Applying Goodwin's Theory - CASE STUDY

Pills and Potions - Nicki Minaj

Below I will analyse a music video in terms of Andrew Goodwin's theory to further illustrate what he meant throughout his terms.

I have chosen to analyse 'Pills and Potions' - Nicki Minaj as it seems to differ from her expected, traditional videos where she is portrayed as a provocative female, receiving several forms of attention from the opposite sex. This video tends to contrast and appear as if she is 'natural' and 'stripping back to basics.' The track came from her upcoming album 'The Pinkprint' released in 2014.

Theory	Analysis
There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals	Within this specific video, there is a constant reminder of the lyric ‘Pills and Potions, we’re overdosing’ where a plethora of pills are illustrated throughout the video. This amplifies the importance of the video, perhaps a hidden message the producer/artist wanted to address or possibly to anchor the lyrics in order to produce an increasingly effective relationship between both visuals and lyrics. The lyric “Even though you out here looking so ungrateful”, Nicki holds the head of what is made out to be the boy who she is singing about, and in this shot he appears to be looking ungrateful – reflecting the lyrics.
There is a relationship between music and visuals	Within the first reference of the chorus, we see a series of rabbits either shooting what look like pills or a rabbit moving its paws in a clapping motion in time to the music – further enhancing the background track.
Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics	The genre of the music video differs from Nicki Minaj’s typical genre where the genre here focuses on R&B rather than upbeat pop songs. The slow rhythmic melody throughout emits an emotional atmosphere focused upon relationships, which is further displayed in the video as she is stripped back to a typical ‘plain Jane’ natural aesthetic. The simplistic shots and actions in terms of relationship throughout moreover intensify this.
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 reoccur across their work (a visual style)	As previously mentioned, Nicki Minaj is renowned for having over the top videos including pink hair and outrageous outfits yet here we see her naturally glam and stripped back to basics. Although the clothes she wears are still rather short and provocative, it contrasts entirely with her usual impression therefore when these close ups are introduced we pay close attention to what is seeming to be illustrated as the ‘real Nicki.’
There is frequent reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes) and particularity voyeuristic treatment of the female body.	The attire worn by Nicki is particularly covered compared to her usual context of a revealing nature conveying both female assets. There are still however shots of this voyeurism - including nudity, however seems minor compared to the typical 'Nicki Minaj' and yet the focus tends to be put onto the male actor throughout  - clearly muscly, tattooed and topless. Hence this voyeurism there tends to be longer shots focusing on the male’s aesthetics.
There is often intertextual reference to films, TV Programmes, other music videos etc.	Recently, many videos tend to include Dr Dre’s ‘Beats Pill’, a speaker advertised throughout many music videos in the current generation. This intertexuality happens to match the lyrics ‘Pills and Potions’ as two shots clearly focusing solely on the product help to draw an audience’s attention to the item. Towards the end of the video, Nicki also takes the time to advertise her fragrance further highlighting to fans it is available for purchase hence increasing sales as they admire Nicki 'using the perfume.' This perfume could also be seen as the 'potion' when referring to the track's title and lyrics.