Research into Goodwin's theory - Miss Georgiou

Andrew Goodwin had a theory of what was necessary for a music video to have and the 7 elements it would have to have to be considered a music video, some music videos follow all of these elements, some don't, but the really successful songs seem to follow all 7 principles of the theory. These 7 principles were:
1. Music video demonstrate genre characteristics, this just means if the songs music video is conventional to the genre of the song, so dance music having bright flashing colours and young people having fun.
2. There is a connection for the lyrics and the visuals.
3. There is a connection between music and the 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, first bit explains itself, the bit about the motifs basically means that their music videos will be similar across all of their songs, this could be that an artists whole collection of music videos have a lot of performing rather than a concept of narrative.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body, basically means that it's almost as if the audience are watching someone without them knowing, like they will see someones more personal life.
6. There is often inter-textual reference, other products being visible throughout the music video.
7. Whether the video is primarily performance based, narrative based or concept based.
The video that i'll be looking at is Calvin Harris' 'summer' and seeing if the video falls under all of Goodwin's principles.

I will be writing my analysis of 'summer' in the order of the theory that Goodwin has given us. First lets begin with the genre characteristics, 'summer' is a dance song so this music video must have some dance video conventions. In the music video 'summer' near the end, the audience can see a sort of rave starting, this is illustrated through the use of the strobe lights flashing and lots of people dancing to the beat of the song, and just before this young women were driving really fast and expensive cars. This is conventional to the characteristics of dance music videos as his is showing the fun side of life and that people are having a good time, this makes Harris' audience relate to him as they are able to see that he is a fun and happy person, the audience also relate to the video as they are the sort of audience to go to clubs and go to raves frequently, this is evident as people are going out and meeting at someones house for a party which encapsulates that party lifestyle that people of that audience like which relates more to the dance target audience.

The next part of Goodwin's theory is that there is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals and it can be seen in 'summer'. Calvin Harris says "when I met you in the summer" five
times in the song, in the video people wear revealing clothes like shorts and bright clothes as well all signifies it's summer, there are also people that hang around pools clearly hinting that this is a summer dance song. This really helps the song further relate to the song as they are people that like to go out and party at clubs regularly and have a good time with their friends and are probably as young as those in the videos which helps the target audience relate to the video, the target audience then look at all the brightly coloured clothes and the parties that the people in the video go to and feel they can relate to it as this is what appeals to lives as they want that summer party lifestyle.

Goodwin's theory then states that there should be a relationship between the music and the visuals. This is conveyed when the beat drops in the song for the first time, the audience are presented with a much faster paced editing style almost like a montage, when the cars are racing each other, and as soon as it gets back into the slower side of the song the shots are much longer and slower in a way. This demonstrates the relationship between the music and the visuals because when the song gets faster and upbeat, the shots get quicker but as the song goes back to its original tempo the camera shots become a lot slower and the target audience can relate to this as they go to clubs often and everyone dances faster when the beat drops, this then makes the audience think this is a party song made for them as they see the atmosphere the video is trying to convey and then relate to it as they then want to go to a club for the song to be played.

The next element of Goodwin's theory is that the record label demand that there will be lots of close ups of the artist. This is apparent in the music video 'summer' as there are sections where it just shows only Harris walking down a street on his own, not a close up but he's the only one there so the audience are drawn to him walking. This clearly meets the demands of the record label to show the artist and the audience a able to relate to Harris further as his audience don't usually see him at clubs but they hear his music, seeing him is a big deal for his audience because they don't usually see Calvin Harris but only hear his music, they then relate to the artists music even further thinking that he made an effort for his fans with the video, they audience also begin to identify with Calvin Harris more as they see the music that he does and become more of a fan of his and expect his type of music to be played in the clubs.

The next principle of Goodwin's theory is that there is a particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. This can be the most obvious one as there are several moments when the audience see this, there is a woman in a bed, the same woman in a bath, several women with little clothing outside in the pool, 2 women that are dancing and another seen in a pool. The audience can relate to this as they may see this as an envious life style to have and Calvin Harris' fans may respect him a bit more as they would also want the lifestyle that he has, the target audience, mostly male audiences, also relate to this because they always expect that when they go out clubbing they may find someone they want and treat in this way, even the connotation of the woman in bed further emphasises that men go to clubs to have a good time and to get women.

The next element is that there is often inter-textual reference. This can be identified when the audience see the cars being was to race have company names painted on the side of them. This is blatant inter-textual referencing and also works as advertising for the car companies, this is because the audience associate the cars with the brands and think that the cars are of high quality and that they will be very fast. The audience that the song appeals to want to live that life and be successful and famous and race with fast cars so they are able to relate to this a lot more easily, also the lifestyle the audience live feel as if it's a fast life so when they see another persons life that is similar in terms of it being fast they relate to the artist more as they understand that lifestyle is better.

Finally the last element of Goodwin's theory is whether the music video is performance based, narrative based or concept based. 'summer' falls under two of these categories, one being performance based as the audience clearly see Calvin Harris singing throughout the video and concept based as the concept of the video is to show the life that Calvin Harris lives and that summer is a time to be happy. The audience can relate to this as it shows that Harris can perform in his area of music and it also shows that Harris is a happy person in general which is what his target audience or fans would like to see as they're also happy with what they do which enables them to build up more or a relationship with Harris.