1. DECONSTRUCTION OF MUSIC
VIDEO
Michael Jackson – Black or White

2. GOODWIN’S KEY FEATURES OF A MUSIC VIDEO
1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristic (for example stage performance in
metal video and dance routine for boy/girl band).
2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying,
contradicting).
3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying,
contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close -ups of the
artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual
style).
5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens,
telescopes, etc…) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body.
6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos,
etc…).

3. FEATURE ONE.
• The main genre characteristic in the music video is
that the artist is the centre of attention for almost all
of the video, this is a usual characteristic to find in
a singer songwriter music video.
• The artist is dressed in casual clothes, being a
singer songwriter these artists are expected to be
dressed in casual attire which they would usually
wear, because their music is associated with being
about themselves and experiences in their lives
and therefore dress in the music videos how they
would in real life.

4. FEATURE TWO.
• The song is about racism and equality, there are various visuals that match
lyrics within the video:
- ‘It don’t matter if you’re black or white’, here the
singer is seen dancing with Indians in the
background who are of a ‘black’ origin.
- ‘And I told you about equality’,
here the artist is now - The artist throughout the
dancing with a woman with a whole music video is seen
different ethnicity which would dancing with various
match the lyrics of ‘equality’. ethnicities, which match the
songs meaning of equality
and racism.

5. FEATURE THREE.
• The opening music in the video is very upbeat and happy, this sets the mood
for the rest of the song which is that different ethnicities and races coming
together is a happy thing.
• The upbeat music gives the audience the want to dance,
which matches the visuals of the artist dancing.
• The constant guitar sound is very catchy and therefore
sticks in the heads of the audience making them remember
the song, this matches the visuals of when the artist is dancing with different
races and ethnicities, because it will make the audience remember what the
song is about.
• The artist dancing to the sound of the guitar which creates the connotation
that he is enjoying what he is singing about.

6. FEATURE FOUR.
• There are lots of close ups of the artists face and just the
artist himself, this promotes the singer as a solo artist,
because he is the main attraction with all close ups on him.
• Due to the music video being set in what appears to be
different countries it connotes with the different races and
ethnicities of these countries the audience gathers from the close up shots
taken, which therefore relates to the meaning of the song.
• The close ups is a heavy feature related with singer songwriters, because
the aim of the close up shots is to make sure the audience establish who the
singer is and that they are the main focus in the music videos.

7. FEATURE FIVE.
• The idea of looking is presented through the boy’s father’s eyes in the music
video as watching the artist while he performs. This connotes with the fact
the father does not approve of his son’s love for the artist’s music and
therefore the video purposely shows him being forced to listen to what the
artist is singing about.
• The presentation of the females in the
music video are shown as non-
voyeuristic, this connotes with the nature
of the video being about equality and
therefore would not fit in with the song to
show females as being presented any
differently to males.

8. FEATURE SIX.
• There is slight intertextuality within the music video, because the whole song
is based around racism and equality, which some audiences may only be
aware of due to newspapers or the television. This is connoted when the artist
is seen reading a newspaper and sings the lyrics ‘they print my message in
the Saturday Sun’.
• The fact the artist has used a newspaper name
‘Saturday Sun’ makes the song more
intertextual where as if he was to just to refer it
as a newspaper.
• There is also a clip of what seems to be a
news clip on the television showing war, this
makes the video slightly more intertextual by
now involving the television.