Research into Goodwin's Theory - Miss Georgiou

Goodwin's theory states that when a music video is produced it will follow the seven principals that have been decided by Goodwin.  These principles contribute to different elements of the video. These seven characteristics are ........

1) Music Videos demonstrate genre characteristics, this can be seen by a various iconography which will relate to the artist or genre that the video belongs to and also it could be through dancers or a stage performance.

2) There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals this can either be illustrative, amplifying or contradicting. The lyrics in the song should match the narrative in the video being related or the complete opposite of what is being sung by the artist.

3) There is a relationship between music and visuals, this can be shown by the beat of the song matching how the footage is edited by the producer. The beat will match how the frames of the video fit into each other. i.e. Every time the beat is heard the frame will change etc.

4) The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which occur across their work. This will help in the process of making them more prominent to the audience and easier to remember so they will listen to their future music when release, more profit for the record labels from sales and advertising.

5) There if frequent reference to notion of looking, examples of this would be screens within screens or telescopes, and a particular treatment of the female body.  

6) There is often reference to films, TV programmes or other music videos etc. They can be real or fake.

7) Whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based. Usually music videos have a combination of 2 or all 3 of the elements i.e. performance and narrative which is most commonly used by artists/ record labels.

Throughout Counting Star it is easy to see that all these elements of Goodwin's Theory exist. For example throughout the video we can clearly see that the genre of the music is clearly defined. The genre of the song is Pop Rock, throughout the video we see the Band performing in a basement setting, they are using instruments which clearly define the genre. These instruments being a acoustic guitar, electric guitar and drums with the lead singer to represent the pop elements of the band. This appeals to the audience because they can clearly identify the band and the genre that they represent and begin to build a connection with the band due to them recognising the bands key focus for example the lead singer singing at the front of the band, and similar or the same instruments being used which could be recognised in future or from previous music videos from the band.

Again Throughout the video there is a directly link between the lyrics of the song and there meaning/ what they represent in what is visually seen by the audience as part of the narrative element of the video. Counting Stars focuses around the idea of religion which can be seen in the lyrics "I've been praying hard" meaning to their particular religious God. This can be clearly seen in the video which can be seen when a religious revival service is being performed above the band, in the floor above the basement, representing the religious element. Also throughout the video we see the element of danger being represented by a alligator walking around the warehouse setting the set of lyrics that represents this is "Everything that kills me, makes me feel alive", which is the focus point for the start of the chorus. Despite this not all of the lyrics represent what is seen on screen by the audience, as some of the lyrics purely focus around the performance of the band themselves. This appeals to the audience in many ways as they feel that they are experiencing some form of a narrative which represents what OneRepublic are singing, but also equality are getting a connection with the band as they are performing the song on screen, the purpose of this is to entertain the audience and at the same time as well as to promote the artist further to wider audiences that are not familiar to the band by helping them to recognise them for future reference. 

Similarly there is also a distinct relationship between music and visuals. Watching the video and listening to the music beside the actual content of the lyrics, every time a prominent beat occurs and is heard by the audience it is clear the the camera angle, focus or setting is changed. For example at the start of the we see various shot of the location change in the basement setting which change when the main beat of the song occurs but when the first standout beat is hear and the first verse starts we see a clear shot of the all of the band for the first time in a series of close ups, this symbolises to the audience that the main body of the song has started. The purpose of this is for the audience to being engaged in the video as otherwise they would become bored of the song and stop listening to the artist which would be bad in terms of profit made by the record labels, as it is common for a song which engages the audience visually to receive multiple views and profit in the form of advertising. 


The next element of Goodwin's Theory is the fact that throughout the duration of the music video due to the demands of the record label their will be various close ups of the member of the artist/band in the case of Counting Stars this is true. At the start of the video we see various close ups of all of the band including the singer, guitarists and the drummer. The fact that we see all of the band at the start of the video is too make the music video more appealing to "die-hard" or previous listeners. The course of the close ups then changes as towards the middle and end of the video they mainly focus on the singer, this is due to a mixture of many reasons. First when audiences listen to the band the singing element is the most likely part they will remember, so it is important that the audience remember the member that contributes this element as they are considered the forefront of the band and the mostly likely member new audiences will relate to.


The fifth element of Goodwin's theory is the Voyeurism and notion of looking. Voyeurism is the explicit treatment of the female body which is used to sell the artists music, this is not used in Counting Stars but the notion of looking is. This is when the artist or band members purposely look into the eye of the camera for a sustained amount of time to connect with the audience by sing or playing an instrument. Sometimes artists will not look into the camera to create the feeling of being distance and detached from the audience to gain attention. We see this throughout the whole of the music videos as the leader singer is constantly looking at the lens to address/build a relationship with his audience.  

The sixth element of Goodwin's theory states that their will be references to tv programmes, films or other music videos. In the case of Counting Stars there is a direct link to any of these it is rather indirect. In recent years there has been some TV programmes such as Louis Theroux Weird Weekends in which he questions in a documentary format, In one of the first episodes called

"Born Against Christians" he looks into Christian Network that claim money for "apparent" heeling powers. The purpose of the religious healing section of the music video which relates to the lyrics of the song, may be in this due to the fact that the band and maybe record label may what to target a rather religious audience and are trying to prove that they have faith in their religion. There is a indirect visual which the audience may refuse to recognize which is the when the man falls through the floor which may represent the power of religion. 

The final element of what Goodwin thinks is included in all music videos is the fact that a music video will either be performance, narrative or concept based. Counting Stars seem to be a music video that consists to have equal amounts of each. Performance can be seen by the band being in the basement playing their instruments and singing to the viewer as if they were on a live stage, the narrative can be seen by the fact that the lyrics relate to what is being seen by the viewer about religion which is being further extending by going to a particular modern field of of religion and finally the concept being religion itself as the band is trying to portray themselves as a particularly faithful group, which can beside the lyric be seen as the lead singer is wearing a necklace which could be seen as a cross indirectly by some member of OneRepublic's audience. The purpose of using all three of the basis that make up a music video is to keep the audience entertained more as the music video is constantly changing between the two or three, if only one of the basis's was use it would entertain the audience thoroughly.  

In summary I feel this research has given me a detailed insight into Goodwin's Theory and how it is applied to a music video of my choice. I feel that this task has been one that will benefit me in the foreseeable future when I go into the planning stages of my music video. From this I now know what a music video needs into order to be deemed one/complete. Therefore when I plan I will take the seven elements into account and in relation to the genre and its conventions I will adapt and create a plan that suits them. I would at this given time without taking the genre and song into consideration like to have a video that has a distinct relationship between lyrics and visuals as otherwise I feel it will not make sense to the audience, and predominately have a narrative based video as I feel they are the most intriguing and exciting form of music video.