Task 8 - Theory

Andrew Goodwin 

'Music videos are simply an extension of the lyrics'

In some examples this theory is proved true by either a literal interpretation or a metaphorical interpretation.

An example of a literal interpretation is;

An example of a metaphorical interpretation is;




In some examples this theory can be proved wrong as artists occasionally take a more abstract approach that is irrelevant to the lyrics, can have a comedy effect or a focusing on the visual aspects like camera and editing.

An example of this is;



In conclusion this theory is not specifically true as videos have developed to be more abstract and tell a story in a different way than a literal interpretation but his theory can be applied to some videos.

Carol Vernallis

Narrative: Carol says 'The visual should be based upon the lyrics'. Whether it is through the performance or narrative or a mix of both she feels as it is always relevant to the lyrics. She also says regardless to the narrative everything will draw you to the performer for example if the song is a literal story the shots of the artist/performer will be more dominant.

Diegesis: 'How a story is created with in a video' ' The world within the music video'. These views can be shown through repetition, gaps in time, performance and narrative.

Camera shots: Music videos try to avoid mid shots. Adopted speed of filming and camera movements. Meaning that the camera movements will be at the speed of the music.

Editing: 'Will be left in a state of disjuncture'. This meaning that the editing is disconnected and can cut back to shots already featured or the used of fast cuts between various shots. 

This task has allowed me to realise that there are different ways to perceive a music video. The information on filming that Carol Vernallis says about the lack of mid shots and how the camera movements should be is really useful as I can use this in my video as I feel it would be effective,