I've chosen to look at the music video to the Pop song Vogue by Madonna. This music video can be considered iconic due to it's catchy dance routine, glamorous black and white vibe representing vogue and the 1940's era. The famous Madonna posses all help to make this music video iconic. The music video was directed by David Fincher in 1990. The video gained 9 MTV nominations which it won 3 awards: Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Cinematography, it has also been listed the 28th best music video by the Rolling Stones Magazine, so there is no doubt as to why this music video is Iconic with all these awards it picked up.
I like the music video even though it is not my typical music genre, I can see why it is iconic with the elements of dancing, posing and its 1940's sliver screen film with the black and white effect. It also has the main element of performance, she sings and dances the backing singers sing and dance and it somewhat has the idea of romance, therefore it appeals to a lot of audiences and fits into the Pop music video genre, which Andrew Goodwin presented.
There are many technical elements such as camerawork editing and sound that help make this music video iconic, these elements also fit into Andrew Goodwin's theories.
Vogue fits into the Dance Pop genre, the first theory the Goodwin had was that the video had to reflect the music genre and vogue does. It reflects the genre through its upbeat dancing and with this whilst Madonna is dancing there are many long and wide shots to fits her whole body in the frame and so the audience can see the upbeat dance routine. By using these long shots and wide shots you are getting her whole body in the frame so the audience can notice that it's all about Madonna. It is a very common convention in the Pop genre for the woman's singers whole body to be shown in the frame because they are a part of the 'male gaze'. Good looks are very important in Pop music videos. To go along with these the video also shows many poses that Madonna makes to represent famous figures such as Marilyn Monroe. When doing these poses we notice many close up shots and slow panning shots. This is done again to make Madonna look desirable fitting into the Pop genre again. Also by posing and trying to look like these famous icons like Marilyn Monroe it relates back to its title 'Vogue'.
Another idea that Goodwin had was that the lyrics fits the visuals. The use of a close up shot is used on Madonna's face, she is looking glamorous with her hair and makeup and she poses whilst saying 'strike a pose' by using the close up shot we can clearly she what she is saying and the meaning behind the lyric, strike a pose so therefore the lyrics fit the visuals so we can see that the video is very performance based linking back to the Pop genre, a common convention is that it is performance based and the lead singer is dancing and singing to their song.
'It makes no difference if you are a boy or a girl' we notice a wide shot with both a woman and a man situated within the frame both equally on the left and right, no one is more centred within the middle so they therefore both are as important and are the 'same' by featuring this shot with these characters and the lyric 'it makes no difference if you're a boy or a girl' it is again fitting the visuals to the lyrics, common in the pop genre.
The use of lighting is also used to help focus on certain things, mainly Madonna. The video is all in black and white relating to that 1940's feel. However the use of lightening helps draws the audiences attention to certain things. There is a mid shot of Madonna and a man and the light hits the side of her face. This indicates to the audience that it's all about her and she should be the one being looked at because it is her song and it's about her. This as again fitting into the Pop video genre again.
'It make no difference if you're black and white' by using the black and white video effect is relates back to this lyrics. Again visuals fitting the lyrics.
In conclusion, the use of camera shots lighting, costume makeup and lighting are used to fit the Pop music video genre and they all help to make the music video an all time iconic video.
