Andrew Goodwin Theory
Devlin-Community Outcast
I will be analysing a music video using Andrew Goodwin's six point approach. By doing this I will gain understanding of how music video directors create a good music video. In the video the artist expresses issues with society and offering empathy for people in certain situations, which will be explored through the use of Goodwin's theory.
GENRE CHARACTERISTICS
The genre which the artist Devlin mainly produces is Grime. The genre was established in the 20th century in East London. There are typical conventions which appear in grime music videos. Crime, Drug dealing, sex, gangs and the streets are all things which appear in grime lyrics. These things also appear in the videos, as well as underground locations, violence, status of possessions and money. The artist in this track had created a meaningful song by illustrating problems which are wrong with the world.
This mid-long shot shows two men, one man if giving the other drugs to sell. Drug dealing is typical within grime music videos.
A mid-long shot shows a drug dealer retrieving his stash from a secret place.
This is a mid shot with the artist in the foreground, and a council estate in the background. An artist establishing which area they live in is very common in grime videos. Different estates in London are used regularly in grime videos.
A mid long shot is used to show a boy retrieving his drugs. This camera shot illustrates two conventions of grime, the first being criminal activity and the second is the underground location.
An entourage is a theme which occurs in grime music videos. However the artist is usually accompanied by a gang of people his/her age. The fact that the people are young kids helps the artist to engage the audiences with the lyrics. Tracksuits, hats, trainers and chain necklaces are also a theme of costume in grime videos.
Confrontation between two people, two area postcodes or two gangs is a theme in grime. This mid long shot shows the men walking into each other.
The same shot is chosen, here after they bump in to each other they staring at each other angrily.
Graffiti is a characteristic of grime music videos. This mid long shows a drug dealer counting this money with the graffiti next to him.
This mid-long shot shows the artist in an underground location, the walls are covered in graffiti. The graffiti shows a characteristic of grime, how teenagers and young adults take part in things such as graffiti, violence and crime. Through the directors choice of camera shots and the artists lyrics the problems with society of shown.
NOTION OF LOOKING
CLOSE UPS- DEMANDS OF RECORD LABEL
The demands of the record company means that the artist's music video contains a lot a close ups of the artist. This video does not do this; a reason for this could be that the artist is trying to get the audiences to concentrate on the meaning behind the lyrics more than his self. This idea is likely as it is a deep song.
This video contains a wide variety of shots which include the artist, however only a few of these include close-ups. There are close-up's of other characters which are acting out his lyrics within the video, these close-up's help to show the characters emotions. The reason for this may be to express what is wrong with society and the struggles of lower class British citizens, instead of the video being all about the artist.]
This are the only close-up's of the artist in this music video, which is unusual for music videos, especially grime music as there is a big emphasis on the artist, the close-up's help to shown the artists emotions of anger and frustration.
As you can see there are far more close-up's of the other characters than the artist himself. This shows how he has deviated from the normal convention of loads of close-ups of the artist. It also shows how the artist is more determined to get his feeling across in the video than fame and the demands of record labels. In all the close-up's of other people, it shows there pain and suffering, the artist is trying to portray the bad things which are wrong with society by doing this.
RELATIONSHIP BEWTWEEN LYRICS & VISUALS
The lyrics in this song express empathy from the artist to the listeners. He shows understanding with homeless people, single mums, old people who have companions and family and lower-class society. The artist himself comes from a low poverty area; in this song as well as other songs and music videos his home town Dagenham is shown. By doing this the artist shows how he is proud of where he comes from and realises the problems with society.
There is a strong relationship between the music and visuals in this music video, the artist repeats the phrase I represent...and ends this with single-mums, old folk, the homeless, people been made redundant. Each of their categories which he mentions in the lyrics have been shown in the video by a montage of different shots from all of their stories mixed together to create his opinion of the bad things in society.
