Analysing 3 Music Videos

The 'Young and Beautiful' music video by Lana Del Ray from 2013 is a very unique and theatrical music video style. Andrew Goodwin's theory can very easily be applied to this in many ways, One way being that It is very clearly illustrated and amplifies the lyrics and visuals which tells us that 'thought beats' and 'relation of visuals to the song'. These are two key elements of 5 that he believes are important when analysing music videos. The lyrics are about things being deemed no longer beautiful when they get older and the whole style of the film is displayed as if it is on an old tape from the '60s and we see the instruments on screen being classical and traditional so therefore Lana is trying to portray the message that old things can be beautiful as the lighting and cuts complement the music beats and the on-screen instruments and it is all in time making it aesthetically pleasing which supports Carol Vernallis ideology that editing is a key part and often the focal point of music videos. I'd argue that the genre is slightly a stadium performance as we do see an orchestra playing throughout the music video but due to the style and unique cinematography and lighting I'd say it's more experimental and conceptual. The mise-en-scene really enhances the professionalism of the music video as the set is in a grand hall setting which complements the song as it is also very big and grand and the use of colours looking like theatrical studio lights really enhances this feeling and aesthetic. When we see Lana she's shown in a very artistic way as the whole video is framed to be in a VHS kind of style in a smaller ratio to stand out and the visuals are very saturated which makes her facial features pop and stand out in her close-ups. This once again embodies Vernallis's theory as the editing is the focal point of the video rather than her dancing or doing something eye-catching on screen because the editing is so unique that she doesn't need to do anything physical on the screen to stand out because the editing style does that for her. This can also be linked back to Goodwin in terms of both 'technical aspects' and the star image' As I have just discussed, the editing and filming style are all complementary of one another for example the shots are all static and the colours are all deep and bold, the placement is symmetrical and the style of silhouette shots and use of instruments are constant throughout which really amplify that grand theatrical ambience created. This is also clearly in keeping with Lana's 'Star image' As she's known for being a very conceptual and artistic music artist, especially when it comes to her music videos which stand out among a lot of big pop culture artists' videos today. Overall, I personally believe that this music video is one of the best ever made purely due to how creative and beautiful it is to watch. I think it does a really good job of making an entertaining and immersive video by using elements of both Goodwins and Vernallis's theories about the basic components of a good music video and amplifying it to a higher level. It does an amazing job of displaying Lanas' Uniqueness and individuality, not only in her music but as an artist in all ways and gives her a USP (unique selling point). This is why this music video had a considerable amount of influence on my own music video as it inspired me to make my video unique and different.

The 'Thunderstruck' music video by AC/DC from the 80s is a very typical style of music video for the genre of rock. Andrew Goodwin's 'Thought beats' stage of music video analysis as It amplifies the lyrics and visuals as it is a stadium performance and the camera often is from the band members' perspectives of their instruments to make the audience feel like we are on stage with them. For example; the first shot we see is of one of the band members playing the drum and the shot is a point of view shot of one of the drum sticks hitting the drum in beat with the music with the live audience in the background. Like Goodwin explains, this is literally showing the music on screen, not only through the instruments being on screen but also just because the action on screen is in beat with the music which immerses the spectators further into the music video. We also see their audience chanting with them in the stadium and this is branding them as if they only care about the music and their fans and you definitely get that impression of unity from the video, supporting Goodwins' ideas on the importance of  'star image' in music videos. This is further supported by the fact this stadium performance style and genre of music video can be seen throughout the entirety of AC/DCs music videos which just further cements this impression of unity their love for music and this exciting, blood-pumping atmosphere amongst them and their fans. In contrast, due to the fact that the video isn't very narrative driven at all, the lyrics don't really align with the visuals being portrayed on screen so therefore juxtaposes and contradicts Goodwins' beliefs on the lyrics needing to match up with the visuals in order to create a good music video. However, it could be argued that the lyrics are being represented visually on screen but just in a more stylistic and symbolic way due to the fact that it isn't a narrative style Video. This is because we associate the words Thunder can be categorised as onematapia and therefore is associated with loud and harsh gestures/actions and visually this is happening on screen. If the song lyrics were frequently using words like floats, softly, flowers and gently etc, the song and music video would've felt poorly executed and written but the use of harsh words makes it so the lyrics don't need to be directly visualised on screen for the music video to be complementary of the song and its lyrics. The cuts are also quite fast-paced and frantic in alignment with the fast beat and heavy style of music and lyrics which also hypes up people watching this video and again because you have that sense of unity you feel like you are in the stadium because that essence of the unity between the band and their fans is felt. This is why Versallis's theory can be applied here due to the fact that not only is there no narrative resolution at the end but also because of the unique and frantic editing style I have just discussed. It is exciting and different in comparison to a lot of music videos from pop music of that time period and therefore gives it that USP as it provides spectators with a unique experience when watching this video. Overall, I really enjoy this music video because even though this style has been done several times over the years, it still doesn't dominate the music video genre by any means. Also, the fact that AC/DC was one of the first artists to produce this style of music video makes it all the more iconic and innovative to watch. I also found analysing this video helpful because when making my own music video, thinking back to this one reminded me that I could be more symbolic when coming up with shots for the lyrics of my chosen song when I was struggling to come up with ways to visualise specific lines.

The "All too well" music video by Taylor Swift in 2021 is a 10 minute very strongly narrative-driven style of the music video. It tells the story of her and her ex-boyfriend and the visuals are very reflective of the lyrics as they illustrate them, therefore embodying the core elements of Goodwin's theory about visuals needing to match up with the lyrics as the film quite literally does this for each line. For example, for the lyric "It's supposed to be fun, turning 21" we see the actress playing a young Taylor blow out candles on a birthday cake with the number 21 on it while she looks slightly saddened at the end of the shot. It is also made very fluid and continuous due to the cuts taking the style of a classic film or serial show as they cut after each line of lyric and it progresses chronologically in order to tell the story in a way that audiences find it easy to understand. Once again, this embodies Goodwin's ideology that the visuals should be seen on screen through continuity editing like the basic cuts after each line of music to keep good pacing. It also embodies Goodwin in terms of technical aspects like how important it is not only that the cuts be in sync with the beat and rhythm like I have just explained, but also in the mise-en-scene, colours and lighting etc. It's also shot in a location that is representative of where she used to live to further reinforce the fact that this is telling a story. In this video, these elements perfectly complement each other as the colour pallet and lighting are very soft and warm in this very rustic and cute looking setting to amplify and make clear to the audience that this is a love story which is why all these symbolic and semantic codes that we associate with the stereotypical love story are being portrayed here. Goodwin believes that these elements are crucial in holding together a music video and making it look professional. We can also apply Goodwin again when it comes to his ideas surrounding 'star image' as he believes that an artist's image should be portrayed to make them stand out and have a standard level of consistency so they can brand themselves. We only see Taylor at the very end of the video as she has another actor playing her younger self. However, for Taylor in many of her songs, she tells stories about her past relationships so even though she isn't in it much it is still very online for her branding. Overall, I think that this is another very good and interesting music video as it perfectly embodies and executes Goodwins' ideologies on successful music videos. I think the fact that it is a 10-minute music video but still has very good rewatchability and the themes and atmosphere remain consistent throughout is an achievement in itself and due to the fact that my chosen song is quite repetitive at times and is nearly 5 minutes, this video really helped motivate me and gave me ideas to achieve the same rewatchability especially since my music video is narrative as well.