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Goodwin’s Music Video Analysis Andrew Goodwin identified 5 key aspects that feature prominently in music videos, in his book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’: 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band). 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). 4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). 5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. 6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV

Goodwin analysis: Kanye West - Stronger

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Page 1: Goodwin analysis: Kanye West - Stronger

Goodwin’s Music Video AnalysisAndrew Goodwin identified 5 key aspects that feature prominently in music videos, in his book ‘Dancing in the Distraction Factory’:

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

Page 3: Goodwin analysis: Kanye West - Stronger

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (e.g. stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band).

•Features footage of Kanye West rapping towards the camera, demonstrating genre characteristics of a hip hop video.•He is also wearing jewellery to an extent, with a white wristwatch and pair of customized, designer sunglasses – again very typical of a music video that falls under the rap/hip hop genre.•There is also the presence of motorbikes, which again follows the genre characteristic of having luxury items in hip hop videos (e.g. yachts, expensive cars etc.)

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2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

“But I know that God put you in front of me” – There is an illustrative relationship between lyrics and visuals here, with Kanye approaching the model/singer Cassie in the video

“Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” – The song is based around a sample of French electronic music duo Daft Punk’s song ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’. When the sample comes to forefront of the music, the members of Daft Punk are shown, showing an illustrative relationship between lyrics and visuals

Page 5: Goodwin analysis: Kanye West - Stronger

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).

•There is frequent footage of Kanye and Cassie dancing in the time to the rhythm of the song, showing an illustrative relationship between the music and visuals•The feel of the song is quite futuristic, given that it has a heavy electro/house influence, despite being a hip hop track. This mood is amplified in the video (which was shot in Tokyo, Japan), with shots of Kanye lying in a high-tech machine which is being operated by Daft Punk, shots of Kanye and Cassie dancing in clubs with lots of L.E.D. lighting, and various shots of people on motorbikes driving around Tokyo at night, followed by illuminated beams

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4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style).

There are frequent uses of close-up shots of Kanye’s face, featuring him rapping along to the lyrics of the song, promoting him as the artist in the video

Kanye is wearing a pair of Alain Mikli sunglasses throughout the video, which he requested from the designer specifically for the video. The sunglasses have since become somewhat a trademark of West’s, who for a period of time, often wore them for performances since the release of the video

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5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.

•The singer/model Cassie is featured frequently in the video, dancing to the song, being shown in a quite voyeuristic manner.•Her appearance is a homage to Japanese fashion, adding to the Japanese feel/vibe of the video, alongside the shots of Tokyo streets•There are uses of ‘screens within screens’ shots via images of Daft Punk looking at Cassie with their computers

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6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

•Much of the scenes featured in the music video are a stylized homage to the legendary Japanese anime film ‘Akira’, released in 1988, alongside the more traditional scenes expected from a rap/hip hop video

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6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

•Much of the scenes featured in the music video are a stylized homage to the legendary Japanese anime film ‘Akira’, released in 1988, alongside the more traditional scenes expected from a rap/hip hop video

Page 10: Goodwin analysis: Kanye West - Stronger

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

•Much of the scenes featured in the music video are a stylized homage to the legendary Japanese anime film ‘Akira’, released in 1988, alongside the more traditional scenes expected from a rap/hip hop video

Page 11: Goodwin analysis: Kanye West - Stronger

6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

•Much of the scenes featured in the music video are a stylized homage to the legendary Japanese anime film ‘Akira’, released in 1988, alongside the more traditional scenes expected from a rap/hip hop video