'I REPRESENT FOR THE HOMELESS, LET DOWN BY THE NATION, MORE INTERSTED IN WAR AND INVASION' The lyrics are explaining how the nation is responsible for the bad things in life. The two images express this point clearly, there is a mid shot of a homeless person, and this shot contains props of a cardboard box and sleeping bag. These two things are represented with homeless people, the second image is American soldiers putting up a flag, and this shot shows how the government is more interested in war than the people of society. The images directly relate to the lyrics.
'WARMING THIER HANDS WITH THE FLIP AND FLAMES OF A LIGHTER' this is talking about homeless people; they are so cold that they have to heat up their hands on a lighter. There is a close-up of a homeless person's hands, sparking a lighter to get the heat. The artist’s lyrics are directly related to the visual story that the audience can see.
THEY WISH THEY COULD CALL THIER MOMMY, TO PUT A HOME MEAL IN THEIR TUMMY, SO AT NIGHT WHEN THE TEMPEATURE DROPS, IM ASKING YOU REMEMBER WHAT YOU GOT'! These lines, along with the images that go along with it, are engaging the audience to think about how lucky they are to have a warm house, clothes, food est. These are all things people take for granted, the artist is explaining how there are people who have nothing. The visuals relate to this well. There is a fast paced montage shown whilst these words are being rapped, they give the audience an idea of what it would be like if they had no home, by the chosen images of homeless people. He has done this to show people how lucky they are.
'I REPRESENT FOR THE JOBLESS, THAT HAVE BEEN MADE REDUNDANT' This is followed by a number of pictures which explain the financial difficulties lower and upper-class citizens are experiencing in Britain today. There in a mid shot of women with her face in her hands, on the table there are sheets of papers. The audience take it upon themselves to see these papers as bills and money which they have to pay; this image has a strong relationship with the lyrics.
'EVER SINCE THE HUSBNAD AND WIFE BOTH LOST THIER JOBS IN LONDON, NOW THEY FEEL FINANCIALLY TRAPPED, NOW ARE LOCKED WITH THE RATS IN A DINGY OLD DUNGEON' The lyrics here explain how people in Britain are financially struggling to cope, this is due to being made redundant by employees. This expresses the difficulties many people are experiencing. The second part of the sentence has certain words which our connotations of the story line: RATS, TRAPPED, DINGY OLD DUNGEON. These key words are describing the character, after losing his job he has no other option than to make illegal money. He is now trapped in a circle he does not want to be in with bad people. The theme of drug dealing does occur in grime videos, but it is not common for artists to portray the activity in this way. The images show him drug dealing, and the lyrics explain that the goverment is the reason for this.
SINGING ON AND THE GOVERMENT SAY THAT HIS FAMILY ARE SPONGERS, HE'S LIKE 'DAMN MAN, WE AINT GOT A PENNY OR A POUND, LET ALONE MONEY FOR NAPPIES, TRAINERS OR JUMPERS. This is a reference to prejudice opinions that lower class people are often criticised for, people in government and society often see people who claim benefits as 'spongers', people who through choice decide not to work and get money of the government. These lyrics are showing how some people who are victimised do not won’t to claim giro, or commit crime, it is in fact the nation who has made that happen. The two images show a drug dealer stashing his supply and a typical London Council estate; this has a relationship with lyrics as it is giving an example of the sort of people that are faced with this prejudice. Also the extent people have to go to get money because they have no job is explored.
'HE GOT TAKEN OFF-SITE BECAUSE ITS CHEAPER TO PAY EUROPIANS TO LABOUR IN NUMBERS' The visuals following this is of a British workplace for labourers. The lyrics and visuals both express a difficulty many British work-men are experiencing. Some people feel that Eastern European workers are able to do jobs for people at a much lower cost than before; this is causing a great number of British men to lose their jobs.
'HOW'S HE GONNA TAKE CARE OF HIS YOUNGERS?' This statement is one which many working, lower-class people worry about. There is so much poverty and hurt going on in Britain today, and many people from working-class homes are loosing their jobs. This brings along the worry for many people of what effect this will have on the children in this generation. Due to the government and society, children from council estates and low poverty areas may not get the right support they need. An image of children from a council esate is shown to express this point.
