Brief look at the music video theories of Steve Archer.

1. STEVE ARCHER
Theory for Music Video
Analysis
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

2. STEVE ARCHER:
INTRODUCTION
Media theorist Steve Archer is renowned for his 2004 Me diaMag az ine article
about Music Videos and the key elements that Music Video producers use as
a means to draw audiences into their own respective product. Archer
proclaims that the purpose of Music Videos is to distinctly enhance and
construct upon the elements of pleasure already experienced by audiences
through the music, particularly in visualising the already self-established
synaesthesia and association of imagery that takes place within the mind’s
eye of the audience. Furthermore, Archer sees music videos as part of an
intertextual marketing strategy to attract audiences more successfully, when
the main musical product is not seen as satisfactory enough; other elements
that Archer collects amongst these are CDs and touring performances. Each
of these elements synonymously and collectively appeal to appeal to an
audience in the widest possible way, and appeal to a fan’s fetishistic
intentions to consume as much related media as possible.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

3. STEVE ARCHER: FIVE KEY
POINTS
Using the well-established concepts Andrew Goodwin, Archer extracted and
elevated 5 key elements as essential criteria for the translation of music into a
clear, successful music video. These elements comprise:
1.‘Thought Beats’ orthe visualisation of imagery through synaesthesia.
2.Narrative and performance.
3.The ‘StarImage’.
4.Illustration, Amplification and Disjuncture.
5.Technical Aspects.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

4. ‘THOUGHT BEATS’
The ‘Thought Beat’ process focuses on understanding of the Synesthetic process of
music to one’s consummation of it, and the audience’s internal visualisation. Studies
into this, as Archer claims, have declared that music is seen as the most important
aspect in this regard; construction of an internal atmosphere and general “feeling”.
Therefore, Archer says that music videos must develop a similar connection to the
audience though clear visual representations. Lyrical content must not be the prime
focus of the visuals, though connections and representations through visual
metaphors will further accentuate the point trying to be emphasised. Archer furthers
his point through citing Roland Barthes’ ‘grain of voice’ theory, in that audiences
focus primarily upon a lead performance of a singer, and some element of distinct
personal performance should be key throughout the video. Pacing is likewise key to
maintaining a stellar general ‘feeling’, therefore, narrative must reflect the tempo and
rhythm of the music closely, without fault, to continuously maintain a strong
atmosphere and, therefore, marketability. The arrangement of the song will
collaborate with ‘grain of voice’ and the lyrics to create geographically-based visual
associations and personal associations.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

5. NARRATIVE AND
PERFORMANCE
Archer claims that Narrative and Performance are crucial in the sense that
music videos need to have a degree of replayability and repetition, as a
marketing technique to attract the consumer through a process of continuous
familiarisation. However, like many other forms of media, narratives are
rarely complete and only a narrative ‘fuzz’ is needed. This, combined with
usually complex chorography, give the music video that key sense of
repeatability, which will naturally occur within commercial music replay TV
stations like MTV. Ultimately, it can be said that both Narrative and
Performance give music videos a clear sense of authenticity.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

6. THE ‘STAR IMAGE’
The music industry has clear dependence on few large names to self-fund its
own productivity, and there is usually a clear sense of disconnect if the star
is not well known or recognised by an audience. Therefore, music videos
have a chance at attempting an intertextual presentation of the star as a fully
fledged person, and no need to simply focus on the ‘grain of voice’, as within
mere music. The ‘meta-narrative’ of the ‘star image’ is crucial in the
development of the music video.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

7. ILLUSTRATION,
AMPLIFICATION AND
DISJUNCTUREMusic videos can promote and enhance a song in three distinct ways: Illustration, amplification
and disjuncture.
1.Illustration is the process to which a music video simply illustrates the lyrics or genre,
providing directly literal imagery. It’s the most straightforward technique where everything is
based on the source of the song. This is not a common style of music video, as it can be seen
as too simplistic.
2.Amplification is the process to which a music video will enhance the ideas of the lyrics, and is
seen as the mark of a true auteur. This way will enhance the original meaning of the song to a
point where it will still have a clear link to the original meaning, yet will not change the meaning
too much, as disjuncture does. This is the most common music video style as of the present.
3.Disjuncture is the process to which a music video will develop a new collection of meanings in
order to assert the prospect of individuality, directly scrapping the meaning behind the lyrics or
genre. It is a radical technique used to directly illustrate originality. This technique is seen as
ambitious, yet can sometimes appear to give the wider video irrelevance and greater
meaninglessness. This is not a commonly-used music video style, unless the genre is
unconventional and the director is avant-garde.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE

8. TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Archer identifies 7 key technical aspects in the production of music videos:
1.Speed – The speed of the song, as visualised by camera movement, using the techniques of
editing and post-production effects. This creates a sense of intrigue and pleasure amongst the
audience, with fast-cutting and montage editing, as well as imagery being colourised and clips
being sped-up in the post-production stage, make it so that the images are moving and being
displayed where you cannot fully interpret them, increasing the desire for repeatability.
2.‘Meat!’ – This emphasises the voice of the central singer through close ups of the central
performer.
3.‘Beats!’ – The music video representing the rhythm of the musical beats through the use of
editing. The editing pattern will ultimate run at a parallel pattern to the editing pattern.
4.Lighting and colour – Used to emphasize key moments in the song, showing a development
in narrative and increasing the dramatic effect.
5.Mise-en-scene – The setting for the music video is very important for the authenticity of the
video, in terms of performance and other abstract concepts.
BY OLIVER JAMES COOKE