Kanye West - Good Life ft. T-Pain (Goodwin analysis)

This is a video by kanye west and t-pain. The genre of this video is R&B because it has the typical conventions, like a fast car and girls expressing their sexuality. It also seems to be a performance video as the majority of the video is dancing based. The dancing and shot selection clearly reflects the lyrics as most shots used in this video are close-ups which are of a low angle. The focus on kanye west shows his importance in the video and makes it sell, knowing he is staring in it. 

There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms 'in looking' e.g. screens within screens.

The artist develops his own iconography coming in and out of the video. The video is not set in a place in particular it is simple. Many music videos have used this same theme which helps create the R&B concept. there is defiantly reference to voyeurism throughout the music video with different girls coming in. this is a convention used by most music videos that are of R&B.There is a clear link with the music and the visuals as whilst kanye is singing some of his words are written on the screen.

 

Music Video demonstrates genre characteristics

Throughout the music video there is a demonstration of the genre which is R&B. The music video starts off with Kanye West drawing on the wall with graffiti writing, this instantly helps the viewer work out the genre. At 0.42 T-pain and kanye West are both doing a mini dance whilst singing. Here the editing is very fast pace as it cuts to each other quickly. Also the clothing that is worn is very casual, typically what you see in a R&B music video. These features help represent the characteristics to the R&B genre.  

There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals

In this music video there is defiantly a relationship with the lyrics and the visuals. Right from the start when kanye west is singing, some of his lyrics are written on the screen. This shows the relationship between one another. This is done throughout the video. Further into the video, at 0.53 not only does the writing appear but there is also some pictures. This shows the relationship between lyrics and visuals as when kanye west says “it feels like LA” there is a picture of a Hollywood sign in the background. For the lyric “it feels like NY” there is a picture of New York city in the background. 

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.

Kanye west and T Pain are clearly illustrated as being the main singers in the video. This is done by close-ups and extreme close ups of both artists. This helps show that they are the main focus as you can see their facial expression and emotions. An example of this is when Kanye West is standing and the woman comes in, his facial expression changes.

There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos)

In most music videos there is always some sort of women that is the “sex appeal” for the audience. This video has the “sexy” woman which is seen in almost every R&B style music video. Also in most music videos there is always a super car within the video. As the images in this video where carton based there was still a Lamborghini shown.