JB: Goodwin Analysis Writing Frame - Kenton Slash Demon 'Harpe'

JB: Goodwin Analysis

Kenton Slash Demon – Harpe

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 ‘Harpe’ by Kenton Slash Demon, Jenna Mangulad, 2015 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 Techno House genre.  It is conventional in that it has an upbeat rhythm which mirrors the tempo of the music video.

 The cutting rate of the music video is one of the most unconventional aspects of the production. The song is relatively upbeat and joyful, but this is contrasted by the video having a slow motion after affect with a relatively slow cutting rate to emphasis the change in emotions on characters faces and to reinforce the euphoric feel of the music video.

 The post production used throughout the production is also very unconventional. In many examples of Techno House, animations are used to connote the dreaminess and the hallucinatory feel of the often non lyrical music. Instead, an unconventional story is used where a youth attempts to being life to a dead nightclub by dancing with people, post production techniques are used constantly such as slow motion and a ‘warm’ filter such as Hefe, contrasts with the Sierra, cold feel of the previously isolated location of the bathroom. The slow motion camera technique connotes youth rebellion in illegal drug use which is reinforced by a close up the actors dilated pupil.

 There are aspects of the narrative which are very conventional of the Techno House genre, Tech House is a very youthful up and coming genre. Stereotypically, therefore, it is the teenager who is the inspiration for the music video, who in turn and one by one inspires the older generations to get up and dance which results in them having a much more entertaining time than before. This connotes the ‘infectiousness’ of the Tech House genre and how it can bring joy to anyone.

The performance is also quite conventional of the Techno House genre, there is synthanaesia created by the ‘mood’ of the upbeat and fast tempered track and the and the euphoric performance of the actor. It appears that the youthful actor has consumed drugs, a conventional stereotype of the Techno House genres audience, however, the actor appears very sociable and interactive with everyone in the room and it becomes apparent that it is his energy and vibe which inevitably brings up the rest of the room. Even the gothic actor who’s iconography is to rebel against conforming to stereotypes finds himself smiling, laughing and dancing due to the spread of love within the room.

 This song has no lyrics, but with the relationship between the audio as a whole and the visuals it would seem that the visuals amplify the construction created by the audio. We can tell this from the sequence due to the visuals building in intensity at the same rate as the audio, for example as the song reaches its peak, the epidemic of energy has spread and a longshot is used to show everyone in the room dancing. However, it could be seen to be a relatively disjunctive video as the links between the video and audio is minimal, it would not necessarily be classified as a stereotypical choice of video for a song of this genre/type.

Goodwin made references to topics like the notion of looking and voyeurism in his studies, it is particularly difficult to link this to this particular video, due to the narrative not containing the artist it is hard for them to connect with the audience through methods like breaking the fourth wall, actors are used in this video instead. This particular video there are no voyeuristic images given, the story line itself gives an interesting perspective on gender, initially as the main character begins to dance with one of the middle aged women, a close up is used to show her friends disapproving on look on the situation as she fronts and looks disapproving. This shows the regressive stereotype of teenagers as they are made to look childish and immature. However, this is later contradicted as the older generations appear to let their hair down so to speak. They are seen laughing and dancing which links in to the music as this is after the ‘drop’, replacing the lack of synthenaesia through aspects like lip syncing which may be more suited to a more conventional and generic genre of music such as pop, as this is much more of a niece genre this may explain as to why this theory cannot be accurately applied to this theory. Music videos are a postmodern form of media which implies that they often borrow and rework ideas from other texts and forms, characters in this music video can be seen to be inspired from television programmes ‘This is England’ and ‘Quadrophenia’ such as showing a form of intertextuality across two media platforms.