Andrew Goodwin

In Goodwin's work, 'Dancing In The Distraction Factory', published in 1992, he stated that there are 5 key aspects of a music video. These aspects are as follows:

• Thought Through Beat
• Relationship Between Song and Visuals
• Narrative and Performance of the Song
• Technical Aspects
• Star Image

Thought Through Beat
The first step of Goodwin's theory is analysis of the music structure, and looking at the verses and choruses. The next step is to look at the vocal style, and how it is significant to that certain singer, therefore linking to band/star image, as most people are able to identify an artist by their voice. The next step is to analyse the meaning/narrative of the song, as it can establish a story and tell you something about the songwriter's life.

Relationship Between Song and Visuals
There are three ways visuals are used to amplify a song:
-Illustrate;
Some music videos use visuals to illustrate/explain the meaning of the song/lyrics and relation to the genre.
-Subvert;
The visuals on screen completely contradict the song lyrics in some music videos
-Amplify;
This is when visuals are manipulated to add meaning to the song, such as using imagery to represent sounds in the song.

Narrative and Performance of the Song
Andrew Goodwin believed that it was important for the singer to star in the music video, in order to give the audience a good understanding of the song and to portray a sense of band image. He also believed that music videos should often disregard traditional narrative structure, as to have the performance of the song and the narrative work hand in hand in order for the visuals to represent the song, and so that an audience member can view the video over and over and still enjoy it.

Star Image
Goodwin believes that having the singer as the main focus of the music video, with many camera shots displaying them as the centre of attention is vital to make the video more appealing to the audience, as they will recognise them and this will boost their band image.

Technical Aspects
Goodwin believed that the technical aspects of a music video, i.e. the mise-en-scene, camera techniques, lighting aspects, special effects, sound and editing are the base building blocks of a music video and hold the whole thing together. Lighting and colour set the mood for the music video, as they can create emphasis on certain aspects and make an audience member feel a certain way. mise-en-scene is important to represent band image and to make something look more professional, as will camera, sound and editing.

Goodwin, Andrew. 1993. Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music, Television and Popular Culture. Routledge.