Post 4C Analysis of music videos

The music video i have chosen to analyze is Glad You Came by The Wanted. I will be using Goodwin's theory for narrative as well as the media language and ideologies.

The first pointer in Goodwins theory is the connection between the visuals and the lyrics. The name of the song is "Glad You Came" and the similarity to this in the music video is that the group members of the band are at are party on holiday and they make it obvious that they are glad that the girls have joined their party. Another example of the visuals and lyrics is when a band member sings "Now i'll take you by the hand" and in the video a band member takes a girl by the hand at the party. Also at the beginning of the song a band member sings "The sun goes down, the stars come out" and at this moment the video is a shot of a sunset.

The second theory of Goodwin's is the relationship between the visuals and the music. In the video i am analyzing there are a couple of sequences that link the visual and the musical aspects. Most of the way through the video, when the same part of the song is sung again, there is a shot of each band member having fun and doing similar things to each other. Also the editing of the video matches the music. Every-time the song changes verse, there is new shot so it is not like the video is cut too fast for the music in the background or vice-versa.

Another one of Goodwin's ideas is the need to sell the artist.  The Wanted do this well as in their video, they are all involved and are seen all the way through, with lots of close ups. The fact that most of them are topless at some point throughout the video will also gab audiences attention and make them want to watch/listen to their music and hopefully purchase it.

Intertextuality is also a theory by Goodwin. He believed that music videos often related to other films but i don't believe there is a lot of intertextuality in this video, as there are no films that i can think of that have been set on a beach with lots of partying. Goodwin also believed that there should be voyeurism in a music video. In The Wanted's video, we can see their behaviours as we wouldn't usually see them. We see them relaxing, having a good time, and partying, not how we would usually picture them, and this allows us to see them behave in a way which is usually hidden from us.

We all know that the story of the video is made up for the consumers sake, but there are many intertextual references that the audience, who watch the video can relate to. These include going on holiday abroad with friends, partying, drinking and generally having a laugh and relaxing.


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Another music video, which is much different to The Wanted's which i will analyse is called 'All of the Lights' by Kanye West.

The genre of this music video is Hip Hop. The beginning of this video reminds me of Ed Sheeran's 'A Team'. This is because the filming is shot in black and white and the girl that is being filmed looks lonely and lost, and in a dark, cold place. When the main part of the song starts, the words 'All Of The Lights' are shown on screen in lots of different fonts, sizes and colours and the words change as they are sung.
All the members are included in the music video, mainly when they are singing their own verses, this allows the audience to see their favourite artists how they wouldn't normally see them.