Summary of Andrew Goodwins Theory and Vladimir Propp research

Andrew Goodwin's theory is a very general one that identifies key features in music videos.The main points of his theory are:

• The lyrics and visuals often relate to each other.This could either be in a metaphorical or literal sense.The visuals are connotative and reflect the mood and lyrics of the song.
• Repetition is a key tool in establishing your songs genre and tone to the audience.Repeating a key sequence or location makes understanding the video easier,especially when you have fast paced songs.
• Music videos always cover three different aspects; Amplification, disjuncture and illustration.
• The combination of music and visuals is a very simple concept but is very pleasing to your audience if done right.If the tone, mood and lyrics of the song work in harmony with the visuals, music videos are very pleasing to your audience.

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp (1895-1970) was a Russian and former Soviet scholar who is well known for analysing the basic structures of Russian folktales and breaking them down to their core narrative elements.His theory comprises of 31 narrative units which can be found here.In my opinion his theory does not really apply to the video I am looking at,which is 'Smack my Bitch up' by Prodigy. Although this is not your typical music video it shows how theories like Vladimirs and even Goodwins cannot be applied to everything.In the case of 'Smack my Bitch up' the fact that the video is filmed in a first person perspective automatically raises questions that contradict Vladimir's theory.One of the key themes in Vladimirs theory is that there are already set characters,which are:

1. The Villain
2. The Donor
3. The Princess or Prize
4. The father
5. The Dispatcher
6. The Hero
7. The false hero

In Prodigy's video, the roles of these characters are questionable because of the chaotic nature of the video.Do we treat the main character (the one who is giving us a view through his eyes) as a hero or the villain.Whilst he is certainly not a hero, I would not say he is the villain either.You may argue that he is just a regular person trying to have a fun night out and getting drunk in the process.I think Vladimirs theory may apply to basic narratives but when a video like 'Smack my Bitch up' shakes the formula up,almost on purpose, then you can tell that this theory has aged somewhat.