Andrew Goodwin 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'

Andrew Goodwin published a book called 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' which consists of his research around the topic area of music videos, in this book he came up with a number of 'codes and conventions' which consist of a range of elements that many music videos all have in common.

Goodwin's theory identifies these key features:
- Genre characteristics e.g. stage performances in rock music videos, dance routines for girl/boy groups,women or throwing 'signs' in rap music videos

- Similarities between visuals and lyrics, this is used to often illustrate or could even amplify or contradict the lyrics giving us a visual representation to further feed our imagination and curiosity.
- There is a relationship between music and visuals which also contradict and expand on the lyrics that are being sung, once again providing us a visual representation of what is being said through the lyrics.

- The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist in order to therefore show off who the artist is, and practically make them known by their face, people tend to forget the names of artist but rather remember their face.

- The artist may develop motifs or iconography that recur across their work i.e. a visual style that shows of what theme the artist is going for that all link together through their attire, props or scenarios/locations.

Theorists- Richard Dyer's 'Star Theory'

Richard Dyer's can be split into three areas:
- The star as a commodity
- The star as a construction
- The star as an ideology

Stars are produced to create a profit off by selling merchandise related to them such as t-shirts, posters, albums etc...
Record labels have a habit to produce similar stars as they know certain trends in the music industry that sell well and generate a lot of money. This could also be the reason why we have so many similar boy bands e.g. One Direction and The Wanted.

The star can be constructed from the work they produce examples being music videos,magazines, advertising etc... you could say it's similar to having a public/celeb like image that 'stars' put on in order to sell their products meaning they don't really behave like that in their personal life, a perfect example for this would be Miley Cyrus, has gotten a lot of press for riding on a wrecking ball, naked, in one of her music videos from 2015, she obviously wouldn't do this in the comfort of her home meaning the person Miley Cyrus and the star are marketed as two different people.

Stars will also represent different social groups and views and will therefore create certain ideologies. As a result, fans of the star would often copy their style and share the same views. For example many fans of Beyonce would share her view of women and how they should be empowering and independent (to not controlled by men).

Dyer explains that there is a paradox of 'the star', which come in two key forms:
- The star must be ordinary and extraordinary; the star needs to be ordinary in order to relate to their audience and emphasise that they're humans too but to also possess some sort of extraordinary persona or talent, making the public idolise them.a celebrity example of this would be Adele, she possesses an ordinary persona of an ordinary women from London with her cockney accent however she has an amazing voice which people automatically idolise, giving her the image of a 'paradox of the star.'

Lastly... - The star must be both present and absent: this explains that the star must be present in our lives through materialistic values e.g. merchandise and social media, but also absent in the fact that they are not actually there or are out of reach, despite this fans of (for example) Justin Bieber, would tend to buy merchandise of him, support him through social media and buying his albums even though he isn't actual present or in front of them,

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Music Video Analysis- 'Weight In Gold'

The song 'Weight in Gold' by Gallant is based on his personal life/experiences; "It's about just really feeling like you're weighed down, in a really dangerous way.I know that when I was writing
The music video 'Weight In Gold' by Gallant is a narrative based video, consisting of scenes where it's solemnly scenes of gallant, himself, portraying some sort of story, by the use of facial expressions and freestyle dancing/movements.

The lighting continuously goes from light to dark.. areas where the lights brightened up occur when the beat drops in the song or where we have a sudden climax, this adds a unique effect onto the music video.. rather than it being different shots of him just lip syncing, it allows us to feel the music in a way/ feel the raw emotion of the musician.

Overall, the music video starts off quite basic and simple then slowly turns very dramatic as you're met with blinding flashes of light as the song hits
it's climax which many occurs in the chorus. the beginning of the music video emits some sort of calm and serene setting, this consists of a simple candle stick being lit up and then suddenly going out this continues until around 0.47 seconds, which is when the song begins to build up and reach the climax.this allows us to see a sudden change in his feelings and the way he expresses the meaning of the lyrics through anger now.

The lyrics of the song contain strong emotion, followed by the music video which just simply explains what Gallant had felt at the time, he states in an interview concerning this specific song that: "It dared to let people in my life a little bit more with using extreme encryption or metaphor."

generally, allowing us to understand the struggles and negative aspects of his life that he shared with the world through his song 'Weight in Gold'

Music Video Analysis- 'Fine China'

The music video 'Fine China' by Chris Brown is a per-formative/narrative based video, consisting of scenes where it's solemnly characters speaking (narrative) and scenes were there's full on dancing (performance). You could also argue that this music video is entirely narrative based whilst also containing some elements of performance, I agree with either.

Narrative wise; the opening scene is kicked off without the song for the first minute. In this whole minute the story begins to set, we are introduced to a girl and her dad, that seem to be arguing about a guy she likes but the dad doesn’t give the impression of approval hence why he refers to him as a “outsider, thug”
Then there's a over the shoulder view of the girl looking out the window as a bright red Lamborghini pulls up outside someone steps out an we're introduced to the leading male role, Chris Brown himself.  The first scene allows the audience to understand what is going to happen throughout the video and who the main characters of the story are going to be. 56 seconds into the music video the music finally starts as soon as the girl rebels against her dad.

Performance wise; When the music finally starts, Chris Brown and the girl exit the car they arrive at an alley way, this is when he begins to dance and other dancers come out of joining him, from watching the dance performance i noticed it gives off a Micheal Jackson inspired vibe. Brown's attire is very different from a common R&B artist, he looks very dapper with his checkered grey fedora, black slacks, button up shirt and a matching leather jacket, giving this song a jazz/R&B feel.

Music Video Analysis- 'Dollhouse'

The music video 'Dollhouse' by Melanie Martinez is a narrative based video that is solemnly based on a dysfunctional family. 'Dollhouse' is about a family that appears to be perfect on the outside looking in, yet it's far from it. Her mother is presented as an alcoholic due to his disloyalty, and the son (her brother) is engulfed in the life of drugs. The daughter (Melanie herself) seems to be the only one that notices the catastrophe surrounding her. This family is visualised as dolls living inside of a playhouse that belongs to a little girl. Since the daughter knows the truth about her dysfunctional family, she narrates the song in an attempt to get the girl to realise her reality.

Throughout the music video the symbolism of 'dolls' is presented through creepy and weird concepts making you feel uneasy, even Melanie's costume, makeup and gestures  in this video resembles one of a real life doll. This song overall resembles a family with so many problems behind closed doors for example the mother is an alcoholic this is portrayed with a few scenes were she's passed out from intoxication or is actually drinking. The father cheats this is portrayed by the lyric "Dad's with a slut",the son is addicted to drugs this is also portrayed by the lyric "your son is smoking cannabis" here, the scene shows the son smoking and sniffing a plant.

There's also the use of low-key/ dim lighting adding effect to the eery atmosphere that surrounds this music video, the gifs below allow you to visualise what I've said above.