Goodwin and Dyer - Music Video Theories

Andrew Goodwin's theory is incorporated into Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ music video, encompassing his idea of the singer representing a commodity and showing the contrast between the female being present and absent in the video at the same time. For example, the coming-of-age video uses a following shot in the tracking, to show how she is intangible, yet visible at the same time. The extreme wide angle and establishing shot refers to how she is in far proximity yet when the camera cuts to a close up, the performer almost seems reachable and accessible to her teenage audience. Furthermore, the video also makes Olivia seem ordinary and extraordinary simultaneously, representing values of expressionism through her dramatic body language and low-key lighting. She also embodies an ordinary appearance throughout the wide angles above her car frequently throughout the video and driving past her lover's house each day, highlighting the realistic longing desire to reunite with her soulmate. This is shown through the ellipsis, with multiple cuts and shots featured to show the agonising pain of time (an ellipsis), yet her devoted, loving attitude still remains with her as this time progresses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ

Richard Dyer's theorised four key concepts which allow music videos to work effectively, including:

-Stars as Texts - This is where stars are constructed to represent certain symbols or images across media texts, in order to amplify the meaning of the song and to reflect the ideologies of the artist through their performance in the music video. This is shown through Kate Bush's music video of Running Up that Hill, where she represents a dance with her partner through an otherworldly atmosphere.

-Stars as Commodities - Furthermore, Dyer identifies these music videos as a performance, meticulously designed to make money for the artist. Ultimately, music videos are a product within the music industry, with each purchase made for the performer results in an increased sales revenue and generated publicity. Within Running Up that Hill, particularly in 2022 when the iconic song was featured in a scene from the Netflix original TV show, Stranger Things. Bush received almost £2 million in royalty payments from her song rights being used in the show, whilst also hitting number 1 in the UK for the most streamed song, and  reaching the top 5 in America, demonstrating the significant impact music videos can have on other media products.

-Stars as ideological figures - Dyer states that music videos aim to reflect veteran ideologies and values that the artist associates themself with, whilst highlighting that the person and the performer are two separate concepts. The music video may be associated year ideologies such as liberalism, expressionism, focusing in themes of desire and passion which are re-informed through the lyrics of the song. This helps to amplify the meaning of the performance, using an A-listing celebrity as a methods of value transference to encourage her intended audience to accept her preferred meaning and remain resilient in overcoming life’s difficulties.

-Audience and Stars - Dyer explains in his Star theory that audiences can relate to and identify themselves with stars, appearing relatable and similar to create a sense of belonging with their audience. In Running Up that Hill, the importanc right the lyrics ‘I’d make a deal with God, and I’d get him to swap our places’ shows that many members of the audience will feel a certain point of solitude and low self-esteem in their lives. This displays verisimilitude with the audience as this realistic want to be removed from the earth is a trouble that some viewers will relate to in their lifetime, emphasising social issues that need addressing by society in order to help those in times of depression and extinguish their feeling of helplessness. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM

Music Videos Infogram/Uploads

 

 

Music Videos Infogram/Poster - Canva - January 2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI

‘Let’s Dance’ by David Bowie aims to reflect the zeitgeist and preferred ideology that Bowie is trying to convey to his audience, challenging social injustice and exploiting marginalised, misrepresented demographics. This video highlights the challenges posed by society for ethnic minorities, using a variety of close up, wide angle and low angle shots in the opening minute of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Bc3pLyij0

‘Happier’ by Marshmello is a narrative heavy music video, focusing on the importance of pets to bring us through times of strength and sadness in life. The video is a cyclical structure with fast cuts and jump shots to emphasise the inevitable short amount of time we have with our animals, showing how abruptly life can change when you are least expecting it. The use of the jump cuts further exaggerate the limited capacity of time we have with our pets, encompassing the polysemic meaning of the video: To appreciate the importance of loving figures in your life, to recognise that there will be brighter opportunities even in the heavy times of solitude as well as reluctantly having to let go of the things we cherish the most - its agonising journey of self-doubt and internalised pain reserved within only yourself, feeling unable to talk to anyone about the most heart-breaking of experiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDgHBxUbVQ

‘Photograph’ by Ed Sheeran particularly resonates with me, due to the emotional nature portrayed in the fast cuts of childhood memories, showing how much easier life appeared during our childhood development stages. Furthermore, the video makes parallelisms between Sheeran’s primary stages, which then contrasts to himself when he is a renowned, successful singer. Its realism portrays our struggle to let go of our childhood, encompassing a nostalgic, reminiscent feeling when we wish we could remain a child forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ

‘Drivers License’ by Olivia Rodrigo manages to represent the final acceptance of dealing with the tribulations of adolescence: the difficulties of break-ups, social awkwardness and releasing your innocent, childhood self. The video starts with a wide shot, but then zooms in to capture a close-up shot of Olivia herself performing the lyrical aspect of her music, highlighting her isolation of driving alone, even with the celebratory milestone of passing her driving test last week. 

The Big Issue Front Cover - Stranger Things x Christmas 2025

 I have chosen the theme of Stranger Things intertwined with a symbolic code of Christmas, specifically those used in the iconic scene within a Season 1 episode of the sci-fi Netflix show. The purpose of these lights being polysemic allows those of a teenage and millennial background to identify these lights as representing Christmas festivities (reflecting the zeitgeist) and those eagerly anticipating the release of the final season of the show, the show’s finale culminating into three sectioned release times over the winter period. Furthermore,I have taken a slightly unconventional approach of blurring the ‘Big Isssue’ typeface in order to further convey the mysterious, unfamiliar environment and peculiarity of the show which the front cover aims to reflect, also generating a USP for my magazine. I have also used a sans-serif font to place the capitalised layer of ‘ALIVE!’ over the masthead of the cover, appearing striking and appealing to both younger and older audiences (the Duffer brothers target older teens as well as their parents who may decide to watch the show. I have adhered to the conventional approach of placing Big Issue’s aim on the front cover, accompanied by a barcode and cover lines/skylines within the copy. I have used a paronomasia (play-on word) of ‘Saving Sink’ with Sadie Sink being an altruistic, reverent A-listing celebrity who is featured on the cover of the magazine (who encompasses the ideologies of feminism and veganism) displaying paralanguage that induces panic in the fast run-up to Christmas. Another example of a visual pun used within my front cover is through the headline of ‘Running up to Christmas. Additionally, I have used a cultural code of portraying the issue number as 11, which avid fans and readers of the Big Issue may recognise as being a prominent character in the show.  

To improve my Big Issue front cover, I could enlarge the image and potentially use a deeper shade of red such as wine or mahogany red to enhance my presentation of Stranger Things and create semantic codes connoting of the Upside Down: inverted, disorientated and gruesome. This would complement the Big Issue masthead colour, as this could be changed to a black font colour, (with a contemporary, striking sans-serif font) again a white-coloured ‘ALIVE!’. I would also use a higher quality image of the A-list cultural icon Sadie Sink (Max Mayfield in the show) to create an immersive and attractive front cover, hence incorporating Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory.