1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics.
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals.
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals.
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.
5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference.
Using Goodwin's theory to analyse Christina Aguilera's music video 'Candyman'.
Institutional/reference information ....
"Candyman" is a song by Christina Aguilera. It was written by Aguilera herself and Linda Perry for Aguilera's fifth studio album, Back to Basics. RCA Records released it as the album's third single in early 2007.
It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at 2008 Grammy Awards.
The music video was directed by Matthew Rolston and Aguilera herself, and is based on a 1940s World War II theme. The music video received a MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Direction at 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.
Matthew Rolston
There are many examples throughout this song that show a relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
eg: "He really had me working up an appetite"
This shows the three Christina's rubbing there bellies as if they were hungry.
eg: "We drank Champagne"
This again shows the three characters carrying out an action that compliment the lyrics. This time they are pretending to drink the 'champagne'.
The relationship between music and visuals .....
It is definitely clear that throughout the video does indeed cut to the beat.
From 0:11-0:13 there is a very small instrumental solo and this is illustrated by the video.
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The music stays the same pace the whole way through meaning that the video stays at this same pace too.
Close-ups of the artist and star image motifs.....
It is evident that the record label are trying to sell this track in a number of ways. Not only through using a catchy song but also through performance, theme and camera work.
The image of the artist that is being offered is a look back to World War II and the artist starts off by playing a singing trio, tributes to the Andrews sisters. In this video, Aguilera comes across as an innocent but desired war girl looking for a boy. This promotes Christina's sexual image, promoting her music.
In many of Aguilera's videos, voyeurism is present, especially in the video dirrty which i discussed earlier on in my blog.
There are many close-ups of Christina in this video.
This is a shot used frequently whilst Christina sings and delivers the lyrics to the audience. ............
There is also a lot of eye contact with the camera/audience to create a relationship between the viewer and the character. This engages them into the song even further enticing them and promoting them to buy into the music and overall image of the star.
Reference to the notion of looking......
There is a very big sense that the artist is on sexual display throughout the music video. Especially as throughout the video it is the 'Soldiers'/men of the war that are watching and enjoying the desirable and provocative performance she is giving off.
Men enjoying and cheering on the stars performance.
Although this next image is not of the main star, the camera angle and costume show the woman underwear, putting her on desirable and sexual display.
Again this next image is not of the main star however it shows another character serving the 'men' drinks, wearing clothing that exposes her legs.
Aguilera's legs and underwear are exposed in this next shot and the camera is at a low angle causing the view of this shot to focus on the exposed body parts.
This blue two piece outfit that Christina wears is especially sexual. Showing a lot of her legs and stomach. The top half is also quite low cut showing her cleavage.
Intertextual features.....
As mentioned before it is based on a 1940s World War II theme and in the music video, she dances and sings in three different hair colors - red, blonde and brown, a singing trio, which is a tribute to the Andrews Sisters.
In another scene, Christina appears as the famous biceps-flexing factory worker from Westinghouse's "We Can Do It!" poster!!
She appears in scenes inspired by pin-up girls such as Judy Garland, Betty Grable, and Rita Hayworth.
Music Video performance-based or narrative-based? ......
The video shows that it is both performance and narrative-based. There is a clear concept of World War II in which there are many stories and films about finding love during the war. The video is also however, very performance based with good acting and good choreography throughout!
Both these factors and other things discussed prove that this is a successful music video that has sold well and produces a lot of revenue, which is one of the main reasons for producing music nowadays!
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