Andrew Goodwin Analysis

 Andrew Goodwin's Music Video Analysis

Andrew Goodwin was a writer who formed his own theory for music videos, his ideology was that there there are six different convections within a music video. The first being that there is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals, in order to illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics. The second being that there is a relationship between the music/beats of the song shown visually which either amplify, illustrate or contradict the music. The third being that genres and iconography are present in music videos, in order to create recognisable trademarks or reoccurring themes in that artists music. The fourth being the demand of close-ups of the main artist or vocalist by the record companies in order to promote an image or brand of the artist. The fifth being the use of voyeurism used in order to sexualise, objectify or fetishise a person in order to gain sexual interest from the audience. The sixth being the intertextual references to other media texts to target certain audiences, gratifying them if they recognise the link between the video and referenced media text. 

My chosen song to analyse - Hostage by Billie Eilish

1. The relationship between the lyrics and visuals, in order to illustrate, amplify or contradict the lyrics

The lyrics of 'Hostage' by Billie Eilish transport the listener into a perspective of a controlling lover, with lyrics such as 'I wanna hold you like a hostage' and 'I wanna steal your soul' expressing her intense possession of her significant other. These lines signify the haunting narrative that the visuals sculpt, highlighting the themes of possession and love. The visuals are immersive and beautiful, this contradicts the lyrics, morphing an illusion, which gives the song a fitting dark tone.

The music video's visuals are symbolic and contrastingly reflective of the lyrics and themes. The opening wide shot landscape captures an all white room with Billie in centre frame at a far distance with her significant other lying on the floor, this visual sets up the meaning of the song by implying through imagery that Billie is in control as she sits above him from a distance, almost observing him in a creepy manner. This shot is also mirrored at the end of the video, creating a cyclical structure to the narrative by reinforcing Billie's possessiveness as if it were a never ending cycle. The colours used in this visual also contrasts well with the meaning of the lyrics as it gives the illusion of 'purity' and 'innocence' in the beginning, only to show the true dark reality which unravels as the lyrics begin to play. 

The lighting used in the video changes depending upon the intimacy and emotions of the characters, for instance, when Billie is intimate with her significant other the lighting turns a bright red, which is reflective of her intense passion she has for him and also reinforces the power and control she has over him, as red symbolises intensity, seduction and love, all of which are expressed in the lyrics.

           

The cinematography tracks Billie throughout the video, reminding the audience that we are seeing everything through her perspective. The wide smooth camera movements frame the choreography of the two characters as they dance together, capturing both the soft and fluid dance movements, as well as the  aggressive dance movements too, which are mirrors of the lyrics. This balance of love and hate in the shots reflect the toxicity that their relationship has, and shows to us as the audience the fine line between obsession and love that the protagonist feels and expresses in the lyrics. The held focused shots linger on the characters emotions while framing Billie's face as she lip syncs parts both to herself and towards the camera, this emphasises to the audience the importance of the lyrics, as they are reflective of Billie's thoughts, which reinforce the themes of love and and possession as we as the audience become observers into her toxic obsession she has towards her significant other. 

The visuals relationship between the lyrics are also shown symbolically through visual effects. Nearer the end of the music video we witness Billie's significant other become physically suffocated into a wall as she sings 'it's not like me to be so mean you're all I wanted, just let me hold you like a hostage'. This lyric symbolises the suffocation and possessive love that Billie has for her lover, again reinforcing the themes of love and possession expressed in the lyrics. She also stands their in a child manner, which illustrates this line sung in the song, as it reflects the naivety of her love. Another visual that reflects the same symbolism is the last scene of the music video when Billie'e lover becomes forcefully bandaged like a fly in a spider's web, slowly being suffocated. This twisted visual is a metaphor for the song's whole narrative as it summarises visually Billie's control and possession over her lover, as she finally holds him hostage.

A small detail that is reflective of the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals is shown through the costume detail, as both characters wear gold chains, this mirrors the lyrics because throughout the song the reference of gold, specifically gold chains is repeated in the music, for example, some lyrics are 'gold's fake and real love hurts', 'gold chain beneath your shirt' and 'gold on your fingertips'. Another detail that reflects the relationship between the lyrics and visuals is when the lyrics say, 'real love hurts', as this is line is played the significant other of Billie's becomes pushed down to the ground by the ceiling, this visual is reflective of the pain referenced in the lyrics, which contrasts effectively by illustrating the ways in which love is hurtful.

The editing is slow, long tracking shots create fluidity between scenes as if the audience are unaware of the cuts between, this works effectively as it adds to the storytelling in the lyrics, having the scenes flow into one another, as if they were like pages in a book. 

