Andrew Goodwin, Dancing in the Distraction Factory (1992) carried out research into mainstream music videos and identified typical conventions. Applying his critical framework to music videos such as 'Cant Stop' by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Romanek, 2003) determines to what extent the text is conventional.
Firstly he stated that music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. This video could be categorised as being in the Funk Rock genre. It is conventional in the way that it includes a lot of meat shots throughout the music video of the performers playing their instruments. This helps to conform the stereotype of rocks bands as the instruments are crucial within the production of their music. The costume that is present in the music can be proven to be conventional and unconventional in some ways as there are more than one different lines of action which shows the characters completing numerous actions which help to link the music video together. The band is also seen to be wearing scruffy clothing and the lead singer is also seen to have is shirt off which conforms to funk rock stereotypes as being open minded and very 'loose' with their actions. In Goodwin's theory, he discusses the relationship between lyrics and visuals and how they may begin to form the artists metanarrative. Considering this video it is evident that it is mainly amplification as the lyrics don’t exactly match up with the visuals but the notion of ‘can’t stop’ is created by the fast paced movement throughout the video for example when the band are jumping around on the stage. However in the shots where they recreate Erwin Wurm’s sculptures it appears to be more disjunctive as more abstract imagery is used which ignores the original song lyrics.
The cutting rate of the music video is generally quite fast which helps to match the fast tempo of the RHCP's music and energy throughout the music video. Goodwin made reference to the notion of looking. This convention is also present in this video as we see the lead singer inside a tube whilst singer towards the camera which helps to express Erwin Wurm's art. According to Goodwin, music videos are voyeuristic. This is evident when we see the lead singer topless only wearing his trousers, expressing his tattoo's and body language in a very boisterous manner.
In conclusion this video conforms to the theory of Goodwin as it helps to capture the genre characteristics of funk rock and perceives the RHCP band to conform to a rock-like metanarrative. I do feel as if the music video is vey amplified as it attempts to mark the true music of the artist whilst allowing its viewers to interpret their music in unique ways by collaborating with Erwin Wurm's art and sculpture's.
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