The History of Music Videos
For my brief, I chose to create a music video. Before making this I had to research some of the basic and more in depth facts about music videos for example, what purpose it served, what effect music videos hold within an audience and most importantly the conventions of a video and how they have progressed over time. Music videos have become more and more popular in modern day, which started in the 1980’s when MTV introduced the first music video ever to be broad casted on TV; ‘Video Killed the Radio Star ’year by the Buggles in 1980, which was broad casted in 1981, the song was produced just one year after the band first formed in 1979.
Music videos not only are created for entertainment, but were introduced as a way of promoting not only the song but the artist, they are primarily made as a marketing resource, they are also used for the uses and gratifications theory (using media to interact with the audience) over time music videos have gradually progressed, music videos were not willing to invest vast amounts of money on something that was there merely for entertainment reasons, they felt there needed to be a significant reason behind them, this is when music videos began to be made for promotion reasons. Which significantly effected the new programme which was introduced in the early 1980’s, MTV. The reason this new and original television programme struggled massively in the first 2 years, 1981-1983 was because of the pure lack of music videos that had been produced and because of the music businesses lack of ability to see their potential and how they could help with promotion, and also because of the break in conventional television programmes. Since music videos began to increase in popularity, findings showed that so did the artist, this shows how much of an influence music videos have within the media industry and how they effect peoples opinions. The videos hold a massive influence on the way the artist is represented and the style of the music. The audience also reacts the music video and responds in a generally positive way. The audience want to feel that they can relate to the song which in turn means that they can relate to the artist and as many people have role models, they like to be able to relate to them and feel they hold something in common, so another purpose for a music video is so people can feel they can relate. For my music video I chose to use a song by Paolo Nutini called ‘These Streets’, who creates his influence by his original voice and dress sense which is presented in his music videos which reflect the way he wants to be perceived.
There are 5 main aspects within a music video, these consist of; Performance, Narrative, Lyrical interpretation, Lyrical representation and Abstract, these 5 aspects work together to create a music video and all create good promotion values and representation. In a conventional music video the image on the music video will cut to the beat, this helps to create a good theme and rhythm and puts the song and the video well together, this is part of the lyrical representation. Generally in a music video the artist will be performing the song whilst miming (Mickey Mousing) the words of the song. They primarily work through the use of montage. Lyrical interpretation can be shown in the music videos, meaning the song that has been introduced may have a hidden meaning and this can be represented in the music video. The reason for this is because not only can the montage cut to the beat but it can also establish what is going on in the song and the meaning behind the lyrics. To get an idea of this we watched a video of ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. Which was a fast paced and original piece. All music videos are performed in different ways and the cinematography depends on how the artists wants to audience to respond to the video and how they want them to relate. For example, for a fast paced video, continuity editing would generally be used along with montage. However for a slow and more in depth song angles such as tracking shots and establishing shots would be used, depending on what response the director and the artist want to provoke, Not only has the progression of music videos been launching since the 1980’s, as has the progression of technology which has added to the impact that music videos can influence.
Some of the earliest music videos were introduced in 1926, where many short musical animated films were introduced. The Warner Bros Introduced Vita phone between 1926 and 1930, which featured dancing, vocalists and bands. Spooney melodies was a musical video series, which lasted about 6 minutes per episode. Which had an animated visual with the singer recorded in the background. In the 1970’s a well founded and popular television programme ‘Top of the Pops’ began to play music videos. As a way of enticing listeners, the BBC gave a rule that there was a restricted amount of times that a certain song could be played. This would increase sales and popularity. Two programmes which made a significant impact on the popularity of music videos were Australian shows called Countdown and Sounds Unlimited (later shortened to Sounds) both of which premiered in 1974, and made a point of not only promoting the song but also the artist. In 1975 a famous and extremely popular video was launched, this video was created by Bruce Gowers for Queens new single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. One of the reasons that this promotion video is so notable is because unlike conventional cinematography when montage and continuity editing is used, this video was entirely filmed and edited on video tape. In 1983 a video was introduced which was created and directed by John Landis, this video was ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson and soon after it was launched, was placed in the Guinness World Records as one of the most successful videos of all time. Unlike most conventional music videos lasting between 4-5 minutes however Thriller in 13 minutes and 41 seconds, and cost over a $5million to produce. The reason that this video was such a hit is because it broke out of the conventions of music videos and included narrative and acting, like a short film. In 1991 a new song was released by a more alternative rock band R.E.M and the song ‘Losing My Religion’ was launched along with a music video that became very popular due to its unconventional presentation. The video was created by Tarsem Singh, which was released on February 10th 1991.
Since the 1980’s and with help from programmes such as TOTP, MTV and earlier shows such as Countdown and Sounds, music businesses have been able to invest their money in something that will promote not only the music but the artist. Since music videos launched it has not become an essential to have a music video to go with a newly launched song. It has found that a better music video makes better music. Not only this but since music videos were created the artists can base new music on what they want and the lyrics and be represented in the music videos.
