Music Video Analysis

using Goodwins Theory

Robbers The 1975

by Sophie Honor

Andrew Goodwins Theory

1) Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics
2) Thought beats. There is a relationship between the lyrics and visuals.
3) Narrative and performance. There is a relationship between the music and visuals
4)The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the
artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work. (Star Image)
5) Relation of visuals to song. There is frequently references to notion of looking
(screens within screens , mirrors, stages, etc) and particularly sexualised treatment of
females.
6) There are often intertextual references to things such as films, TV programmes and
other music videos.
7) Technical aspects hold the music video together, through the use of camera work,
movement angle, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and special effects.

Robbers - The 1975

Aspects of the Genre

Codes and conventions of the genre are included as a key part of this video.
The theme of love and relationships is explored throughout this video which is
a convention of Indie Pop and many Indie genres.
Indie pop artists often like to use a narrative video to portray a deeper
meaning to the lyrics. We see this here, with the story of a dysfunctional
relationship.

Drugs, alcohol and sex is a theme that runs throughout this video and is a
convention of the indie pop genre.
Indie pop videos often relate completely or partially to the theme of
performance and music. This is because they like to focus on the music rather
than the aesthetics.

thought beats
The structure of the song does have a somewhat repetitive nature. At the end of the verses
there is repetition of a similar line : Stay, stay, stay, stay, stay. and in the last
verse there is repetition again of you look so cool, you look so cool, you look so cool,
cool, cool, cool. The chorus of the song is also repetitive. The repetitive nature to the
music helps the artist get it ingrained to us so we cant forget it.
The frontman of The 1975, Matty Healy, who is also the singer in the band has a very
unique voice and can form identification that works well with star image.
The Video is a narrative video and has a clear storyline that relates to the lyrics.
Narrative is key in many Indie Pop videos to conveying a deeper meaning behind the lyrics.
The lyrics relate to theme of love and relationships. Which is something typical of the
Indie Pop genre. The 1975 are acting as storytellers here and telling us the story of a
dysfunctional relationship heavily based on drug use but also on how in love the couple
are.

Narrative and performance

The music video follows a narrative however the song does not exactly explain
the story in full. We begin to piece together the story as we watch the video
and see this dysfunctional relationship unfold before us.
The main singer (Matty Healy) acts as both narrator and participant which
helps to increase the authenticity. It also adds to Star image and makes us
recognise him as a main character and front man of the band. The audience need
to believe the story is real and The 1975 really achieve this.
The interesting and authentic nature of this video make it it easier for the
audience to watch over and over without losing interest.
Lip sync and other mimed actions remain at the heart of many music videos.
Matty Healy does some lip syncing in this video however he does not look at
the camera. This makes the video appear less like a music video and more like
a film that is telling a story. This makes it more realistic and authentic and
adds to the uniqueness.

Star Image
Its important to focus a video on the artist for the most part in order to
make him or her more recognisable in the music industry. In Robbers by The
1975, Matty is seen as constantly smoking, drinking, and lying around lazily,
which is shown through close-ups. This is also typical of the indie pop genre
as the ideology is that the star of the video is often facing issues such as
substance abuse. The message here seems to be that he is different, and
doesnt care what anybody else thinks of him, because he looks so cool.
Through the things he does in the video Matty could be reaching out to the
audience as the typical audience for his band would be teenagers and people in
their 20s, who are more likely to do these things, bringing the audience
closer to the artist as he appeals to them. While star images are meant to
focus on what people are supposed to be like, The 1975 show that they are
different, even if this may not always be a good thing.

Relation of Visuals to the song

Illustrate is the type of visuals that The 1975 use in Robbers, as they are
using a string of images to relate to the song. Although the video doesnt
follow the order of the lyrics, the visuals and the song relate to each other,
like when Matty sings now Ill shoot him if its what you ask but if you just
take off your mask youll find out everythings gone wrong, he and his
girlfriend walk into the store to rob it and possibly shoot the person
behind the till, however, like the lyrics say, everything goes wrong and Matty
ends up getting shot instead. Also, at the end of the song, when Matty sings
she says babe you look so cool(etc) there is a closeup of the actress who
plays his girlfriend, and it shows her to be lip synching to the words you
look so cool.

Intertextual References
The song has intertextual references to the 1993 film True
Romance.The song itself and the accompanying music video were
heavily inspired by the film starring Christian Slater and
Patricia Arquette.
The character (played by Matty Healy) is styled in a floral print
shirt and his girlfriend is wearing leopard print- which is
similar to the characters costuming in True Romance.
There is also intertextual reference to the famous line Youre
so cool from the film. This is very similar to the lyric that is
repeated in the song You look so cool.

Technical Aspects
The setting of the video is an isolated, rural city. Throughout the video
there are props used such as a guitar and a microphone, which is iconic of the
indie genre as typically you get to see the artist performing. Guns and drugs
are also used, which again relates to the genre but also the narrative. This
links to the gratification theory, which allows the artist to identify with
the audience and makes the band appear as rebellious and carefree. There are
also a lot of closeups used in the video, to highlight how in love the couple
are, showing their emotions - its almost like showing that in their eyes they
cannot see anyone but each other.