Goodwin's Six Points

Goodwin’s Theory

1. Music videos will demonstrate genre characteristics.
2. There will be a relationship between lyrics and visuals.
3. There will be a relationship between music and visuals.
4. There will be many close up shots of the band, as per request of the record label, as well as reoccurring motifs across the band‘s work.
5. There will be a sense of the notion of looking in and voyeurism.
6. There will be intertextual references.

Ok Go

Ok Go have become a band iconic for their light hearted, innovative and low-budget music videos, the majority of which have been co-directed by the band themselves. Much of their fame has came from these videos through mediums such as YouTube, where their single Here We Go Again has gained 52 million views.

A Million Ways

The video for A Million Ways is filmed in one take, in the garden of the lead singer's house, performing a dance routine choreographed by his sister. This "DIY" format is seen in many of their other videos, becoming iconic to them. However, this footage was never created to be the official video, but became it after the large response when posted on YouTube.

Here We Go Again

The iconic viral music video. Similarly to A Million Ways, this film is taken in one take, and includes a dance routine choreographed by the singer's sister, but this time performed on treadmills. It also gained fame through the website YouTube, but was vastly more popular, reaching 52 million views since being uploaded. This projected the band to an international level, as is iconic of viral marketing becoming a large success.

WTF



This was co-directed by Ok Go and Tim Nackashi. Again shot in one continuous take, this video contained a time delay effect throughout, which the band use to create a changing, psychedelic video using what they claim were objects bought from a 99 Cent Store, displaying the reoccurring low budget videos the band are keen to make. It is noticable at the better quality of recording in Ok Go's video's from this point onwards, most likely due to having a larger budget since the mainstream success they achieved with their last video.

This Too Shall Pass

This single has two vastly different music videos.



The first to be released was directed by Brian L. Perkins is filmed in two continuous shots, of the band in marching band uniform, performing an alternative version of the song, along side a large marching band who appear dressed in ghillie suits and hide in the grass when not playing. Then, the whole marching band join Ok Go in performing and singing the song.



A second video was created by James Frost, and included a Rune Goldberg machine that moved in time with the music, with the band singing alongside the machine, before being sprayed with paint at the end, caused by the machine, at the song finale. This video filmed in one shot on three occasions, which were cut into one video to finish the production. This video was particularly popular, and gained 6 million views in a week. However, despite the positive response, the album sold relatively poorly in comparison to the video's popularity.

White Knuckles"



Again shot in one take, this video was also choreographed by the lead singers sister Tina Sie. This contained a variety of furniture, and included the band dancing with various trained dogs. The video had a total of 124 takes, but only 10 were classed as "Excellent" complete takes.

I find Ok Go very inspirational, in that they work with people who make very simple and cheap ideas, and broadcast them on a global scale, becoming increasingly more popular with each video.

Inspiring Music Videos

I believe a good place to start would be to explore the music video's that have had the most impact on me, and why I like them so.

The Universal - Blur Dir. Jonathan Glazer

This video is almost an imitation and homage to Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, including a similar zoom-out shot of "Alex and the Droogs" as the film, and includes similar costumes and set to the milk bar scene. There are several other sci-fi styled references (such as the Red Man), in keeping with the lyrics of the song, and this continues to the digi-pack release, which is also a tribute to Stanley Kubrick's other sci-fi classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey

Karma Police - Radiohead Dir. Jonathan Glazer

A video shot almost entirely thought a point of view shot someone driving a down a straight road at night, chasing an unknown man. Thom Yorke, the singer of Radiohead, appears calmly lipsyncing in the backseat at regular intervals, until the man being chased sees an opportunity, and uses it to set the car on fire. What I enjoy most of this video is the overall simplicity, for example, having 35 seconds where the car is driving alone, showing nothing but the road, which fits the overall art-rock style that Radiohead adopt.

Everlong - Foo Fighters Dir. Michel Gondry

This video has more in common with a surreal fairytale than that of a music video. The overall plot contains that of a series of nightmares interacting with real life, and in turn, the mise-en-scene is bright, vivid and surreal, often using exaggerated props to create the sense of a dream. This video ends with the band coming out of costume, in somewhat inventive ways, such as the bed becoming a drum kit. This tounge-in-cheek pantomime style shows the band's lighter side, juxtaposed the serious messages and tone in their song.

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance Dir. Marc Webb

Created in the style of a Hollywood film trailer, this video is an overall parody of American teen/high school movies in general, in which the band, cast as geeks and general outcasts, fight against the "Jocks" who harass them repeatedly, ending in a showdown between the two groups in a school hallway. Throughout, to make the video seem like a professional film trailer, it opens on an American "Green Band" information screen, and ends with a credits page, as well as taglines for the film disperced throughout. The sense teenage rebellion, as well as the punk fashion worn by the band members during performance scenes allowed the band to draw a large and loyal teen fan base before they reached mainstream success with their next album.

Virtual Insanity - Jamiroqui Dir. Jonathan Glazer.

One of the iconic pop videos of the 1990's, the video includes the singer Jay Kay performing in a plain white room, whilst the floor beneath him seems to be moving, sending himself, and furniture in the room seemingly sliding around a static room. At certain moments the camera will ether tilt up or down to show various abstract shots, for example, of the couch bleeding, as an elaborate way to disguise a cut to a new scene. This was hugely popular, winning several awards, winning the "Breakthrough Video" and "Best Video of the Year" awards at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.

Treat Me Like Your Mother - The Dead Weather Dir. Jonathan Glazer.

Another popular video from Jonathan Glazer, and perhaps the simplest concept for any video I have analysed so far. It opens on a close up of an ignited bomb spinning, which matches the beat of the music once it commences. Explosions are seen, as it fades into clips of the two lead singers of the band dressed in matching black leather jackets and carrying rifles approaching each other across a field, before opening fire on one another in the chorus. Despite visible bullet wounds, they both continue to shoot until they run out of bullets, and walk away. What struck me about this was as one member walked away, you could visible see light streaming through the bullet holes in his chest, which was an extremely realistic and surreal effect.

As you can see, I have been inspired vastly by the work of Jonathan Glazer, for his vastly inventive and imaginative use of film to highlight the work of the artists who he works with. However, he is not the only one who I strongly admire, as Michael Gondry, Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham have redefined music video's as an art form.