Research for Music Video: Andrew Goodwin's theory

Andrew Goodwin feels that traditional narrative analyses don't really apply to pop videos.

The reason for the different narrative structure is:

• Pop videos are built around songs and most songs don't pose traditional narrative structures.
• The pop video uses the singer both as narrator and as a character.
• The singer looks directly at the camera, which involves the viewer at home.

Pop videos rely on repetition. The video often repeats images in the choruses or lines. Some songs may also be played on TV or the radio so the song is already familiar with viewers even before the music video is released. 

Andrew Goodwin believes that some videos are autonomous from the music they spring from. The visualization of a song may go beyond the original meaning.

It can be said that there are three types of relations between songs and their music videos.

1. Illustration: This is where the video tells the story of the lyric. Dance is often used to express the feelings/moods in the song. An example that demonstrates illustration is Owl City - Fireflies. In this video, when the artist is singing, many lyrics especially "Fireflies" in the song are seen in the video on top of the piano and on the CD player. This shows a literal illustration of the lyrics in the video.

2. Amplification: This occurs when the videos introduce new meanings that do not contradict with the lyrics but add layers of meaning. A good example of amplification is Coldplay - The Scientist as they are creative with their video but the video doesn't contradict the lyrics. This is seen as when the lyrics "running in circles" are sung, a male is seen riding on a bicycle, although this isn't Chris Martin (the lead vocalist) running in circles, this adds different layers of meaning which illustrates amplification. Chris Martin is also shot walking backwards to portray the lyrics "lets take it back to the start". Overall this music video enhances their lyrics but retains the meaning of the lyrics, the pain over a broken relationship.

3. Disjuncture: This is where there is little connection between the lyric and video or where the video contradicts the lyric. Adele - Someone Like You is a good example of disjuncture. The lyrics and video have little connection as she's wandering Paris and singing. However at the end of the video, there is a male figure seen in the mirror walking away, this gives the video and lyrics some link.