G324: Music Video History

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a piece of music, typically a song. Most modern music videos are used as a marketing device. The music videos tend to be visually memorable. The music video will normally last the length of the song. There are normally specific conventions in music videos they accommodate the genre of the song. Some music videos are called "Promos" this is because the record company wants to promote the artist/band gain money and the way to gain money is by putting out promo videos to get lots of different audiences interested in the artist/band. Music videos are termed as short-form music videos to distinguish them from full length movies.

1930's music videos/First music videos:

The first music video to be brought out was St Louis Blues by Bessie Smith in 1929. She appeared in a film called St Louis Blues to which this song St Luis Blues accompanied. It stayed in theaters till 1932.



1940's music videos:

In 1940 Walt Disney released Fantasia. An animated film which is accompanied by classical music. This is what made up their music video.



In the 1930's to the 1940's Walt Disney brought out Silly Symphonies, these were short films in which music accompanied them, they classed these as music videos.



As well as Silly Symphonies, Merrie Melodies also came out and was also a big success.



The animated short films from Walt Disney were built around the songs to create visuals to accompany the song.

1950's music videos/Middle of the century:

The earliest music videos or music promos were filmed in the mid 1950's.

The Panoram jukebox was then introduced with a few music videos on there at a time and you also had to pay to watch them. These were popular in taverns/night spots but faded out during World War II.

After the Panoram the Scopitone came out. The Scopitone is a type of jukebox featuring a 16 mm film component. Scopitone films were a forerunner of music videos.

1960's music videos:

The next major influence on music videos was The Beatles - A hard day's night (1964). This is the music video for the song but the song was made into a full move which goes on for 87 minutes. The bit that features in this music video is at the start of the full movie.



After The Beatles, there was an American TV series called The Monkees, they performed a few songs and one of their most known songs is I'm a Believer.



The Beatles then took music to new heights releasing movies/music videos for Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane.





Psychedelic music period - Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and/or enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid-1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in the United States and Britain. Psychedelic music bands often used new recording techniques and effects and drew on non-Western sources such as the ragas and drones of Indian music. (Source - Wikipedia). These music videos by The Beatles were introduced right at the height of the Psychedelic music period. 

In 1964's TOTP (Top Of The Pops) came out and this was a huge success because for the first time you could see all of your favourite bands/artists performing on the TV or if you were lucky enough in the studio. This carried on through the 1970's, 80's and half way thorough the 1990's. This series carried on weekly for quite a while but was eventually cut off and only appears once a year as a Christmas special after the 90's.

In 1966, Bob Dylan performed Subterranean Homesick Blues. This video was just of some man in the field flicking through sheets of paper with the lyrics on. Unfortunately I couldn't find a music video for this song.

1970's music videos/ Modern Era:

The key innovations in the development of music videos were the video recording and editing processes. Also high quality colour video recorders came along and also portable ones came along and were much easier than the DIY made ones they used to use. These helped artists (particularly pop acts) to produce promo videos quickly and cheaply, in comparison to the high costs of using film. However, as the genre developed, music directors opted to use 35 mm film as the preferred medium, while others mixed film and video.

The first "Proper" music video is Queen's - Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975.

 

1980's music videos:

In 1981, MTV (Music Television) was launched. It was the first TV channel to broadcast 24 hour music. In MTV's early years their main target demographic were young adults, but today MTV broadcasts are generally aimed at adolescents and teenagers.

The first video to be launched on MTV was Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star.



In the mid 1980's there were more sophisticated effects introduced in music videos.

Michael Jackson took music videos to a new level when he made them into short films, he was the first artist to use this technique. The ever popular Thriller is the one that sticks out in my head as the best music video - short film. Thriller was introduced in the year of 1983 and the video cost around $500,000 which was a lot of money back then to spend just on a music video. (I have only added the short version as it doesn't allow for the longer version to be put on here, the longer version however is about 14 minutes long whereas this shortened "music video" version is the typical 4 minutes long).



In 1985, VH1 was released and the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly older demographic than its sister channel, focusing on the lighter, softer side of popular music.

In 1985, Dire Straights brought out a music video called Money For Nothing, this was the first music video to use computer animation.



In 1986, The Chart Show on Channel 4 was introduced and ran until 1988. In 1988, The Chart Show was then shown on ITV and ran until 1998. Channel 4 then got The Chart show back in 2003.

In 1986, Peter Gabriel's song Sledgehammer used special effects and animation techniques. This won 9 MTV music awards.



Now music television is in decline and the Internet has taken over as the platform for music video. YouTube, Facebook, Myspace and iTunes are now the go to places for artists. Lily Allen is probably the best example of an artist promoted and established through the Internet. Cheap technology also means videos can be made on any budget. The video for OK Go’s - A Million Ways cost less than £30 and was filmed in the singer’s back garden. The dance routine became an Internet sensation and was downloaded over 9 million times.

