Goodwin theory

Andrew Goodwin has revolutionized music video theory by discarding previously accepted theory and instating his own. His theories work on the close relationship between music and visuals in a music video and how they work with and reflect off eachother.

His theories can be split into 6 main categories or point

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. a stage performance in a metal video, a dance routine for a boy/girl band).

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (and this is either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between music and viduals (and this is either illustrative, amplifying or contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist (visual hooks) and the artist may develop motifs which recurr across their work (a visual style). These include close-ups of the star's face (the 'money shots'), iconography of band image and visual trademarks/motifs.

5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (achieved with screens within screens, telescopes etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body (and I believe also increasingly the male body in recent times).

6. There is often intertextual reference (such as to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc.).