Analysing Music Videos 2

Arctic Monkeys - Arabella - Goodwins' Theory

Andrew Goodwin's 'Dancing in the Distraction Factory' theory is apparent in the Arctic Monkeys - Arabella music video. The Key concepts of the theory is emphasised in the video despite the song being very popular on its own.

The Arctic Monkeys are known for their popular rock genre which is very much exaggerated in this music video for their song 'Arabella'. With the rock genre, music videos usually contain women who are often sexualised, a band who are dressed casual, but look rugged, a good-looking front man, shots and close ups of a guitar and usually contain alcohol or cigarettes and have an effect on the video image such as a tint, chroma key or a black and white effect . A music video that can be easily compared to 'Arabella' by the Arctic Monkeys is the Queens Of the Stone Age's video for 'Go with the Flow'. Both these music videos use the typical rock genre characteristics. In the Queens Of the Stone Age's music video, close ups of the guitar, the sexualised woman and the front man are all clearly shown.

The song lyrics to Arabella has also got a few links to the music video. From the music video, we cannot really assume who 'Arabella' is, as there are a constant variation of shots of different actresses. This could signify how some women can fall under the 'Arabella' stereotype. The song also describes 'Arabella' as being promiscuous, this correlates in the music video, as the shots are of the girl being sexualised, half naked and glamorous women who are surrounded or with men who seem to be intoxicated. This is an illustrative method of the lyrics being sung by the front man Alex Turner.

Moreover, the music video meet the Arctic Monkeys record labels, Domino Recording Company's, needs. The face of The Arctic Monkeys and leading man Alex Turner is the main focus of the music video with all the close ups and tracking of him singing. This in turn helps keep and maintain Turners high status and rock, bad-boy, suave look. On the other hand, his other band mates, such as the drummer Matt Helder, is very rarely seen in the music video, and if so, he is usually out of focus and in the background; therefore making him seem unimportant in comparison to Alex Turner.

Andrew Goodwins' theory also mentions the 'notion of looking', and in this case for the Arabella music video, the 'notion of looking' is made very clear as it is the story line and foundation for the music video. From the very first shot of the music video till the very last shot, the women have only been seen in a very sexualised manner, smothering men with affection, and wearing very revealing outfits whilst being very flirtatious. This enforces the male gaze on the video and making the Arctic Monkeys voyeuristic to the treatment of the females. This suggests that the bands music is sensual.

The music video does not contain inter-textual references to films. However it does stick to an old-fashioned cowboy-like theme with provocative women in a 'bar' and men drinking whilst with prostitutes. The black and white effect on the video and the manner in which the actors are dressed also helps contribute towards this theme. Such as an actress who looks similar to Marliyn Monroe, who is a big 50's icon, in an old film effect. We often see this theme in both TV programmes and movies such as 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly', which is very popular.

Analysing Music Videos

   

MØ - Walk This Way - Goodwins' Theory

    

According to Andrew Goodwins' theory, the music video 'Walk This Way' by the new upcoming artist MØ portrays all the 5 Key Aspects of a Music video.

The Music video highlights MØ's alternative edge that she produces through within her music. MØ sticks to the electronic street-vibe indie pop genre which is made immediately clear to the spectator of the music video; if not already done so in the music. Alongside MØ, artist Charlie XCX has also got a common style in which she shows her music, due to having a similar genre of songs.

The genre characteristics of the 'Walk This Way' music video has an american school, independent, strong woman, vibe among it, which is highlighted by having closeups of different women, making them seem empowering, which is also seen often in Charlie XCX's music videos. This links tot the song title being an imperative - 'Walk This Way', as it illustrates power and attitude. Furthermore, there is little dance routine and mostly just stills of the other women, whilst the artist is singing and moving around; giving the music video an alternative vibe which we usually do not get in our common pop music videos.

The video has a strong link and relationship to the music and lyrics due to the message of the song being important and meaningful. The chorus consists of repeating the line - " All my life I've stepped to the rhythm of the drums inside me head...". This essentially means that the artist MØ, has broken away from societies norms and values, therefore making her an idol and empowered person. This is noticeable in the music video when she is the only one standing out singing, and is made as the focus of the screen due to being different.

MØ's record label, Sony Music Entertainment, deems it important to keep MØ's message of feminism and the importance of sticking up for what you believe in as important. They ensured that even the visuals in her music videos focus on this message. They display this message to the audience by constantly bringing up close ups of the artist and making her the center of display, this virtually depicts how far she has come and how she has gained her success by sticking to these morals.

Alongside this, the music video does not contain any males, any obvious attempt of sexual images of women and filmed in a way that does not focus the attention of women being seen in the typical way that popular and most music videos portray them as being. In turn this heightens the awareness of the message that MØ wants to spread. The 'male gaze' is also removed to demonstrate the value in which both MØ and her record label take her message of independence seriously. More over, the abundance of females helps emphasise to the young female demographic, who are typically seen as vulnerable to society, that they can achieve their goals and believe in feminism, which in turn is empowering.

The music video lacks in inter-textual references due to wanting the focus to be solely on the message. However, it does noticeably look like the typical set of an american high schools P.E. field/track/sports hall. This is common in music videos. This stands out as usually the american films/TV shows use this set to show the males physique and athletic ability; therefore when MO uses and dominates this set with her 'girlfriends' she shows strength and goes against social norms with males typically being linked to sports and strength. Similarly Charlie XCX and Iggy Azealia both do a similar thing in their music video 'Fancy'.