'I REPRESENT SINGLE MUMS, ALL ALONE ON THIER OWN' this is followed by an image of a young-single mum walking down the street. Single-parent families are growing faster in contemporary Britain; the lyrics explain difficulties single-mums experience.
'TRYING TO PUT FOOD IN THE MOUTHS OF HER TWO SONS, AND THE FATHERS GONE, THERES NO CASH FLOW, LACK OF INCOME. BUT THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS' This is illustrating a single-mum, struggling to feed her two children, with no support from the father. This is a big problem for single mums, by law the father of children should pay child support money to the mother, without this anyone from a lower class home will struggle with bills, clothing and food. The juxta-position of shots are put together to show a mother counting her money, her child is looking up at her. There is a mi-long shot showing the waitress in a fish and chip shop saying no.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MUSIC AND VISUALS
In this music video, there is not a massive relationship between the visuals and the music. In music videos which are of the rock genre, there is a stronger relationship; there will almost defiantly be guitars and drums playing in a rock song. This helps a strong relationship as there are significant cuts and transactions at the same time as the music; I hope to incorporate that relationship into my coursework project. However, I did manage pick up on a few points from this music video.
A typical grime song will have a fluent beat throughout the song, this song has this convention of a grime song. Other instruments have been used in this video, which would not normally occur in a grime track, these are a violin and a piano. The beat and piano start at the same time within the music video, these two elements of sound do not regularly appear together in music. There are over artists of similar genres which have used a hybrid of genre. From this I can see that a mix of different genres and technical aspects which do not normally put together can go well.
BELOW IS A LINK TO A SONG WHICH HAS MIXED CLASSICAL WITH RAP:
There is a violin playing in the chorus, and a piano in the verses, this is put together so that the artist introduction and main part of the song is paid strong attention to. The chorus is the artist showing empathy toward 'people let down by a nation', he is explaining how he and so many others feel the pain from how society is today. The chorus includes more shots and an image of the artist than it does in the verses.
There are no significant cuts which have a relationship to the music within this music video. The use of violins may be seen as calming for some people, the director may have chosen this to contradict the roughness and truth of the song.
The artist introduces he and the song before it starts, and dedicates the song to 'all the characters that have been forgotten at the present time', this introduction immediately builds an enigma for the audience as to what the song is about. The violin begins to play at the beginning of the song, after the build; there is one strong significant relationship between music and visuals that I found. Before the first verse starts there is a fast paced sound, which could be an instrument or special effect. Suspense is built up, a shot of the sun behind the cloud is used, the camera zooms in and the only use of colour is a shot of blue before it cuts to the artist. The use and sound and the camera effects make an effective beginning to an open video.
INTERTEXTUAL REFERENCES
Generally in music videos, there are a number of intertextual references which refer films, TV programmers and other films. For example, The Killers song- Mr Brightside is referring to the box office film Moulin Rouge. In this video, I did not find any references to films, TV programmes or any other form of media.
However, some of the conventions and locations which have been used in this video can also be found in other music videos of a similar genre.
KANO- P'S & Q'S
The artist Kano is notorious in the grime music scene. He was one of the first grime artists in East London, as well as artists such as Wiley, Frisco and Jammer. Locations similar to the ones in Devlin's music video are scene in his music video. This shows how the artist could have took inspiration from some of previous grime artist music videos.
The use of a street location is used here, which is also used in Community Outcast.
Images of council estates and tower blocks are used here, in Community Outcast and many other grime music videos. This shows how artists of similar genres, take inspiration from each other.
One other intertextual reference that I found in this music video, was references to war. As the line 'LET DOWN BY A NATION, MORE INTERESTED IN WAS & INVASION' is spoken, three images relating to war is shown to the audience. The second image is well known, it is the image used to shown that America defeated Japan in war. This image helps the artist to express his feeling about the government, and how they put war and invasion before the British Society. The first image which is shown is a soldier, he is in full army kit; there is a peace sign which has been drawn onto his hand. This contradicts itself, as war is not represented to the public as being a peaceful thing. This makes the audience think about how the government portray war, and is it for the good of mankind or the bad.
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