JP: Goodwin Essay

 When considering the key features of a music video, Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) identified a number of conventions which can be applied to the music video ‘Celestine’ by Spector, directed by Jed Cullen and High 5 Collective in 2012.

Firstly he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. This video could be categorised as being in the indie rock genre. It is conventional in that the band members are all wearing stereotypical indie costumes and the video is very arty and unusual, however being unusual has become usual for indie rock videos. The different camera techniques and actions performed by the band are very arty and therefore conventional of indie rock. The performance shown by the artist is very conventional of indie bands, with their instruments being included in the video and their costumes accentuate their indie rock genre. The fast cutting rate is ensuring that the music video has a fast pace, like the music, making the video match the music as much as possible. Iconography is evident throughout, very conventional of indie rock bands, who attempt to create an image for their band that makes it unique. The use of the dog in the desert in slow motion, and the mirror, could be seen as being iconic for their band in particular.

The video employs an artistic/creative approach to conventions in that it exaggerates certain aspects of the indie rock genre, including several arty shots that would not be seen in an average music video, for example the shots of the musicians waving ribbon around in the desert. They include several unrelated shots of them in the desert that don’t really accord to the music or lyrics, therefore creating an artistic feel about the video.

Goodwin discussed the relationship between lyrics and visuals. In relation to ‘Celestine’ it is clear that there is no real relation between the lyrics and visuals, however towards the end of the video, the artist sings about the night, and the video becomes darker with the lights turned on, giving the impression they are filming at night, relating to the lyrics. He also considered the relationship between music and visuals to be an important convention. In the video, we can see that this is very true, as when the music is more fast paced, the cutting rate and pace of shots increases, but when the music slows, the cutting rate becomes slower, fade transitions are used and the video generally becomes slower to match the music.

           He made reference to the notion of looking and this is evident in the video when the musicians are shown to be performing in a mirror as if performing to themselves. Importantly he talked about the voyeuristic treatment of the body. With reference to the video, they have twisted this idea as it is conventionally viewed as a fetishistic and sexual treatment of the female body, but they have included shots of the male musicians to make them look uglier, twisting the idea of making females look more attractive by making males look uglier, for example the shot of the man with wind being blown into his face to expand his cheeks and mouth.

           

Music videos are a postmodern form which implies that they often borrow and rework ideas from other texts and forms. ‘Celestine’ uses intertextuality in the form of creating a pastiche of the gangster rap genre, as in that genre they include things like large black dogs and golden ‘bling’ jewellery, which have both been used in the video but reworked to create something very different, as the dog is shown to be playful, rather than aggressive and scary as they would be shown in gangster rap. The video also parodies the 1950’s surf rock style, as they have exaggerated the slicked haircuts and costumes that would be used by musicians of that genre. They have used this appearance to make them look very indie as a hyperbole of the genre, showing that many indie rock bands are just reusing styles and music from other genres and times.