Andrew Goodwin - Dancing In The Distraction Factory (1992)

Goodwin's theory in his book "Dancing In The Distraction Factory" (1992) states that there are a set of six key features which apply to all music videos, all music videos have at least one of these aspects if not more.

A relation between lyric and visuals:
In this aspect, we look at how the lyrics associated with the visuals, how a narrative is formed if there is a storyline that the viewer will follow, and if that story is loose knit or tight with a very clear message. This can be done in one of these three (or more than one):

Illustrated:
Examples of lyrics being illustrated are when you can see the action that the lyric is - if the lyrics were "I close my eyes" you would see someone on screen close there eyes. The lyrics could be seen on screen, or a very common one, the lyrics could be lip synced.

In "Graffiti On The Train" you can see the lyrics being illustrated by them being both lip-synced and appear on the screen throughout the entire video. 

Amplified:

This is where the lyrics are stressed on screen. If the lyrics again were "I close my eyes" instead of seeing someone close their eyes, you would see the effect of it. The screen would go black or some lights would turn off to make the room darker. 

This can be seen in Katy Perrys "Firework" where she sings the lyrics "Cause, baby you're a firework" whilst fireworks shoot out of her. I believe this amplifies her lyrics as it shows the effects of her metaphorical lyrics becoming a reality.

Contradicted:

This is where the video show's the opposite of what the lyrics are trying to convey. A way this could be done is if you were to have a music video of someone crying their eyes out to Pharell Wiliams' "Happy".

A relation between music and visuals:
Much like the previous video elements, here we are looking at how the music and visuals of a video create a narrative and a story for the viewer and what effect this has.

Illustrated:
Much like the lyrics, the music can be illustrated on screen, this can be done by having people play the instruments you can hear on screen. If you could hear a piano, you would illustrate this by having someone play the piano in the video.

In Slipknots "Psychosocial" you can see the music being illustrated with the band playing their instruments on screen in this music video, you can see each guitar strum or drum hit matching up with what you can hear.

Amplified:

This is where you would show the effect on the music, usually in a creative way. If there were a cymbal crash in the song, you could amplify this with a plate being smashed, or someone being slapped.

In The Chemical Brothers' "Star Guitar" the music is amplified throughout the entire song with new objects coming into shot in time with the song. Walls get higher as effects are added, the train pulls up to the station and you see people when the vocals start, new objects are brought onto the screen the match the beat.

Contradicted:

You'd contradict the music in a music video by showing something on screen that doesn't match what the music feels like, you could have someone playing acoustic guitar in a meadow for a music video for a heavy metal song. In this sense, to contradict the music for a music video, you use juxtaposition.

Genre:
Goodwin states that there are five types of genres for a music video.

Stadium Performance:
This is when the music video is shot in a stadium/arena. A setting where the band would play, where you would go see them live.

An example of this would be Avenged Sevenfold's "This Means War" where it shows scenes of them performing live at a stadium in front of their fans, even including the fans shouting and chanting during the song in the official music video as well as close-ups of the audience to give the viewers a feel of what it would be like to watch them live in the crowd.

Studio Performance:

This genre of music video is where the viewers see the artists in the recording studio giving the viewers a feel as they are part of the process of recording the music itself.

An example of this would be "Moment" by Roses & Revolutions where you see them recording their song with all their instruments mic'd up whilst they play giving the viewers a feel of what it would be like to record with them.

Location:

This is when a music video is filmed in a famous location such as New York, London or Paris as these famous locations are places the viewers could also visit and easily recognisable. 

Narrative:

This type of music video is when a story is played out to the music, which usually encodes a deeper meaning to the song/lyrics for the audience to follow. The narrative can include the artists themselves our other people such as actors, dancers or even everyday people. The narrative can have a clear meaning of what it's trying to convey or it can keep it's meaning vague, allowing it to be open to interpretation and allowing the audience to connect their own feelings to it. 

Sia's "Elastic Heart" has a narrative which is vague, allowing the audience to discuss their own ideas what the music video is about, this has surfaced many ideas on what this music video is about from Sia's relationship to her dad, how people can be animalistic to even pedophilia.

Conceptual/Experimental:

These music videos break regular conventions of music videos creating their new artistic ways of presenting their music.

In "Cornflake" by Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, you can see an extremely experimental animated music video. It uses a lot of vibrant colours, weird animation style and a narrative which you'd have to be an active audience to fully understand, stuff a passive audience wouldn't understand especially as this song focuses mostly on the music rather than lyrics.

Voyeurism:

Voyeurism is the objectification of men and women in music videos in order to get a certain element of appeal for the viewers. This however often applies far more to women than men and despite it causing an uproar with feminists, it continues to happen. This often happens in intimates locations such as a bedroom or bathroom so that the viewers can gain a higher sense of voyeurism.

Voyeurism can be clearly seen in Rhianna's "Stay" as we see her naked in a bathtub with lots of fragmentation of her body allowing the audience to see things they would never normally get the chance to see.

Star Iconography:
Star iconography refers to the representation of the "characters" in the video which is often the band members/artists. They are represented in a way that shines them in the spotlight - it is often the singers that are focused on as they are the "voice" of the band/their name which is what is recognised by their fans. they are in the spotlight in order to get their face out into the public and be seen as "stars" in their fans eyes as well as gain further credibility.

Intertextuality:
This is where the music video references other music videos, films or tv shows. This can be done either as a homage where reference it to pay respects to the creators, a pastiche where they mimic it in a sarcastic way or even as a parody where they make fun of the original.

Intertextuality can be seen throughout Charli XCX & Troye Sivan "1999" where they reference popular music videos, films and tv shows all from the 90s.