For my brief, I chose to create a music video. Before making this I had to research some of the basic and more in depth facts about music videos for example, what purpose it served, what effect music videos hold within an audience and most importantly the conventions of a video and how they have progressed over time. Music videos have become more and more popular in modern day, which started in the 1980’s when MTV introduced the first music video ever to be broad casted on TV; ‘Video Killed the Radio Star ’year by the Buggles in 1980, which was broad casted in 1981, the song was produced just one year after the band first formed in 1979.
Music videos not only are created for entertainment, but were introduced as a way of promoting not only the song but the artist, they are primarily made as a marketing resource, they are also used for the uses and gratifications theory (using media to interact with the audience) over time music videos have gradually progressed, music videos were not willing to invest vast amounts of money on something that was there merely for entertainment reasons, they felt there needed to be a significant reason behind them, this is when music videos began to be made for promotion reasons. Which significantly effected the new programme which was introduced in the early 1980’s, MTV. The reason this new and original television programme struggled massively in the first 2 years, 1981-1983 was because of the pure lack of music videos that had been produced and because of the music businesses lack of ability to see their potential and how they could help with promotion, and also because of the break in conventional television programmes. Since music videos began to increase in popularity, findings showed that so did the artist, this shows how much of an influence music videos have within the media industry and how they effect peoples opinions. The videos hold a massive influence on the way the artist is represented and the style of the music. The audience also reacts the music video and responds in a generally positive way. The audience want to feel that they can relate to the song which in turn means that they can relate to the artist and as many people have role models, they like to be able to relate to them and feel they hold something in common, so another purpose for a music video is so people can feel they can relate. For my music video I chose to use a song by Paolo Nutini called ‘These Streets’, who creates his influence by his original voice and dress sense which is presented in his music videos which reflect the way he wants to be perceived.
There are 5 main aspects within a music video, these consist of; Performance, Narrative, Lyrical interpretation, Lyrical representation and Abstract, these 5 aspects work together to create a music video and all create good promotion values and representation. In a conventional music video the image on the music video will cut to the beat, this helps to create a good theme and rhythm and puts the song and the video well together, this is part of the lyrical representation. Generally in a music video the artist will be performing the song whilst miming (Mickey Mousing) the words of the song. They primarily work through the use of montage. Lyrical interpretation can be shown in the music videos, meaning the song that has been introduced may have a hidden meaning and this can be represented in the music video. The reason for this is because not only can the montage cut to the beat but it can also establish what is going on in the song and the meaning behind the lyrics. To get an idea of this we watched a video of ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. Which was a fast paced and original piece. All music videos are performed in different ways and the cinematography depends on how the artists wants to audience to respond to the video and how they want them to relate. For example, for a fast paced video, continuity editing would generally be used along with montage. However for a slow and more in depth song angles such as tracking shots and establishing shots would be used, depending on what response the director and the artist want to provoke, Not only has the progression of music videos been launching since the 1980’s, as has the progression of technology which has added to the impact that music videos can influence.
Some of the earliest music videos were introduced in 1926, where many short musical animated films were introduced. The Warner Bros Introduced Vita phone between 1926 and 1930, which featured dancing, vocalists and bands. Spooney melodies was a musical video series, which lasted about 6 minutes per episode. Which had an animated visual with the singer recorded in the background. In the 1970’s a well founded and popular television programme ‘Top of the Pops’ began to play music videos. As a way of enticing listeners, the BBC gave a rule that there was a restricted amount of times that a certain song could be played. This would increase sales and popularity. Two programmes which made a significant impact on the popularity of music videos were Australian shows called Countdown and Sounds Unlimited (later shortened to Sounds) both of which premiered in 1974, and made a point of not only promoting the song but also the artist. In 1975 a famous and extremely popular video was launched, this video was created by Bruce Gowers for Queens new single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. One of the reasons that this promotion video is so notable is because unlike conventional cinematography when montage and continuity editing is used, this video was entirely filmed and edited on video tape. In 1983 a video was introduced which was created and directed by John Landis, this video was ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson and soon after it was launched, was placed in the Guinness World Records as one of the most successful videos of all time. Unlike most conventional music videos lasting between 4-5 minutes however Thriller in 13 minutes and 41 seconds, and cost over a $5million to produce. The reason that this video was such a hit is because it broke out of the conventions of music videos and included narrative and acting, like a short film. In 1991 a new song was released by a more alternative rock band R.E.M and the song ‘Losing My Religion’ was launched along with a music video that became very popular due to its unconventional presentation. The video was created by Tarsem Singh, which was released on February 10th 1991.
Since the 1980’s and with help from programmes such as TOTP, MTV and earlier shows such as Countdown and Sounds, music businesses have been able to invest their money in something that will promote not only the music but the artist. Since music videos launched it has not become an essential to have a music video to go with a newly launched song. It has found that a better music video makes better music. Not only this but since music videos were created the artists can base new music on what they want and the lyrics and be represented in the music videos.
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