The most expensive music video is Scream by Michael Jackson in 1995. It cost $7 million to create. (Could only find it on VEVO on YouTube).



Top 5 most expensive music videos are:

1. Michael Jackson -  Scream - $7 million
2. Madonna - Die Another Day - $6 million
3. Madonna - Express Yourself - $5 million
4. Madonna - Bedtime Story - $5 million
5. Michael Jackson - Black Or White - $4 million

From this we can see that in the top 5 most expensive music videos, Michael Jackson and Madonna take all of the spots.

On YouTube the most watched music video is Psy's - Gangnam Style. It was released in mid-2012 and already has 1.7 billion views which is just incredible. It is also the most viewed video on YouTube.

On YouTube the top 5 most watched music videos are:

1. Psy - Gangnam Style - 1.7 billion views
2. Justin Bieber - Baby - 875 million views
3. Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor - 680 million views
4. Eminem - Love The Way You Lie - 580 million views
5. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem - 555 million views

Key Conventions found in Music Videos from different genres:

Hip-hop - Usually includes artist, normally set in a club or party environment, usually no storyline, typically the women are dancers or models and usually half naked, features jewellery, alcohol, sports cars, features mansion and branded clothing and usually other famous artists featured in the video.

Examples:

50 Cent - Candy Shop
B.I.G - Notorious
T-pain - Low
50 Cent - In the Club

Pop - Colourful, close ups of artist, fun and light hearted, appeals to younger target audience, shows artist/band involved in dance routines, good mood - location - happy e.g. a beach/house, teenager scenario (crush) and video has a narrative.

Examples:

Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Lady Gaga

G324: Real Media Texts - Music Video no.3

Music Video no.3 - John Newman - Love Me Again (Pop/Soul)

Narrative - The narrative in this music video is quite clear. I think that it is about a man (john newman perhaps) that has done something wrong to a woman, he has hurt her and feels bad and he compares himself with devils and demons. Now I think that he regrets his actions and he wants to try and fix things. He's trying to rise above the crowd but needs to know if she can "love him again" which coinsides with the song title and whether it's enough to fight for. The basis for this song I found out is that he messed up with his ex girfiend and she was working down in Dorset for a bit so he jumped on a train to go and surprise her and turned up at her work. He asked her to love him again and again, which then became the title and basis of the song from which he wrote the lyrics on the train home.

Settings - Throughout this music video there were only 4 settings used, the first of which and the most common was the stage performance which was a good location I think for this kind of music video, then there was the room where the dancer(s) were on his/her own at different points in the music video, then there is the pool/snooker table room where the man and gir run through into the final location which is situated outside where the couple get hit by a van at the end.

Number of Shots - There were 144 shots used in this music video.

Transitions Used - There were a few transitions in this music video but of course the most common was a cut as it is usually the most effective transition in music videos. There was a little fade to black I think when the woman walks across the camera at 1:04, lots of the transitions are cuts and some of the rest are ones where someone walks across the camera then it cuts to a different clip but I like them sort of transitions because they seem more real.

Representations Seen - In this music video there are a few representations present, the first of which I think is age because most of the people in the room are of a similar age which can connote that they like the same sort of music/are always together with people of the same age as each other or on the other hand it could be to enhance the fact that the 2 people are sort of out of place because they seem younger than all of the other people in there. I also think that gender plays a part in this music video because it seems like most of the room is filled with men probably trying to connote that he is only talking to one woman and she should feel important and that he isn't interested in any other women.

G324: Real Media Texts - Music Video no.2

Music Video no.2 - Bruno Mars - Treasure (Disco/Funk)



Narrative - The narrative of this music video, as in most of Bruno Mars' videos, is that of another woman. In this song he is saying about how he was feeling towards this woman that he likes. He says "Gimme your, gimme your, gimme your attention, baby. I gotta tell you a little somethin' about yourself! You're wonderful, flawless, ooh you're a sexy lady, but you walk around here like you wanna be someone else". I think that these lyrics tell the narrative well because what he is trying to say basically is that he wants her attention to tell her something about herself, he thinks she is wonderful, flawless and a sexy lady but she walks around like someone else - this last line is interesting because I think that what he means here is that she is insecure and is not comfortable with herself and also wants her to know that she is amazing just the way she is which then links into one of his other songs "Just The Way You Are" which incidentally says the lines "'Cause you're amazing, just the way you are". I think the main narrative of this song is Bruno Mars trying to make this girl that he like realise she looks nice just the way she is and that he treasures her. There is a section of the music video (1:13 to 2:04 mins) where it goes into a psychedelic state. Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and/or enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. I think this type of music video is in the category of a psychedelic pop video.

Settings - The predominant setting for this music video is on a stage, this isn't really a typical scene for this type of music genre so perhaps he is trying to say something by being a bit unconventional.

Number of Shots - There were 80 shots used in this music video.

