RESEARCH - Task 2: Summary Of Andrew Goodwin's Theory

A man who was a director of music and organist, who has been involved with Television, radio and broadcasting knows the differences of these areas in media. Andrew Goodwin has made a theory on the different narrative structures of music videos especially in a pop genre. He 'feels' that the pop music videos does not follow the traditional narrative analysis. Instead the narrative structures of these kind of music videos are: 

• The singer becomes the participant and the narrator in the video. 
• Pop videos are built around the song, unlike the TV dramas, films or novels. 
• The singer makes an eye contact towards the camera which engages the audience more with the song and video. 

Intertextuality (borrowing from other media) is use in pop videos (such as; the beat,chords, rhythms, dance moves and iconographies). This makes it familiar to the audience. Repetition is another way for the audience to be familiarise with it. There are often repeated images. similarly to the way the chorus and rhythms are repeated. Advertising the songs on radio, music videos on various networking sites such as; Myspace, Youtube, Bebo, even on  the TV. It can also be use as a soundtrack in a film. 

Most music videos duration only lasts for 3 minutes, therefore they have a 'form of ending' and this can be seen through the structure of the song. 

Andrew Goodwin uses the word 'autonomous' when describing music videos. This means that pop music videos go beyond the original meaning of the song.The 'autonomous' pop videos has the appeal for the viewers to promote the song because of the repeated images that gives a visual pleasure although there is an unconnected link between the lyrics of the song and the music.

In addition, according to Laura Mulvey's quote:

"In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure which is styled accordingly."

Mulvey is trying to point out that in a world of pop genre, or hip hop, there is often a gender dividing power between men and women. Men often have a sexual desire from women. Beyonce and Madonna are two good example as they present themselves  provocatively. However, they are also seen as a independent and strong female artists through their passive attitudes. On the other hand, pop female groups tends to give these visual pleasures by the way they dress and gestures. They portray themselves as men's 'ideal girls' to be wanted by them. 

Andrew Goodwin's aim is to set the list of theories that he has discovered in pop music videos and although these pop videos does not follow the traditional narrative structure, they still appeal to a wide audience. In other words, the audience tend to look for visual pleasure/a relation to their own lives rather than how the song relates to the video. .