A2 EVALUATION

Our music video's primary function is a marketing tool to sells the album. It is a crucial part of a package of products that together launch the album, address audiences and promote the brand. Audiences have certain expectations of music videos, which usually adhere to genre conventions, as does ours, which uses similar forms and conventions found in other pop/hip-hop artists work.

We decided to follow Goodwin’s theory of intertextuality- the idea that there is often intertextual reference in music videos to films, tv programmes and even other music videos. We used the framework of Alice and Wonderland as a way of explaining how the public see Miley Cyrus. In the same way that Alice falls down a rabbit hole, leaving behind her orderly, conventional and even prudish reality, Miley falls down this metaphorical hole in order to explore a variety of exciting but destructive experiences and fantasies.

We are able to connect the band to the audience through the use of eye contact between Miley and the audience. Our music video therefore touches upon Goodwins theory, ‘notion of looking’, which creates a link between the audience and the artist. This theory is also found in many popular artists music videos, such as Pinks Who Knew, where her continual eye contact with the camera places her as the role of narrator, which agains strengthens the link between audience and artist. As a consumer, you want the artists to be relatable too, and through incorporating this theory into our music video, we effectively created this link.

We also incorporate close ups of our lead signer, which is a common form and convention found in real media texts. Close-ups allow the audience to form a relationship with the star whilst lip-syncing authenticates the performance of the music video.

Andrew Goodwin observes (‘Dancing in the distraction factor’) that the visuals may provide illustration or amplification of the lyrics, or there may be disjuncture. In our music video we both amplify and illustrate the visuals. ‘were ashes on the ground’ was illustrated by filming two cigarettes burning to ash. We also amplify the lyrics through the use of….

We observed the genre convention of cutting visuals to the beat...

For Roland Bartes, all texts can be deconstructed as signs with connotations……this visual code is a strong narrative element, which illustrates Andrew Goodwins theory about the relationship between lyrics and visuals

As we used CGI to create this, I would say that it also reflects the increasing trend of using CGI in music videos, which have become increasingly sophisticated visually with spectacle highly values.