ANALYSIS of 4 music videos - Goodwin Theory

I found this song called "Fleur East -SAX " which is a dance -pop song and she is a female  singer, similar to our music video genre and style, so I chose to look at one of her music videos using Goodwin's textual analysis theory. The video is nearly all performance/stage based, with the part of green screen and busy background with dancers.The  background making it more interesting, asides from the obvious stylistic feature of being animated and very hyped and upbeat music video.

Genre Characteristics

Although the video is a dance video it is entirely animated, there are dance-pop features. There are several close-ups of the female singer and there is a heavy beat playing at he background which starts within 2 sec of the video. We also see Dancers at the background dancing however you don't see instruments but you see the female character singing. 

Relationship between lyrics & visuals

The video fits the feel of the song which is about a boy and girl relationship and she is singing about "give it to me" in the chorus showing her confidence and shows the dominance she has over men and you can see that through the lyrics and the performance she was giving on camera. . There are lots of references to the song's lyrics throughout the video as lyrics and there is a heavy beat at the background throughout the song and you can see the female singing and dancing which compliments the performance.


The demands of a record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist, in order to make the audience more identifiable with the their target audience. In addition, the artist may also develop motifs which would recur across their work (a visual style).
Even though the video is an animated and the background, there is a  lead singer and you dont see the people who is playing the instrumental, and from the start it includes a lot of close up showing off her makeup and her hair and clothing which goes with the background and the music of the beat. 

Are there references to the notion of looking? 

 In this music video the female seems dominant as she isint wearing anything sexual or showing off her skin because she is clothed in mature clothes showing she doesnt need boys as it the song narrative is saying boys need to "pull there socks up "The lead singer is drawn wearing quite casual, not particularly feminine clothing, but her shorts are very short and there are still close-ups of her body and there is a part when she is wearing red and all her other dancers who are female showing the representing the female colour. . for example a medium close up of her waist and upwards , showing how music videos can manage to have a sexualised, voyeuristic feel even though the song seems very pop and high beat. 

 There is no intextuality reference in this music video as it is just a dancing music video .



I found a singer named " KDA-turn the music louder(rumble)ft Tinie Temper" who are electro song  and she is a female singer(Katy B) who is leading the song KDA is a DJ who is not seen in this music video  , this is similar to our music video genre and style, so I chose to look at one of their music videos using Goodwin's textual analysis theory. The video is nearly all performance based, with a studio based song asides from the obvious stylistic feature of the background is not animated and it is actually the background.

Genre Characteristics
Although the video is quite unconventional in that it is entirely done in a production studio, there are still dance pop style . There are several close-ups of the female. There is rapper in this video showing two different genre coming together.
We also see the camera changing settings and it is visual and you cannot see the  performing with their instruments and you only see the singer and the rapper , like we would find in many pop songs nowadays . The song seems very pop and upbeat and very retro which matches the dance moves as the song refers to "turn the music louder" which shows they are having a good time. There is no animated background which seems different and the director seems to don't mind that you can see the studio when he turns to another setting. The clothing also shows the genre it is pop as the girl is wearing very colourful clothing but it shows there is a rapper in this music video as he is dressed in black and he is wearing a large jacket referring to a rapper.

Relationship between lyrics & visuals

The video sort of fits the feel of the song which is about a having fun and turning the music louder. There are lots of references to the song's lyrics throughout the video as lyrics are very repetitive and they seemed like they were dancing around being normal as the singing doesn't go very high and fast.  This is reflected in the video as  woman is dancing with her dancers . This could be seen as quite empowering for woman, as the male rapper doesn't have dancers with him and shows that female has more power and domination.

Relationship between music &visuals
The cuts in the video often correspond with drum beats as the music is very retro and repetitive and makes the chorus very repetitive . At the more electro part of the music the performers are more dancing and there is more movements and the camera shows exactly whos singing as the camera goes to the singer or rapper and changes swiftly to the twp performers. The song is very upbeat and the camera angle is using tracking to move around the set which is divided into 4 and it is going around showing different designs. However, it doesn't show the ceiling or higher up only focuses on the performer.There are dancers who are dancing to the beat of the song and there are some choreographed dance routine.As the song continuously gains momentum,the song seems to get louder and more urgent.

Are there close-ups of the artist and star image motifs?
Throughout this music video there are little close ups which dont happen often but its often  there when the person is singing. Of the a female lead singer and other performer are shown when it is there part . .They are also dressed mainly in black and white and photographed in front of a red and white abstract , suggesting that the colouring of the video is intentional and perhaps a running theme for the song .

Are there references to the notion of looking?

The lead singer is drawn wearing quite casual but some feminine clothes on because she is wearing short and heels , which is very feminine, but her shorts are very short and there are still close-ups of her body. However , the camera doesn't show the close up of the clothing the male rapper is wearing as it doesn't show any voyeurism.

Are there intertextual references?

There is no Intertextual reference as this is made in the studio and it seemed like there was no high production value to this music video.


I chose this music video called "Domino-Jessie J" who is a female singer, similar to our music video genre and style, so I chose to look at one of their music videos using Goodwin's textual analysis theory. The video is nearly all performance based, and it has moving background . This song is a summer ,pop and a upbeat song .

Genre Characteristics
In this music video it is a dance -pop genre .There are several close-ups of the the female singer , how ever you dont see the instruments playing . 
We also see long shots to see the background which matches the costume of the female singer. You can tell this is a pop song because she is dancing around and singing and changing costumes and the colour compliments the whole music . The clothing and styling of the music video shows it is a fun , pop music as she wears colourful clothing and heavy makeup but in a feminine way.

Relationship between lyrics & visuals

"Domino" has a beat that was described as "funky and disco-like" - The Video fits the music because it has block colours which has the same colours within her music.
The video fits the feel of the song which is about having fun and enjoying life and dancing around.

 There are lots of references to the song's lyrics throughout the video for example she sings "dancing in the moonlight" where she is dancing with the beat . Throughout the whole song she is by herself there is no opposite gender and this shows the dominance of the female character.There were many close ups into the females face and her lipstick because she wore studs on her lips which the camera emphasized well. This shows her characteristics as a star image.





I found this music video called "This is how we do - Katy Perry" who  is a female pop singer, similar to our music video genre and style, so I chose to look at one of their music videos using Goodwin's textual analysis theory. The video is nearly all performance based, with more studio and moving background work .

Genre Characteristics
Although the video is quite busy , there are still pop music  signifiers. There are several close-ups of the female singer , showing off their musical skills .We also see a wider shot of the (animated) characters like a cartoon ice cream and watermelon walking .  We dont see any instruments but we see performers at the background dancing.The clothing and styling is very interesting as the background and the foreground is really busy and her style of fashion seems very unusual and fun which suggest it is a pop,age appropriate song. According to the director, he was trying to "fully interpret the pop nature of Katy Perry, because he hadn't done any straight down the line pop videos before.His idea was to make a pop video but to keep some edge to it, and make it feel like it was pop art. It was a studio-based shoot where we used lots of animation and props, and then each line of the song had its own little vignette. The director wanted to do something that was close to the work he has  already done. He likes mixed media, jumping between live action and animation, and he focus more on design."

This video showed many dominance of a woman as the male is on there knees and the females are the chair this shows the power of the female in this music video. The whole mise-en-scene shows variation of colours and costume because it is quite funky and for example in this picture you can see fish floating around and it creates a scene of being in a sea. 

Are there intertextual references?

The anime-cartoon style of the video is obviously a huge intertextual reference as it refers to a game or a character within the song.