Research Into Goodwins Music Video Theory - Miss Georgiou*

Andrew Goodwin writing in 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'(Routledge 1992)

Goodwin's theory states that there are 7 key aspects to a music video. It is essential to consider as it gives artists and directors a guide on how make a music video that fits well with the genre and to their target audiences. Also without applying Goodwin's Theory to a music video, people may not understand music videos, which could lead to jeopardy.

1. Music video demonstrates genre characteristics
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals 
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 recur across their work
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes or other music videos etc.)
7. Whether the video is primarily performance, narrative or concept based

In this post I will be applying Goodwin's theory to the music video Pretty Hurts by Beyonce, to help assist me with further knowledge about music videos. Beyonce's music is generally R&B, but she also incorporates pop, soul and funk into some of her songs. However in the song Pretty Hurts, the genre for this song is Power Pop and a Soul Ballad. 

Singing at the beauty pageant

Beyonce and other contestants 

The music video does demonstrate genre characteristics of Power Pop as we see in the screenshot, Beyonce is singing with clear strong vocals which is conventional to the genre.  Also, in pop music they're are often performance based, and we see the artist usually give a sort of performance whether its dancing,singing or playing an instrument. In this music video, it is evident as we see Beyonce performing vocally and modelling at a beauty pageant. This builds a relationship with the audience as they see the artist strongly sing
acapella and this focuses on the artist's talents, making the audience engage more with the video. Another generic convention to the pop genre, especially for female artists, is that they look glamorous and attractive to appeal their target audience and catch their attention. We see this as we see Beyonce and the other beauty pageant contestants dressed up in gowns, to compete with each other for the title. Even though, Beyonce's reason for looking 'attractive' in this video was to show the bad sides of being 'pretty', it is still shown that she is attractive. Therefore, this creates a great emphasis on the concept of the video and draws viewers attention so that they find out why it is sometimes bad to be 'pretty', building a relationship between artist and audiences as they receive more information about her. The age group that this could be reaching out to are females 15 - 28 as this range is where girls/woman are conscious with their appearance. 

Beyonce "fixing her teeth"

When referring to Goodwin's theory with the point about there is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, this is seen in the pretty hurts video. From 2:20 to 2:23 the lyrics " brush your hair, fix your teeth" are parallel to what we visually see Beyonce physically doing, as she's getting ready for the contest. The purpose of this is to build a relationship between Beyonce and the audience as what she's doing are things women can relate to which links to the concept of being apart of society's standards of 'beauty'. This ables audiences to understand and sympathise with her but also share that they have similar life experiences. 

Another example of where the lyrics and visuals match is from 4:41 - 4:43 where the lyrics "Pretty Hurts" are conveyed through Beyonce's actions which are of her using one of her beauty pageant trophies to smash down the others. These lyrics show the artists emotions and mirrors not only the lyrics but also conveys the pain of how being pretty and being awarded for it is not satisfying.
In addition to this part of the song, not only do the lyrics match with the visuals but the music as well. This is through a long shot showing Beyonce smash her trophies and the non-diegetic sound speeds up, as if it was the sound of her smashing the trophies. The build up to this sound, creates an adrenaline and shock in the audience as we see her smash awards that you would think were important to her, that are clearly not. This grabs the audiences attention and makes the sympathise with her as she's not happy even though she has won all those awards. 

The demands of the record label often include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist. This is evident in the pretty hurts video, as we see many close ups Beyonce when getting ready for the contest and at the contest. 
The different close ups seen in the video help convey the narrative, as we see Beyonce in these different shots do something to make her seem more 'beautiful' but she's not enjoying it. The close ups establish her facial expressions, and these often consist of confusion, worry and tension. 

This helps build a relationship between the artist and the audience, as the close ups allows them to see the artists emotions and how she feels. Therefore, creates sympathy towards her. The fact that the artist is even showcasing this may make the audience like her more, as its a real issue that happens in todays society.

The fifth element of Goodwins music video theory is that there is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. In this music video there are many ways in which the female body is looked in voyeuristic way because the song is about beauty. For example we see Beyonce getting a spray tan and she's wearing a bikini which may look voyeuristic and viewers might find that 'sexy'. This is seen through cinematography, mid shot and long shot and this shows us what she's doing to prepare herself to look 'perfect' for the beauty pageant. The use of this links in with the concept of the music video, and gives the audience a more understanding about what the song is about.  Also, this conveys to the audience what society see's as "beautiful" which the target audience of 15-28 year old females would understand because they see it in the media that having less on is "attractive". 

There is intertextual reference in the pretty hurts video at 2:07, where we see through the use of cinematography, long shot of Beyonce standing next to a big TV. As you can see in the screenshot, the TV is not airing anything. This could link to the concept of how media and society portray whats beautiful. The fact that the theres nothing being shown on the TV, could represent how media shouldn't take control of the way women or girls see themselves. This creates a relationship between the artist and the female audience, as they feel that Beyonce is sending a good message about the reality of media and that all is not what it seems, making the audience relate to her more.

Beyonce throwing up in toilet 

The final element of Goodwin's music video theory is whether a music video is a performance, narrative or concept based video. The style of music video that Beyonce - Pretty Hurts is primarily a concept based. We do see elements of a narrative and performance based, but the whole point of the video was to showcase the concept of the massive pressure on women to have outer beauty in society. This is evident throughout the music video as we Beyonce participating in a beauty pageant, and we see the backstage footage and also the contest it self in the music video. This illustrates the concept well as we see Beyonce do many things to herself that may seem pressuring or harmful such as making herself puke, getting botox done, measuring her weight and getting a fake tan etc. These are all actions done in the video to show the pressure on women to look 'perfect' on the outside, but not be happy in the inside. This creates a relationship with the audience, as they are aware of what she's trying to showcase and the message about it, and it educates them more about the negativity side to beauty pageants. Also, the relationship between the artist and audience is built as some may relate to what she's doing in the video, as it is a real life problem that happens in society right now, especially in the age range of 15-28 which song appeals to. 

However the elements of the narrative comes along with the concept. The narrative is of Beyonce simply getting ready and participating in a beauty pageant, but at the end we see that Beyonce does not win this competition.
Finally we see the performance elements in the music video, as we see Beyonce sing for the judges, so that she could win the contest. The performance is conventional to the pop genre, as artist genuinely showcase either dancing or singing in their videos. Even though this song isn't the typical pop, it still conveys a performance through Beyonce's acapella singing, which gives the audience an insight of how she sounds without any music behind. 

Analysing Goodwin's music video theory has given me the knowledge and guidelines of whats included in a music video. With the information from the 7 elements, I will assist these information and consider using them to enable me to make a successful music video. This has helped establish what is conventional to the pop genre, but also given me a more in depth understanding of a concept based music video. When planning my own music video, I will include Goodwin's theory to help me gather what to include in my video for it to be conventional to my chosen genre. What i'm considering now, is the Indie genre, and I believe with the elements from Goodwin's Theory such as close ups of artist and a narrative based music video, this would convey the genre well and make the music video successful.