Andrew Goodwin's Theory

To correctly analyse and grasp Goodwin's theory I am going to apply it to a music video case study. "LDN" is a song by British recording artist Lilly Allen which was released in the UK on 25 September 2006. This song was number 30 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. “LDN” is a pop song that talks of Allen describing a bicycle ride through her hometown of London. Set to a cheerful tune, the lyrics first appear to describe an innocent scene, "A fella looking dapper, and he's sittin' with a slapper", but follow up revealing a less glamorous reality, "Then I see it's a pimp and his cr*ck wh*re."

Theory

Analysis

1)    There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals 2)    Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics 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 (a visual style)   5)    There is frequent reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes) and particularity voyeuristic treatment of the female body.  6) There is often intertextual reference to films, TV Programmes, other music videos etc.

Goodwin’s theory indicates that the music and the lyrics usually go hand in hand. An example from “LDN” is when Lilly Allen sings ‘There were people from the city havin' lunch in the park I believe that is called al fresco’ we are then able to see who Lilly is talking about and then the people eating in the park. The theory also states that dependent on the genre certain aspects are usually repeated throughout. The genre of “LDN” is pop. Examples from the video are shots of Lilly Allen walking around in a vibrant red dress, which would not be worn on a typical day out. Lilly allen is also shot dancing and spinning around having a good time. This gives it a pop feel. During the chorus of lilly Allens song there is a small chime sound that is repeated. As this is done the images in the music video change from being a plesant image such as a sweet on the floor, to an old cigarette butt. By doing this it engages the audience straight away and interests them. Another aspect of the theory is, a lot of close-ups of the main artist. Artists that have a large fan base regularly feature in their videos to create a personal connection. In the first 0.05 seconds of the video, we get a close up of the main artist, Lilly Allen. This has been done purposely to show the audience who they are watching. The effectiveness of the use of a close-up creates more of a personal relationship to the fans; they will feel as if they are being sung to personally. Therefore the more eye contact the artist gives, the more engaged and wanted the audience will feel. In this music video, Goodwins theory of voyeurism plays less of a part, due to the artist being a female and a femininst. However, although the artist does not use sexual images of women, she does include sexualisations and derogatory terms for women in one part of the song. Lilly allen sings "A fella looking dapper, and he's sittin' with a slapper"- the use of the word slapper to describe a women is thought of as demeaning and unfair considering the woman in the video is not your stereotypical ‘slapper’, but perhaps Allen did that on purpose for a sense of irony. She then goes on to sing "Then I see it's a pimp and his cr*ck wh*re." and the video shows the man acting violent towards the woman. A final aspect of Goodwin’s theory is intertextual references. In the video we can see 2 noticeable references the first is of the re cord shop which Lilly Allen is in, it is shown many times during the video, and the outside of the shop is used in the very beginning of the video. A second reference is of the mobile that she is using. Ath the time when this video was released that mobile phone would have been thought of a really good. These types of shots advertise to the audience and make them wish to purchase the same items that are in the videos, which then allows the audience to feel as if they are the same as the artists.