Andrew Goodwin: 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory'

Andrew Goodwin's text 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) states that are 6 elements that come together to make a music video successful in entertaining audiences as well as being open for audiences to create their own meaning from what is being illustrated, amplified etc. 

1. Relationship between lyrics and visuals: There are three ways in which a music video can demonstrate the link between the lyrics of a song and the video that has been created for it. By illustrating the lyric you can either create a lyric video which has literally shows the lyrics of the song on the screen for the audience to read, alternatively you could show the artist or subject lip syncing the song which enforces a strong connection between lyrics and video itself. By amplifying a lyric you may stress certain words within the lyrics by showing an image of what the lyric is saying when they lyric appears in the song or making something happen on the beat of a song to make the relationship between the vocal and visual synonymous. Contradicting the lyric is another way to demonstrate the relationship between lyrics and visuals which literally means to show a contrasting image to what is being reflected in the lyric. An example would be if a song's lyric said something in relation to cold but showing the visuals of a sunny beach. 

In Cage The Elephant's video 'Shake Me Down' we see the lyrics being illustrated by the artist lip syncing part of the song, this is also accompanied by an amplification of the lyric and visuals in parts where we see things happening on the beat of the song such as the two children fighting. Therefore, this demonstrates how more than one relationship between lyric and visual can be chosen to further emphasise. 

2. Genre: The genre of the music video is incredibly important in determining how the elements of the music video come together. The 5 genres that he discusses are Studio Performance, Stadium Performance, Narrative, Experimental and Location. The narrative genre is particularly popular in demonstrating meaning within music videos as it is more open to interpretation and can be more artistic, this is often seen in the Pop music videos. Studio/Stadium Performance is common amongst Rock bands to form a relationship between their fans and themselves as artists.

3. Looking and Voyeurism: This applies to music videos that show artists or their subjects wearing little clothing and can sometimes even include nudity. This provokes a feeling of voyeurism and particularly with big pop stars such as Miley Cyrus who is portrayed in a desirable context in order to gain the audience's visual pleasure. This also links to the idea of male gaze e.g Robin Thicke, Blurred Lines which caused great controversy due to its inappropriate portrayal and insinuations about women.

4. Star appeal: Showing the artist in the video is a favourite for music videos because it directly promotes the artist as well as reinforcing their brand etc. For instance a lot of artists are recognisable from the way that they dress or portray themselves. Michael Jackson's moonwalk and David Bowie's characters. 

5. Intertextuality: Music videos often make references to films or music videos and this is known as intertextuality.