Philip George - Wish You Were Mine (Dance Song 3) -Research-

Goodwin: 7 key ideas to identify

Does the video demonstrate genre characteristics;

I believe the video does demonstrate dance video characteristics, a dance video characteristic that is demonstrated is that we, the audience are following one person's life/story throughout the video. Another way this video has demonstrated characteristics of dance video is through the type of editing, for example the cuts from shot to shot are done in time with the actual bead of the song, this is very common in the dance video genre. As well as that we see a boy doing what he enjoys and is passionate about, in his case dancing.

What is the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals;

Through out the video we see the star, the young black boy, do dance moved that are replicating the words said in the lyrics. For example when the lyrics read "You're the only girl my heart beats for" the boy does a dance move that replicates a beating heart, with his hands on his chest.

However as this song is more of a' traditional dance' song, meaning it has a lot less lyrics and more of a focus on the beat and music, there is a lot less examples of links between the lyrics and visuals.

What is the relationship between the music and the visuals;

A common example of a relationship between the music and the visuals is the way the tempo of the song controls the pace of the editing and the cuts. This is a very common theme in all of the videos i have looked at. In this video specifically we see a boy dancing, he is clearly dancing to the song, so when the music's tempo is slower or the beat is calmer, the boys dance style is very different to when the beat is fast and up beat.

The demands of the record label will include the need for the artist(s) to be seen through lots of close ups;

Part of Goodwin's theory is the artists that made the song will be featured quite a lot in the videos, specifically by close ups. However, in the dance genre specifically it is quite rare for the artists to make an appearance in their music videos. This might for a number of reasons, one being that dance music videos are normally telling a story, or showing off someones talent and the video is more effective if the get actors to star in the video rather than star themselves. This isn't only specific to this video, it is s theme through nearly all the videos I looked at.

There are frequent references to the notion of looking/women are often seen as sex object;

The Notion of looking;

Goodwin's theory says that in many music videos there is a frequent 'notion of looking' throughout. I fond some examples in this video, one example was in the opening sequence when the family were gathered around the table a mid shot of the father showed him aimlessly and with emotionless face looking into the air, rather that his wife and child. This is quite humours as it could suggest he is looking for a source of entertainment or excitement and it shows the audience what type of background the boy comes from. (0:10)

The next example I could find was through the use of an old TV screen, part of notion of looking can also be done through screens. he uses of big, old TV screens has been quite a recurring theme in the dance music videos I have looked at. (2:06)

Representation of Women;

In the first scene of the video we see the boy sitting at a table in his family home accompanied by his mother and his father. His mother is the first representation of a women in the video, and her character, for the 20 seconds she is on screen, is going against Goodwin's thoughts on how women are represented in music video's. For example the women they have chosen to be the boys mother isn't there to as a sex object at all, actually she is stereotypicaly 'unattractive' and 'over weight', she is fulled clothed and not dressed in a 'revelling' outfit. However she is seen in a apron, this suggests she is the person in the house hold tat does all the chores. And finally she is seen to lean over to her son an wipe some food off his face, this is representing her as a stereotypical role of a mother that cares for her child. 

Later on in the video, when the boy is outside and walking/dancing along the street, we are introduced to this woman. As you can see in the image she is in her front garden working, she is also wearing a full set of clothes and is not sexually revealing herself. So again a women in this video is challenging Goodwin's theory on the representation of women being seen as sex objects in music videos.



Propp's theory of Characters;

 I though the boy we follow isn't technically a hero, as he doesn't save attempt to save anyone and doesn't win over the heroine, however he is deflationary a protagonist who the audience connect with.

This is the same through the whole video,  and I believe many of Propp's characters are not portrait in this video. However I think if there was a villain in this video it would be the police officer who tells our protagonist to move away from the dance class.n this video there is less of a clear narrative, so therefore there isn't as many clear characters.  


Todarov's narrative theory; 

The first scene does show an almost state of equilibrium. This is because we see the family all together and safe, they aren't overly happy but they seem content. Then the music starts, according to Todarov's narrative theory the next stage of the video would be 'disruption'. However there isn't any disruption in this video, this seems to be a theme throughout the dance music video genre because dance music is about happiness and good times and the producers want to represent that through the visuals in the video.