Textual Analysis using Goodwin's Theory

Genre:
The genre of the music is labelled to be pop, and the music video is also labelled under pop as it shows key elements of a pop video, for example it shows artist 'Justin Timberlake' dancing with other women around him.




Narrative:

The narrative shows the story of how a married couple met, and also takes the audience through the couples hard times, and also important points within their relationship, for example, when the woman clutches her stomach, it indicates that she is pregnant, and also the use of showing the young version of the woman in a wedding dress posed as a manikin.




Representation:
The representation within this video is age and shows positive representation of both young and mature. The representation is positive because it shows that it doesn't matter how old a person is, they are allowed to feel love, and to be loved, for instance within the music video we are shown to be looking inside the memories of the elder 'Sadie' and elder 'William' as they fell in love at a young age, which then carried on for years of marriage until the time of William's passing.







Visual Codes:

There is always a mirror or reflective surface which then connotes with the theme of reflection over her life, eg. Looking into window’s or mirrors of her past with her partner, and also to fit with the title of the song ‘Mirror’s, meaning that audience members can then fully understand the use of the mirrors. However there is a difference in the mirrors, for instance,  the young couple's disjointed mirror in a form of fun and passion to represent the same emotions in their relationship, however the present couple are given the same camera shot which tells a different story which connotes how they have become disjointed and will never be whole again, because a piece is missing from the puzzle.

The lighting on the elder 'Sadie' begins with high key lighting, and however end is low key which shows connotations the death of husband, having a negative affect on 'Sadie' as she is left not knowing what to do, which connotes that she is spiralling into depression and loneliness, therefore moving from high key to low key lighting as the camera tracks her journey through the door. 



There is also high key light in box (when she is in a wedding dress) compared to the low key lighting outside, which connotes that at the time the woman was full of joy and innocence about the idea of marriage (Seeing how this is younger 'Sadie') and with the idea that they both would be together forever, however the present the same couple are however not together as they learnt the hard way that ‘forever’ does not exist.

 A spotlight is also used on the elder couple 
which connotes angelic and religious imagery as the two star crossed lovers have lost each other physically, but his memory still remains with her, and therefore they are both seen in a white light to connote innocence and purity within their emotions for each other, also hinting at the saying ‘the heart will go on’ 

There is also a link illustrated from the visual content and the lyrics on the line 'staring back at me' allowing audience members to totally understand the visual content of the music video.  

‘you’re my reflection’ and she is the dancing girl, connotes that there is a deeper physiological meaning to both lyrics and narrative, for example ‘You’re my reflection’ the artist is looking into a mirror, and she appears as his reflection therefore having connotations that when two people are in love they reflect each other, meaning that what you see in someone else is what you 
need/or see inside yourself. 








The use of high key and low key lighting connotes that she is pure and honest with how she feels and that what you see is what you get, however by using low key lighting on the artist, it shows connotations that he however is not pure and honest, and by the female with the blue hair becoming his reflection, he wants to  see the pureness and honesty within himself. This shot then repeats alternating between himself and the female protagonist, implying that the two  are integrating, then playing on the lyrics which are being repeating ‘you are the love of my life’

Technical Codes:

Technical code of the magic book. Memory so powerful  its look as though past and present are moving into one this also connotes that the book holds most of the links to her memories, for instance a memory she revisited was that of when he first gave her the book, the help of the so called levitating book allows audience members to understand that this book represents the bridge to her memories of her loved one and also holds the only strong emotional, sentimental, nature of their relationship. 

This was done because it allows audiences members to understand the older female protagonists struggle and also emotions of the passing of her husband, because everyone one of us has lost someone, and we all have an item or memory which we also associate that person with.

 This technical code is then reversed, which connotes that by dropping her ring she is accepting that he is no longer with her, and therefore no longer her husband, meaning that when the artist catches the ring, it is her way of letting her husband go. 

Audience:

The audience for this music video could range from all ages as there are no scenes which indicate threat or apparent fear. However depending on the individual audience members experience the music video could relate to them in other ways than it would to others, for example, 15-18 age range audience members could relate to the characters shown within this music video when the couple in question meet by the jukebox, whereas 21+ audience members may relate to the video when there is indication to a pregnancy. To conclude i would say that the audience would range from A-E because the main focus of this video is about a couple who grew old together, and as that could happen to anyone, i would say there is no class or age specification to this music video.





By using Goodwin's theory, and by continuing to use his theory this will aid my work because I will be able to take into consideration all of his points and apply them to my own work, meaning that I can have a good chance with a very good grade.