Links Between Music and Visuals

A feature of Goodwins Theory of Music Video Analysis is a link between the music and visuals. The following is my interpriation of this idea and an explanation of how it can be applied to the analysis of a music video.

Cutting to the beat of the song: When doing this it shows that the band are performing in their music video so that it doesn't look like a random video with their song in the background. Sometimes bands can get carried away with the story of the music video but a good music video will keep cutting back to the original scene of the band performing their song.

Constant lip sync throughout the entire performance: With constant lip sync it makes it look like the band are performing it there and then for the first time which is the impression they want to give off, even though we all know that they aren't actually singing it in the video, constant lip sync make them look like they're engaging in their song like we (the audience) are.

Speed of shot change linking to the pace of the beat: E.g. cut to the beat of drumming, therefore the music speeds up OR quick editing cuts of the guitar being played to the rhythm of the song. Linking the speed of the shot to how the music is played gives a clear insight to what type of music the song is, for example if the song is a heavy beat song then the pace will be fast. So if we are watching a music video without actually listening to the sound and we see very slow paced shots then it will become clear that it is not a heavy metal or rock type of song. It will be a relaxed song with not so much instrumental.

Body language showing the type of music:E.g. head banging = a lot of drum beat and fast paced music

The body language of the people in the band give away a lot about the music video which relates to Goodwin's theory, like if the band are acting in a way that looks aggressive then they are probably a heavy metal band or rock band. Whereas if the band are all standing on the stage singing and look peaceful and their lips are moving gently like they are talking nicely to someone then they are probably going to be singing music which is more laid back that you could perhaps sing along to.

Always cutting back to band playing to keep track of how the songs pace is:

Our imagination can guess what the band are playing like to the type of song it is but if they keep cutting back to the band playing then we can see what the pace is like if there are cuts from the story being told to the actual band playing. for example, if the shots are slow paced of a story being told and then the band are playing with gentle actions then the pace of the music video is going to be slow which relates to the pace of the music we are hearing.

As the Music ends, the band stop playing which concludes the music video: when the music ends, the band stops playing to signify that the music video is coming to and end which shows that the pace is stopping completely. It also tells us that their song is over and that they are applying Goodwin's theory by linking the music with the visuals; the music begins to fade away and we can see they have stopped playing.