Research into Goodwisn theory

Goodwin's theory is a list of 7 main principals that are included in music videos. These are genre characteristics, relationship between lyrics and visuals, relationship between music and visuals, need for lots of close ups of the artists and the motifs that recur across their work, voyeuristic treatment of the female body, intertextual references, and if the video is primarily performance, concept or narrative based.

Ed Sheeran - The A team

The A team would be in the indie

Throughout The A team, it demonstrates many of the characteristics that are expected in the indie genre. The setting of the video is in a park/city, this mid shot shows her walking around in a  park, the park does not appear to be very well kept. Therefore, this could show that the park is in quite a poor area, which makes the audience feel sorry for her as it could show her as rather hopeless due to the environment she is surrounded with. These settings are used in music videos as they are easily accessible and quite simple.  This is conventional of an indie music video as they are rather low budget, which makes public places a good setting as it would not be that expensive to film in. It is important demonstrate genre characteristics within a music video because this allows the audience to easily be able to link the video back to the genre.

Also the costume of the character is very conventional, indie artists have the perception of being very retro and not caring much about appearance or expensive clothing. This perception is portrayed through the costume and hair and make up. She is wearing shorts with  baggy jumper and long coat. She also has quite dark and smudged make up, giving the idea she's sleeping rough or not very well off.  Her costume helps us build up her identity as the main character, which helps to gain a better understanding of the narrative. This is conventional of indie artists because they commonly wear quite different clothing that helps to show their personality, and usually it is not very expensive or flashy as they care more about music than fashion.

Following this, it is increasingly common for indie artists to include a narrative in their music video. We can see this as the video is following the girl character in her day, allowing us to build up an identity for them and this helps the audience to connect to the song and understand the concept. The narrative of tho video is about a prostitute who's addicted to cocaine and other class A drugs. It shows her sleeping rough, begging for money and taking drugs. These are very real events that any people would have encountered in their lives or have heard much about, therefore this creates a sense of realism with the video. This is engaging for the audience and helps them follow the narrative. Having a narrative based music video is conventional for indie artists because their video are mostly based on true stories and emotions that they are dealing with in their lives. They commonly use music as a way to escape the outside world and express their emotions.

There is a strong relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. It says "struggling to pay rent" implying that the girl has no money, and this is mirrored by the visuals that we see in the video. We see the girl trying to the the magazine The Big Issue, this is a magazine that homeless people see to try to make money. Also in the conner of the screen I can see the iconography of a quilt, which suggests she doesn't have a stable bed and has to carry her bed lining around with her further supporting that she has no where to sleep. Meaning she has no money. As mentioned before indie music videos are conventionally narrative based, therefore by having a link between the lyrics and the visuals it allows the audience to follow the story better and have a better understanding of the lyrics, as they will then be able to link it to the narrative.

Furthermore, the lyrics also says "But lately her face seems Slowly sinking, wasting Crumbling like pastries' This is conveyed in the visuals. At the start of the song she seems quite happy and content but once this line is heard her face expressions turn very sad and unhappy looking. Her make up smudges and she is crying.
Also we see the girl waiting at the side of the road and then getting into a car with a man and going to a hotel room with him. This suggests prostitution, we then see her taking money off of him and displaying sexual acts, supporting my earlier suggestion.  This is shown in the lyrics when it says "Or sells love to another man" Implying she is has sex for money, this supports my earlier point that she has no money and is lowering herself to get money wherever she can.


Fans of the artist Ed Sheeran know that at times in his life he was playing music and busking for money as he was struggling. Therefore, i believe he is attempting to try to create a certain image for the female character. He wants to audience to try to imagine themselves in her shoes and what life is like for someone on the streets and how she feels. This is done by showing many close up of the female character to show her emotions as she goes through the day not being able to collect much loose change from people and ending up having to sell herself for money. Starting off it shows her as looking quite hopeful for the day ahead. Even when she is selling The Big Issue at first she is still trying to look hopeful and happy. But the longer she stays there the audience can see her emotions changing and her looking more upset and distressed, and rather hopeless. As her hope for getting money fades she becomes even more upset. Conventionally, indie music videos show lots of close up of the artist because they generally have quite emotional songs therefore a close up will allow the audience to see the emotions of the artists better. Therefore gaining a better understanding of their feelings.

Goodwin's theory also suggests that we see voyeuristic treatment to the female body, which is seen in the video through the subject of prostitution. I can see this near the end of the video. The girl begins to attempt to make herself looking better and more appealing by doing her hair and putting on make up, in order to gain more attention from men.

Suggesting she feels like she would not be pretty or good enough for a man without make up or doing her hair. When the car pulls up to pick her up, the head lights shining through is emphasised through the black and white filter, create a silhouette effect drawing attention to her bare legs and body shape. Furthermore, the fact that it is cold outside and she is not covered up denotes how desperate she is for money and how she makes her self more vulnerable, drawing attention to the bleakness of her life.
Following this, she goes to a hotel room with the man to preform sexual acts, although she is reluctant she still does it with the man. Once they have finished she's crying and the man is just laying next to her. Implying that women are objects for men to use as and when they please, without having any emotional empathy for them. Although showing a lot of the female body is quite diverse of a indie music video, it is conventional for them to show their insecurities through their music and lyrics.

We can see an intertextual reference to the magazine The Big Issue, a charity publication that the homeless sell to make money.

This makes the audience feel sorry for the girl, as many people are just walking past her and ignoring her. As many people do it real life, and ignore people in need right under there noses. Thus making the audience think about their decisions in life and how something little, like buying the magazine could make a big difference to the homeless person. Homelessness is a very real issue that many people choose to ignore, this bring it to life and shows people the cruel reality.

The video is very much primarily narrative based, at first we see the girls dead body being found. The video then goes back in time to the start of the day when the girl is starting off her day on the park bench. It then moves on to her travelling through London trying to sell her magazine and make some money. Everybody on the streets are ignoring her and just walks past. The girl gives up and goes to a bathroom to make herself look more 'appealing' by doing her hair and make up. Then she gets picked up by a man who pays her for sex, however it is very clear this was not something she really wanted to do and she looks depressed through the whole process. Following this the girl spends all of her money on drugs and has an overdose, which links back to the original image of her dead body.

Goodwin's theory has shown me all of the different elements that I should include when producing my music video. Within my video I would defiantly like to include a relationship between the lyrics and visuals as I think this is important for the audience to be able to connect with the song and create a better sense of realism. I also want to include the close ups of the artists, because it helps to show raw emotion and the audience will feel more involved with the song. Overall, this research has been very helpful to me, and has inspired the genre of music that I would prefer my music video to be, this is indie.