Nafisat Ishola - G324 Media Coursework: Andrew Goodwins Theory

Andrew Goodwins Theory

1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.

Adele is a 23 year old English singer, she is mostly known for her record breaking album track ‘Someone Like You’, which stayed number one for four consecutive weeks. Her genre includes Soul, Pop and Soft ballads; these are written by her and mainly about the trials and tribulations that she faces in life and how she channels them through her music. She depicts a sense of edginess yet being calm and this makes her have a mainstream target audience, as teenagers and young adults love her music and so do the much older generation. In the vast majority of her music videos we see her emotions through her facial expression, close up and body language as she sings the songs in depth, also a piano is seen in many of her videos; this conveys she’s very into.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.

Someone Like You Lyrics:

I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.

Old friend, why are you so shy?
Ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light.

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
"I'll remember", you said,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead,
Yeah.

You know how the time flies
Only yesterday it was the time of our lives
We were born and raised
In a summer haze
Bound by the surprise of our glory days

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I had hoped you'd see my face and that you'd be reminded
That for me it isn't over, yeah.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
"I'll remember", you said,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.

Nothing compares
No worries or cares
Regrets and mistakes
They are memories made.
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
"I'll remember", you said,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.

Never mind, I'll find someone like you
I wish nothing but the best for you too
Don't forget me, I beg
"I'll remember", you said,
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead

Adele reportedly said this song was she was struggling emotionally when she composed the song. She had broken up with her boyfriend whom she had been in a relationship with for over a year. They were in love and planned to get married, a few month after they spilt he got engaged to someone else; this broke her deeply and lead her to write a chart topping and award breaking song.

The song talks about her coming to terms with the break up and her heartache; this is depicted in her lyrics. Words such as you, love, mistakes, regrets, remember and I beg are constantly repeated to emphasise how she is feeling.

There is a slight relationship between the lyrics and visual as it isn’t amplifying or contradicting but slightly illustrative. One can say this isn’t your conventional music video, as it simply shows her walking around an isolated area near a lake. We see the use of camerawork being mainly focused on to show her facial expressions and emotions. Extreme close ups, close up, establishing shots and medium long shots are mainly used in the shot. When looking at Goodwin’s theory we would say this music video is illustrative because its explaining how she felt through different codes and conventions such as her non-verbal communication.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.

There isn’t an obvious relationship between the lyric and the visuals as the artist talks more about the guy whom she broke up with, she refers to this person as ‘you’. Typically we would expect to see a guy with a new woman laughing and living their daily lives as she looks and ponders over them.

We can see slight relationship when she looks into the camera we notice her talking to the audience and her ex saying ‘Dont forget me I beg..’. We also see when she says ‘Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead’, we see an establishing shot of the location she is at. It’s almost as if she’s reflecting on their relationship and thinking as the camera focuses on the sky.

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).

Close-ups are repeatedly used in Adele’s music video; this is because the camera is trying to convey to the audience how she feels, though as mentioned before feelings and emotions through her facial expressions. The camera is restricted as it only focuses on her face and not any other part of her body. One could say that the recurring motif if there is one would be as mentioned before, how we see establishing shots of the location she is, then straight after a close up of her face and her looking into the camera. This pattern illustrate that this is where she is in her life now but she’s moving on even though she’s hurt. This appeal to the target audience as they can see the connection with the lyrics to video and the artist.

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 intertexual reference (to film, TV programmes, other music videos etc).

The video is shot in Paris and because Adele’s video is mainly about her and her ex partner we only see some intertexual reference to one film. ‘The Pink Panther 2’ is shot in Paris and has similar shots of the Eiffel Tower that Adele also has in her video. We also see some famous attractions in the road she’s walking on, like a famous bridge in Paris called the ‘Pont Alexander III’ which features statues going across and at both sides, and lamps all the way across the bridge. The director of her video Jake Nava reportedly said ‘The location evokes style and romance. And shooting early in the morning allows you to focus on Adele in this lonely and emotional space.’ The whole video being shot in black and white also adds to the atmosphere and her emotions.

Adele's Video