Goodwin Analysis assignment

Music Video Research Assignment

 

Coldplay – Every teardrop is a waterfall

 

Coldplay are a renowned band and therefore their target audience is on a large scale, due to this they cannot come across as entropic because of the reaction they may receive. This video is redundant as they are set in an external urban location, in addition to this they use graffiti, which you would expect to typically find within this setting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a strong relationship between lyrics and visuals within this video because at the beginning a few of the lyrics are portrayed on the background through animated graffiti. This supports one of Andrew Goodwin’s elements of a music video. The graffiti is typically colourful and the words included are important for the song.

 

 

Coldplay are classified as a ‘Soft Rock’ Genre, and this video is typical of that. The band is a main part and there are also a number of close up shots of instruments being played.

 

Another element that is commonly used within videos of this genre is the use of hand held cameras, this makes the video appear more ‘home made’ and ‘real’. It is obvious there is a dominant use of a hand held camera, this links with Goodwin’s idea of a clear link between music and visuals. Using a hand held camera allows the producer to capture the rapid movements of the artist, these movements then coincide with the tempo of the music. The quick cuts used during the chorus increase the fluidity of the visuals which again show a link to the music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The punching movement shown here is on the exact beat of the music, this makes the audience more aware of the beat.

 

The idea of ‘Synaesthesia’ is very prominent within this video. It’s almost as if the exact sounds are portrayed through animations behind the performer. The animations are continuous throughout the video and continue with the flow of the music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The use of focus pull is very common; the camera zooms in and out on the artist and members of the band. This constant movement makes the video appear busy and again coincides with the music.

 

 

 

There isn’t an obvious narrative within the video; however there is an element of journey shown. Through the majority of the video there is a continuous tracking shot, the audience is encouraged to follow the animation on a journey. There is no point in the video where the artist/band/animation just stop, until the very end where there is an abrupt cut away to darkness, showing the journey has come to an end. Therefore the video does include another of Goodwin’s elements (a narrative) but it is not completely apparent.

 

This video falls into the conceptual category of Sven E Carlsson terms, we as an audience are encouraged to focus and follow the animations instead of the artist. The artist and other band members have fairly equally shared screen time, whereas the animations are on screen throughout the whole video.

The image portrayed of Coldplay from this video shows mainly their passion for the music. Each member of the band looks as if they are just enjoying the music and we get a sense of this through close ups used, especially of the main singer. I believe for bands within this genre, the overall video is more about the music than anything else, and they aren’t aiming for that ‘perfect’ finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Out Boy – Sugar, We’re going down

This band falls under the same genre as Coldplay, however there are a lot of differences between the two videos. This video includes a narrative and a very comical aspect.

The standard foundations for this genre are fairly similar, the band is included around the narrative and there’s many close up shots of instruments and the singer.

 

Overall the video could be seen as redundant, however there are certain elements which completely defy this; for example the setting is a country type house, this is not necessarily what you would associate with a rock video. In addition to that, the narrative includes and boy wearing antlers, this is not something you’d witness every day and therefore can be seen as entropic. Fall Out Boy do not need to worry about target audience reaction however, as the entropy is not that severe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no direct relationship between the lyrics and visuals of this video, and the narrative doesn’t necessarily connote what the lyrics are aiming to portray. However the use of the narrative adds some kind of depth to the song and also creates slight comical value. In addition to this there isn’t a strong structure to the visuals of the song, both the band and narrative are included throughout the verses and chorus.

(Both of these shots are included in the chorus)

I don’t believe this video could be viewed as completely disjunctive because there are some elements that could link to both the lyrics and synaesthesia, therefore I think it would come under Andrew Goodwin’s term ‘amplifying’ because there are some meanings created they are just aren’t apparent on the surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The synaesthesia within this video isn’t very prominent as the narrative has been made a much more important part. Although, there are certain parts where you can visualise the music, for example all shots are cut on the beat which adds to the flow of the song. During the bridge there is a number of close ups and extreme close ups of band member, this shows a relationship with the music; as the music begins to build so does the intensity of the shots. Also the producer plays with the angles used, to create an overall image of the band.

 

 

 

 

 

The narrative included in this video is a typical love story with a very unpredictable, strange twist. A standard ‘love story’ narrative is not what you would typically see in a video of this genre and I think that is why the comical twist was necessary.

 This narrative links strongly with Barthe’s Semiotc Theory. The overall narrative is fairly self-explanatory, however the twists included connote a deeper meaning. For example the boy is wearing antlers, this makes him an outcast, but towards the end of the video it is revealed that the father of the girl is also a deer; this could create the meaning that on the inside they are both the same and the father was just trying to hide his true self.

Voyeurism is included a tiny bit within this video, and we discover the notion of looking from the male’s point of view, however there is not actually a typical ‘Male Gaze’ involved. Theorist Laura Mulvey said that the camera is controlled by Male gaze, and this is usually very typical in this genre of music. By not including any form of male gaze the producer has kept the feeling of the narrative and the notion of the boy looking at the girl appears innocent.