Goodwin's Narrative Theory

Goodwin's Narrative theory implies that music videos are built around their song, and often do not follow the same structure as that of a film or television show (Normality- Problem- Resolution).
Goodwin also suggested that music videos adhere to one of three categories. These three categories being:

Illustration:
Where the video tells the story included within the song. An example of this could be Cage The Elephant's 'Ain't No Rest For The Wicked' music video:

Cage The Elephant's video corresponds with their lyrics, and tells the story of a man encountering different scenarios on a walk. The video provides some more detail on how his car crashed, however lyrics such as 'Out the corner of my eye, I saw a pretty little thing approaching me'. As these lyrics are sung, we are shown an image of an attractive woman hitting on the lead singer.

Amplification:
The images seen in the music video amplify the lyrics of the song, providing a clearer view of the deeper meaning of the song. An example of this is D.A.'s music video for 'Glowing'.

















D.A.'s music video also corresponds with the lyrics provided, however within this video, the images of apocalyptic situations are shown to amplify the message within the song, connoting how we are already experiencing apocalyptic situations. An example of this is the image of the malnourished child, which emphasizes the depressing message of the song.
  












Disjuncture:
When no connection can be found between the lyrics of the song and the images in the music video. An example of this is OK GO's music video for 'Needing/Getting'.

OK GO focus on the use of visual spectacles within their music videos, in order to wow the audience while they listen to the music. However their music videos do not correspond to the lyrics of the song, which are about loving someone but not acting upon it. While their video just plays the song using a car, which is impressive, however, not related to the lyrics.