Analysing Music Videos Using Goodwin’s Theory (1992)

Iggy Azalea ft. Charli XCX - Fancy

Goodwin’s Theory

• Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.• There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.• There is a relationship between music and visuals.• The demands of the record label will include the need for

lots of close ups of the artist so that the artist may develop motifs.

• There is frequent reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes etc.) and particularly the voyeuristic treatment of women’s bodies.

• There are often intertextual references to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.

“Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.”

Iggy Azalea’s song Fancy falls into the hip hop genre. Music videos for songs in this genre are typically more focused on promoting the artist’s image, specifically their power and wealth. Common aspects in hip hop videos include fancy cars, reference to the artists wealth, showing the artists ‘posse’ connoting power, crowds of people/parties and dancing girls dressed in revealing clothing. The video for Fancy complies to and sometimes opposes the characteristics for the hip hop genre. The majority of hip hop videos show males having the power and present women as disposable. Whereas in Azalea’s video she can been seen as powerful and being dominant over men due to her sexual power. However the video still follows the characteristics of hip hop videos as there is reference to Azalea’s wealth by showing her in an expensive car; common in hip hop videos. We can also see Azalea’s power when she is with her ‘posse’ as the girls surrounding her are focusing on her in some way.

“There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.”The lyrics to the song Fancy boast of Iggy Azalea’s wealth; “Film star, yeah I'm deluxeClassic, expensive, you don't get to touch”. This is illustrated in the video by seeing Azalea in an expensive car and by other props such as the iPad at the beginning and the use of her mobile phone. In addition to this we see her show up at a house where there’s a party and it is made obvious by the establishing shot of the house, whether it is Azalea’s home or one of her friends, of which is not made clear, the owner is wealthy. We also denote from the lyrics that Azalea also has some social power which is show by the attention she receives by both males and females in the video. There is a line in the song that states “like I’m giving lessons in physics” which is sang when she is in a classroom showing a direct illustration of the lyrics. In this shot on the board behind Azalea we can see “best rapper alive” and “best ever” wrote across it again showing Azalea as a person of importance.

“There is a relationship between music and visuals.”

The music is quite simple with a strong beat running through so noticing the shots in the video cut to the beat is quite obvious to the viewer making it interesting and pleasing to watch. There are also a few dance routines to go along to the music where shots cut to the claps and clicks in the song helping to move the dance scenes along with the rest of the video. The music alone could be classed as a typical masculine hip hop song however it is made feminine by Azalea’s vocals and lyrics. The masculine aspect to the song can be shown by the aspects of the video that are common to male hip hop artists video e.g. the expensive car and dancing girls.

“The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist so that the artist may develop

motifs.”

The main focus in the majority of the scenes is Iggy Azalea with some focus on the feature artist Charli XCX. The shots of Azalea vary but the majority are close ups and long shots. The long shots show Azalea’s outfits which usually consist of shorts and mini skirts which will attract the interest of males for the artist. The video uses the male gaze, a theory put forward by Laura Mulvey, to increase popularity and interest in the artist from males. There are also many shots showing Azalea dancing which shows off the other talents of the artist. People see her develop as a performer and not just a singer and are more likely to want to go to one of her concerts.

“There is frequent reference to the notion of looking and particularly the voyeuristic treatment of

women’s bodies.”The notion of looking in introduced within the first few shots of the video. We can see Iggy Azalea on an iPad looking at clothes. Throughout the video we also see lots of different people looking at phone screens.Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory can be seen clearly in the Fancy video. Every girl in the video is wearing a short skirt; this attracts males attention as their eyes are drawn to the women’s legs. The majority of clothing worn by women in the video is also tight showing off their figure which catches the eyes of male viewers and also the males in the video. Azalea’s power in the video is presented as mainly sexual whereas it should be because of her talent. There are also many camera angles that intentionally draw our attention to a woman’s body.

“There are often intertextual references to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.”

The main intertextual reference in the video is to the film Clueless. The video acts almost as a modern remake of the film featuring Iggy Azalea as the main character. The props and costumes fit in with the 90’s style of the movie. Azalea’s yellow tartan outfit is key to people recognising the connection between the film Clueless and the music video. The video opens with a title screen that mirrors that from Clueless and also establishes the theme for the video.