Transitions Used - Most of the transitions were cuts. One transition which was good was where it was like a box coming onto the screen with another video in it so it came over the top of the video that was playing (1:13).

Representations Seen - This song "Treasure" is a good example of a modern day disco/funk video I think because it has most of the generic conventions that disco/funk genre music videos should have. With lots of disco/funk sort of songs they try to put a message across which I think is a fun sort of vibe to make people feel happy. A representation that is used in all of Bruno Mars' music is to do with gender and the opposite sex, he always includes something about a women in his lyrics and this is typical of Bruno Mars. I think that another representation in his music video could also be age because he seems to have a song that is for the younger generation which then juxtaposes the setting and costumes because they are quite old fashioned.

G324: Real Media Texts - Music Video 1

Music Video no.1 - Eminem - Not Afraid (Rap)
 

Narrative - The narrative of this music video, as of many of Marshall Mathers' songs, is that of his life. In this song he is saying about how he was feeling depressed but he was able to pull himself out of his slum and he's telling a story of how he did it. He knows he will never have it fully figured out. "This black cloud still follows me around" he knows it will always follow him around but instead of it getting the better of him he is going to fight it when he gets out of his slum and is less insane. I think the main narrative of this song is him getting back on the road after being addicted to drugs and living in a slum and I feel that he now wants to make a difference with his life and not be depressed all of the time.

Settings - The predominant setting for this music video is on the streets of New York and this was shown at the start with the establishing shot, we can also see the Brooklyn Bridge in the shot this reinforces my idea that it is set in New York. Another setting is a house that looks tatty perhaps derelict.

Number of Shots - There were 213 shots used in this music video.

Transitions Used - Most of the transitions were just cuts. One transition which was good was where he was walking up to the bus as it was passing then the shot cross fades/wipes into another shot but it looks good.

Representations Seen - This song "Not Afraid" is a good example of a modern day rap video I think because it has most of the generic conventions of rap videos. As with most of the rap videos of this day and age, they are mainly trying to get a message across and this one is saying about if you go down the road of drugs then if you are lucky you will get the chance to rebuild your life but it isn't easy to do. There can be negative views against this genre because there is a lot of swearing, people taking drugs, blinged up men and women and cars being driven  erratically and these are typical of a rap genre music video. This can have a negative impact because some children watch these videos and try to recreate what is happening and that obviously has a negative impact on a lot of things. Especially because rappers like Eminem are role models for children and if they are doing them things then children will want to live up to their role model. Like with all media representations this music video has a purpose and an audience. The purpose of this music video is to make children realise what Marshall Mathers went through in his life and how he wants to sort it out and ultimately telling the children to not go down the path that he took as it is hard to get out of. The target audience of young teenagers will listen to this music because they feel that they can relate to the message being sent.

G324: Textual Analysis of Music Video: Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down

This video from Arctic Monkeys is a performance video. The song and video is based around prostitution in Sheffield (this is also where the band are from) and a man that is implied as either the prostitutes pimp or client and throughout the song is described as a "scummy" man. The first image of the video is a woman who turns out to be the prostitute. This first image is from the start of the music video and we can tell that she is from a urban, poor area from the background having a tower block in it. I think that the tower block going around her is making it seem like she is caged in as it goes all the way around her in the shot. The woman is seen at a mid shot so you can see the expression on her face this is a sad and depressed one and we can also see her clothing in the shot, she is in a hoody and jacket which is the stereotypical clothing of someone who lives in a council estate area. My first impressions of this woman are that she is relatively poor and very unhappy. 

As the video plays, our impression of the woman doesn't change as she stands on the estate and smokes a cigarette until the image of her leaning in a car window and standing on street corners our impression turns to more sympathy towards the woman for the condition of her life. In the video, the women is seen walking down a spiral staircase. This could be showing us where her life is heading: in a downward spiral. The "scummy" man either her pimp or client increases this feeling of pity for the girl as he seems controlling as he cuts and places food on her plate almost as if she were a child and abusive as he picks her up and carries her as she struggles to escape, his grasp, pulls her around by her hand and whilst in the back of a car he licks her face and manhandles her. Despite this the video portrays she puts up with this abuse because he in a way looks after her by supplying her food and warmth and at one point is shown to be placing extra layers on her to keep her warm. 

The video also shows the lack of glamour in the girls life as when she tries to become a magicians assistant which is normally a glamorous job the man gets jealous and beats him up and forced her to slap and punch the magician showing she is trapped being a prostitute and trapped being with this man who abuses her. The atmosphere of sadness and depression is exaggerated through the weather as well. It is shown as cold, wet and a winter environment making the situation for the prostitute a lot worse.



The reason why we did notes and looked over this music video in class is because it is a good music video for the genre that it is in. We did this also to get used to doing textual analysis' on different music videos and this will help us and ultimately myself in doing good deep textual analysis' on a variety of different music videos from all different genres.