Music Video Analysis

Spice Girls - Wannabe
This particular music video seems to have a looser narrative with not much clarity, however, we suspect that the members of the famous 90s pop girl group have crashed a posh dinner party.  Goodwin's theory of a good narrative and performance can have the outcome of an interesting music video. Here this can be seen as the five girls perform a dance routine which would have been conventionalised for any girl band music video. Another of Goodwin's theory is the idea of the 'Star Image' which is the idea that a pop star or anyone has to have a certain characteristic or persona which can allow their viewers/ audience identify who they are. By doing this they are becoming a "star" which is what record companies would want and the personas can also appeal to the audience. This theory can be very applicable not only to this music video but the Spice Girls in general, as each member has is given a particular "title" as such and follows a certain role or character in which they stick to. It can be reflected through things like their outfits, makeup, attitudes etc. For example, in music video Wannabe, Posh Spice seems to dance in a more elegant way whereas Scary Spice is depicted as dancing in a wild way. Goodwin's theory of a relationship between the music and the visuals is not seen as there is no connection or relevance between the lyrics of the song and what is visually presented in the music video. In addition to this, the whole music video is just one shot and just follows the girls from start to finish; there are not cuts. Its also just done by "handholding" the camera which may add the authenticity of the music video creating a connection with the audience as they may feel as if they are following the girls. Voyeurism is also present in this music video as each Spice Girl has a particular character in which mannerisms are emphasised. For example, Posh Spice mostly seems to presented as quite sexy and flirtatious whereas Scary Spice and Ginger Spice are portrayed as quite rebellious and mad.


Madonna - Vogue
Madonna's Vogue music video begins with a series of poses by men, before switching to the back of Madonna's very feminine costume and hair. This can show the audience that glamour, style and fashion is not just related to women but to men too. The male characters move in this section of the video comes across as being quite feminine which dismisses the potential masculinity of glamour, style and fashion. Madonna's "strike a pose" can follow Goodwin's relationship between the lyrics of the song and what is visually presented as Madonna does act as if she is posing for a photo, identifying the focus of the video. The edits back and forth from Madonna herself and the male characters can be seen as her similarly appearing as Marilyn Monroe in this particular part of the video. This would be considered as an intertextual reference from Goodwin's theories.  Throughout the duration of the video, the colouring is in black and white, however certain aspects of the video are highlighted by lighting and stand out as being more important because of this. For example, Madonna's face is always lit up whereas other people who are in the same shot as her are not. This music video expresses a materialistic concept, presenting to the audience a classy narrative through iconic images and poses.





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