Applying Goodwin's Theory to Echosmith “Come Together” Genre: Indie Pop Release Date: June 2013
Genre Characteristics ●
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The genre of the music video is Indie Pop, and a characteristic of this is generally live performances from the band during the music video. This helps to develop an understanding of all the characters the band. Not only that but the lead singer is a female, which is again a characteristic of Indie Pop, with the boys backing her with the instruments. A lot of Indie Pop is also very low cost, meaning things such as location, objects and props aren't very extravagant. But instead very basic, which is what Echosmith used with locations such as school gyms and outdoors. The costume worn by the band is a high street style which has become a very common and trendsetting characteristic of Indie Pop which many viewers aspire to look and dress like.
Lyrics and Visuals ●
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There were quite a few links to lyrics and visuals in terms of the bands actions throughout the video. First of all the lyrics say “run together now” while the visuals show the band running around the school and the corridors.
Another obvious one is the title of the song “Come Together”, which links directly to the group and how they do everything together e.g. running, causing mischief, and being together in the classroom. It also shows togetherness when they are all included in the same shot, this happens many times throughout the music video.
Music and Visuals â—?
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The song is very fast paced and lively throughout most of the music video, which represents the liveliness of the characters throughout, as they are usually participating in activities which fits in extremely well with the quick beat of the song.
It also regularly cuts to the live performance of the band so you get a real sense of what they look like when they perform. Once again there actions speed up as the beat of the song speeds up in both the live performance and whilst they are running around the school.
Close ups Throughout the music video there are many close ups of the band, especially the lead singer who the camera is almost drawn to through the effectiveness of many of her voyeuristic features, such as her lips and lipstick, face, and areas of her exposed body, especially her legs. This portrays her as very feminine which is a typical convention of music videos.
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There are close ups of the other band members but they are looking at there performance more so than the close ups of her which are focusing more on the typical stereotypes of females in music videos.
Notion Of Looking â—?
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Firstly, there is a voyeuristic shot of the male teacher looking at the girl and no one else. He is doing so whilst rubbing his trousers giving the impression that he is experiencing satisfaction from her, which is the voyeurism of this shot. The notion of looking is aimed at her throughout the whole music video, as she is the only female being stared at by many males. Which shows how women are used in the music industry to provide pleasure and popularity to music videos.
Voyeurism/Intertextual Reference
You can see that its used by many other female artists, for example Nicki Minaj uses it in her video Anaconda. Which shows her very exposed with many close ups of her lips, breasts, legs and bottom. Attempting to arouse some viewers.
Intertextual References â—?
There is a intertextual reference between The Breakfast Club and the music video as The Breakfast Club is based on school students who cause mischief, similar to Come Together. Not only that but they are of a similar age and represent the same age group in a different time period.
Another reference is Robert PalmerAddicted to Love where the backing singers are all females, and wearing distinctive red lipstick giving them voyeuristic appeal, similar to EchosmithCome Together.