John Stewart's Theory

John Stewart

• John's theory says that music videos have the aesthetics of TV commercial, with lots of close-ups and lighting being used to focus on the protagonists face. They may also come across as fa short film as with using no lip syncing it comes across as if it was made that way.

• He also says the clever lighting creates a setting or different mood 

• John Stewart also sees visual references in music videos from different elements with the most frequent being cinema and fashion.

• Stewart describes music videos as 'incorporating, raiding and reconstructing' and is essentially the key feature when it comes to intertextuality. By using something with which the audience may be familiar with to create new meanings and associations.

• He states that music videos allows more access to the performer than a stage performance can through the mis-en-scene to emphasise their 'inspirational lifestyle'.

In my opinion I agree with John Stewart's theory as music videos to have similar elements to things such as TV commercials. If music artists decide not to have lip singing involved but a narrative only video, then it may come across as a short film and audiences will not engage as much with the video.

For example, the video 'high hopes' by Kodaline is a narrative story about a person who already decided to move on with his/her broken love but the memory keeps returning. Therefore, as no lip singing is included, it comes across as a short film. However, i feel if audiences are fans of this band they will still engage with it as most of Kodaline's videos are narrative only. Lastly, videos with such a strong meaning like this attract a wider range of audiences as they may relate to the storyline.