Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Theory

Andrew Goodwin spent many years analysing music videos and the music industry, he put together a set of key features which apply to all music videos. Features can be complimentary, contradicting or amplified in every music video. However, not all the features are featured in every video. These are the following features;

Links between the Music and the Visuals:
The links between Music and Visuals can vary depending on the different types of genres and the overall style of the music in general, such as, beats and tempos. An example of this could be in a dance video, due to the upbeat rhythm in which people can do a routine that will fit the tune of the song. Overall makes the video visually pleasing for the audience watching.

Links between the Lyrics and the Visuals:
Goodwin's theory states that the lyrics of the song will make reference to the visuals on the screen. The idea being that the visuals will either reinforce or amplify the meaning of the lyrics. This ensures that the audience understands the message behind the song.

Genre Characteristics:
Music Videos more often than not tend to include a demonstration of typical genre characteristics. For example in Heavy Metal music video you would expect the video to be a stage performance. In a rap video you would expect to see a lot of bling and flash cars.

Intertextual References:
Intertextual References is when the music video is influenced by other cultural influences. They are often symbols to represent ideas to the audience.

Notions of looking:
Notions of looking is the idea of looking into someones life. For example, in some hip hop music videos, women are often seen as objects rather than people. Men are also seen as violent or cheating on wives and girlfriends.

Voyeurism:
Voyeurism is when the artist tend to promote their character, music through a sign of voyeuristic treatment. It is almost always done using the female body. However, men can use voyeurism too.

Major Music Video Analysis

Pop Music
Taylor Swift
'Ready For It?'

Taylor Swifts music video 'Ready For It?' has many sci-fi elements and symbolism and behold a greater meaning. The purpose of her video is to shock and leave the audience questioning what everything means. Some may say that it is about the future and the emergence of the new Taylor Swift. Many aspects that contain symbolism are not fully explained but leave us questioning the reality of the feature, for example; The nude body suit could symbolise Taylors 'Rebirth' and the robotic scenes portray the growth and change she has gone through in the last year in order to become stronger and more empowered. Her purpose for these kinds of videos is about being exciting, finding new directions, fresh starts and the unknown.
However the aspect that stood out to me the most while I was watching this music video was the storyline and meaning behind Swifts 'double ganger'. I believe the twin version of herself that is trapped in a glass cage represents Taylor Swifts true self. Which is very similar to the ideas and meanings we have in our own video. In more detail, at the time this music video and in fact her album was released she was under fire from a lot of critics and the public because of her choices and overall attitude to handling disagreements and conflicts with the public and other celebrities. Moreover, a lot of her songs in her latest album were very expressive about 'the new Taylor' and how she is not who she used to be. This is what I think she is trying to portray in this particular music video. Her true self (the one trapped) is trying desperately to escape and be free, despite the public, other celebrities and to an extent Taylor's dismay. As even Taylor in this video is trapping herself in the box; she may be afraid of her true self and what everyone will think of her. However, by the end the Taylor that is trapped escapes and reveals the true person she is, which is very empowering for her young audience, who the majority are women and young girls. Empowering these women gives this video a much deeper meaning and gives it emotion, which the audience may also feel.
An editing aspect of this video that I have taken inspiration from is at the beginning when the tone and beats of the song become very rapid and the clips have been edited to match those beats. Overall, this links the song with the visual effects, them being connected makes the video much more appealing for the audience. This effect can also be seen throughout her music video. I have taken this effect and applied it to my own video, as our song has similar beats that are simultaneous and would work effectively with clips being cut at those beats. It would also make an effective montage.
There are many hidden messages in this video, which leaves the audience questioning what everything means. This is something that I would like to include in our video, as it makes a music video a lot more interesting and unique, compared to the stereotypical music videos which majority of the time include mainly lip-syncing. Ours will have a storyline.

Outcome of our Filming Day

Overall I found that our filming day in Canterbury (6th November) was a success as we were able to film in a variety of different locations and capture many different shots of our protagonist and the scenery and setting around us. We were able to film in all of our locations on our list. Considering this was our first official filming day we were able to complete a far amount of content for the music video.

Artist Profile: Kaleo

They are a band consisting of four members, including; lead vocalist and guitarist JJ Julius Son, drummer David Antonsson, bassist Daniel Kristjansson, and lead guitarist Rubin Pollock; who are all from Iceland. In the beginning JJ Julius Son, David Antonsson and Daniel Kristjansson were best friends and began playing together at the age of 17, before adding Rubin Pollock to the mix in 2012. They named the band Kaleo, which means "the sound" in Hawaiian and their first major public appearances was at Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in November 2012. Moreover, the band signed to Electra/Atlantic and moved to the States in early 2015.

All the members of the band

The band have released two studio albums, Kaleo (2013) and A/B (2016), as well as an EP, Glasshouse (2013). A/B has sold over 800,000 albums worldwide. One of the singles from A/B, "Way Down We Go" (which so happens to be our chosen song), has been sold over 500,000 times in the US and reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Chart on the 20th August 2016. The single is a huge hit in the UK, Belgium, Ireland, South Africa and Germany, Platinum in Russia, Australia and United States, and Double Platinum in Canada. The song was also featured in the shows The Originals, Supergirl, Blindspot, Riverdale and Eyewitness, the FIFA 16 soundtrack, the trailer for the very popular film Logan etc.

The bands latest album A/B

Kaleo's music is influenced by folk and blues. Their blues influences are mainly drawn from delta blues which was the target for some of the heavier songs in their album A/B. Their music prominently features a distinctive resonator sound.

The band at one of their concerts

The bands constant increase in popularity and success since 2012 has allowed Kaleo to go on tours since 2015. Since then they have been on 8 different tours, which represents their fast paced success and ability to create and produce amazing songs for their niche audience, which is now growing day by day. Many have said they have a lot more potential to share and distribute to the world.

Kaleo

Chosen Target Audience

We have chosen a target audience from the results of our questionnaires. Our video will be targeting men and women mainly between the ages of 17 and 20. Moreover, the type of audience that listen to Indie Rock are between the ages of 16 and 24. As a lot of people that are between these ages they are discovering who they are and what they like, which Indie Rock empowers. some characteristics that support this would be they're "varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes". They are very different to main genres such as Pop. Which would appeal to these ages. Another aspect that fits with this type of audience is the content we will be representing in our video, which will be mental health issues. As a lot of people who are this particular age they most likely go through a mental health issue; women between the ages of 16 and 24 are almost three times as likely to experience a common mental health problem, they also have higher rates of self-harm, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, more men are likely to commit suicide than women however there is less being done about it. This is why we wanted to create more awareness about this subject, so others don't have to suffer alone.
Even though we are targeting this specific audience we hope to capture the attention of adults/parents who may be concerned for their child's health.

Target Audience Research Overview