Recent Videos With These Conventions

The conventions of music videos are still seen today in modern music videos. Here are some examples of modern videos which follow the conventions set by Andrew Goodwin.

Example

The image above is from the music video of Example - Stay Awake. This video was produced in 2011 so is very recent, the idea of using close ups is therefore still a popular part of music videos today. The ability to use close ups allows the artist to make eye contact with the audience which may enhance audience interaction, thus causing more people to want to watch the video.

Rizzle Kicks

Music videos either correspond or contradict the lyrics of the song, this is shown in the video to Rizzle Kicks - Down With The Trumpets. The chorus is the title of the song and at this part of the video one the artists is seen with a trumpet, this therefore corresponds to the lyrics. The way in which this video corresponds to the lyrics is through narrative and live performance shots.

Swedish House Mafia

This shot is from Swedish House Mafia - Save The World. It portrays a sense of voyeurism as the restaurant the man was working at was shoplifted. As the song shows a pack of dogs save the people or catch the criminals involved. The man is therefore watching the dog run after the criminals who attacked the restaurant. This notion of looking adds to a sense of the audience watching the artist perform, which adds exclusivity to the video. However in this particular video the artists are not visible, but the dogs which are acting as the artists are.

Eminem & D12

This shot is from the music video Without Me - Eminem. It portrays Eminem dressed up as Osama Bin Laden and surrendering to the other members of Eminem's band D-12. This shows an Intertextual Reference which is a typical convention, although this one is slightly controversial. The reason for him dressing up as the terrorist is a patriotic move towards his fellow Americans, as the video was made in 2002; mid flow of the war caused by the 9/11 terror attacks. The reason for this could be to increase the views the video has, as usually a controversial or memorable video is popular as people want to see it.

Andrew Goodwin's Theory

A famous author named Andrew Goodwin writes in a book of his called

Dancing In The Distraction Factory

about the typical conventions of music videos. His theory is apparent in old and recent music videos which means his theory was correct. Music videos also use either performance or narrative, in more recent music videos both styles are used to entice the target audience to watch it.

The first music video created 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles shows both narrative and performance, although this style is now around 30 years old it is still used in many recent music videos today. Some videos, more towards the Rock genre now use solely performance style videos as this shows the technique used to make the music as well as it being live as it evokes a more exciting atmosphere to the song. Other genres such as RnB tend to use more narrative than performance, as they are generally about love so the videos show parts of a love story or relationship between two people.

One of the most used Conventions of music videos is seen by the music video called 'Video Killed The Radio Star', this means the video either corresponds or contradicts the lyrics of the video. In this image below it shows TV's pushing radios over which corresponds to the chorus to the song as the TV's are essentially 'killing' the radios. This may show the music video was made to become a more popular way of listening to music than on the radio.

The convention of having many close ups is shown in this video through-out, this is due to the record company wanting to promote the artists as much as possible. This theory from Andrew Goodwin proves correct as so many music videos in recent times follow this trend started in the video to 'Video Killed The Radio Star'.

The final convention of music videos created by Goodwin is that there is a sense of voyeurism, this is evident within this music video as the actual music video shows the artist on a TV. This notion of looking is used through-out the music industry as it enables the audience to see the message behind the video, it also makes the video more exclusive as it shows how people are watching the artist. This may help the promotion of the artist.