Andrew Goodwin, in his book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory", outlined several theories regarding the creation and content of music videos. There were, he said, several key features that distinguished the music video as an individual form of media compared to other, similar forms. Not every feature would be prominent in every music video, but at the very least, one would be visible in each and every music video created. At least, each and every music video that was of professional - or near professional - standard.
- The visuals may have a connection to the lyrics (either amplifying, illustrating, or contradicting them)
- The visuals may have a connection to the music (again, either amplifying, illustrating, or contradicting them)
- Particular music genres may have particular iconography and styles (i.e. live performances in heavy rock music videos, etc)
- There will be a demand for the main vocalist(s) / artist(s) to be featured in the video
- There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of females, but also in terms of systems of looking (such as screens within screens, binoculars, cameras etc).
- There are likely to be intertextual references (either to other music videos or to films and TV texts).
To illustrate Goodwin's theory, I decided to apply it to the music video for the song "DVNO" by the French musical duo, Justice.
The music video for DVNO straight away ticks one of the boxes in Goodwin's theory; around 95% of the video is computer-generated, with flashing lights and fluorescent visuals, giving a futuristic vibe in keeping with music videos based around electronic / house music. These computer generated images generally give visual representations of the lyrics being spoken, with selected words from the lyrics (such as "mayhem" and "DVNO", for instance) being given detailed, obviously CG visual representations.
The music, as well as the lyrics, seem to effect the music video (and vice versa). For instance, a section when the camera flies through a layer of what appears to be pure music causes the pitch of the music to shift - this is probably not actually in the version of the song on the album, but simply serves to give a stronger connection between the music and the visuals. Finally, the ~5% of real-life footage shows the two band members playing the piano, which is consistent with Goodwin's theory in that it shows a relationship between the visuals and the music, and also shows the main artists in the video as well.
As you can see, whilst the music video doesn't tick ALL the boxes, it does reflect several of Goodwin's ideas concerning the content of music videos.