To conclude, the music video has a narrative that fits purposefully and strongly alongside the lyrics as the two characters in the video are reflective of the protagonist and significant lover mentioned in the song. The relationship between these two characters is the storyline's main focus, as we witness the lyrics act as symbolism for the imagery shown in each shot, slowly unfolding the dark and toxic love that the music reflects. The themes of love and possession are captured through the characters dance movements and body language, as Bille is dominant in each intimate moment, the intense bursts of lighting being red, cold blue and warm orange mirror the emotive lyrics and meaning, allowing the audience to be immersed and shown the forceful, passionate and controlling love that the song lyrics express. 

2. There is a relationship between the music and visuals, with the visual illustrating, amplifying or contradicting the music

The relationship between the music and visuals is subtle and partly in time, as we witness the choreography queued with music only at certain points in the song, mostly occurring when there are harmonies. The images below is a still from the music video showing the characters dancing (which was in time with the music). 

The relationship between the music and visuals is also shown through the tempo of the editing. The editing cuts up between long tracking shots and some close ups are timed to the beats in the music, this creates fluidity between the visuals and music. The visuals also contrast frequently with the melodic and harmonised song, as the characters at points aggressively touch hold one another or push each other away, while the music itself is sung softly. This contrast is purposeful as it captures the meaning of the song, showing us as the audience that on the surface the song sounds poetic and beautiful, yet the visuals oppose this, revealing the dark reality of their toxic love. 

The tone of the music is calming, melancholic and soothing, each of these elements are incorporated into the imagery, as certain parts of the choreography are slow, emotional and soft, yet this is also contrasted by the dark visuals too, which depict Bille's significant other to be trapped, held hostage by her possessiveness and control.Throughout these dark visuals the music is sung softly, again deceiving the audience by making them feel conflicted as everything seems so calm, yet the reality is the opposite.

3. Genres are complex and diverse in terms of music video style and iconography  

The genre of this music is pop/electro pop music, although it has mostly a dominant melancholic sound with lots of harmonies, making it hard to pin point a particular genre. The conventions and codes of the audience for a piece of music of this type is to have a story convection where the audience follow a character through their point of view, this is seen in Billie Eilish's music video as she plays herself as the main character, and us as the audience are shown the storyline through her perspective. 

The mise-en-scene of the video would be expected to be thematic and symbolic of the lyrics of the song, this is seen with the imagery references and use of colour in Billie Eilish's music video, as the colours and setting change depending upon the lyrics depiction; enhancing the tone and emotion of the video. 

The location convection of this music type would tend to be a place that is connected or symbolic to the story, as seen with this music video we are throw into the location that puts the audience in a box, observing the characters movements and emotions from various camera angles, this is purposeful to create an entrapped atmosphere in order to be reflective of the music and song lyrics. 

4. Record companies will demand a lot of close ups of their star/performer 

The music video represents Billie Eilish to be very serious and somewhat tormented, this is shown through the repeated close ups capturing her looking thoughtful and down. Micro-elements that feed into this representation are also seen when it focuses upon her body language and movement, although her dancing has been choreographed, the wide shots depict her to be small, as if she is somehow lost mentally, this is also symbolic of the music but its a repeated theme throughout her representation in her other music videos.

The only objectification seen in this music video is implied with the small symbolism through the intimate moments shared between the characters, however this is only used to reference the romantic relationship between the characters in the lyrics and not Billie herself. 

5. Voyeurism

The music video has some elements of voyeurism as the audience are shown intimate moments between the two characters, however, they are located in a setting that is not of 'natural' environment for an ordinary person to be living in or witness, but instead it is a reflection of the entrapment the characters experience, making it less invasive to the viewer as these characters are simply reflections of the lyrics. 

The camera shots move in and out of objects, tracking the characters, as if the audience are given a birds eye view into the setting of these characters, this creates a voyeuristic nature as if we are observers to the characters environment, like scientists watching lab rats in a cage. This voyeuristic nature represents the artist to the audience in a more vulnerable and emotional side, allowing them to be shown into another side of the artist. 

6. There are likely to be intertextual references to other music videos, TV shows, books, movies, games etc.

A still compared from 'When the Party's Over' alongside 'Hostage': 

A still compared from 'Xanny' alongside 'Hostage':

An intertextual reference which I noticed between this music video and two other music videos by Billie Eilish was the reference between the white visuals and symbolism shown through the setting and clothes. The music videos I am referring to are called 'When the Party's Over' and 'Xanny' both Billie Eilish. All three of these songs are similar thematically but also through their tone in dark symbolistic visuals. This reference between the three music videos allows fans to be more connected to the artist as they can create a landscape of meaning and symbolism through her artwork and interpret the links in their own way, creating more of a relationship between the artist and fan. 

To conclude, I believe this music video is unique that it is hard to pin point references from other media forms as it is so specific and personal to the song's meaning, but I do feel it is well intertextually linked to Billie Eilish's other music video, making the videos even more accessible to theorising fans.