raps about his life.