History of Music Videos

Music Videos came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium.
They use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries and abstract film. Some videos blend different styles such as animation and live action. Many interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, whilst others take a more thematic approach. Others may just be a filmed version of the song's live performance.
In 1894, sheet music publishers Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song The Little Lost Child. Series of still images were projected onto a screen simultaneous to live performances.
In 196, The Beatles starred in their first feature film A Hard Day's Night. It was presented as a mock documentary, interspersing comedic and dialogue sequences with musical one. The musical sequences furnished the basic templates on which subsequent music videos were modelled.



IN 1974, Australian TV shows Countdown and Sounds were significant in developed and popularising the music video genre in Australia and other countries, and in establishing the importance of music video clips as a means of promoting emerging acts and new releases. Graham Webb, producer of Sounds approached newsroom staffer Russell Mulcahy and asked him to shoot film footage to accompany popular songs. Using this method they assembled a collection of around 25 clips, leading to Mulcahy becoming a full-time director.

In the late 1970s British show, Top of the Pops began playing music videos. A good video would increase a song's sales as viewers hoped to see it again the following week. In 1975, Queen's promo video for Bohemian Rhapsody, was notable for being entirely shot and edited on videotape.

In 1980, David Bowie scored his first UK number one in nearly a decade due to his video for Ashes to Ashes.

In 1981, American video channel MTV launced, airing Video Killed the Radio Star, beginning an era of 24 hour a day music television. With this new outlet the music video grew to play a central role in popular music marketing. 

The development of relatively inexpensive and easy-to-use video recording and editing equipment, and the development of visual effects created with techniques such as image compositing were two key innovations in the development of the modern music video.

The first video to be banned by MTV was Queen's 1982 hit Body Language. It included thinly veiled homoerotic undertones plus lots of skin and lots of sweat, which was deemed unsuitable for a television audience at the time.  



The BBC banned the Girls on Film video, by Duran Duran, as it featured topless women mud wrestling and other depictions of sexual fetishes.

Fans also tend to make music videos for their favourite songs. They are typically made by synchronizing existing footage from other sources with the song. The first known fan video was created by Kandy Fong in 1975 using still images from Star Trek loaded into a slide carousel and played in conjunction with a song. Fan videos made using videocassette recorders soon followed. Easy distribution over the internet and cheap video-editing software, saw fan videos increase in the late 1990s.  A well-known example of an unofficial video is Danger Mouse's illegal mash-up of the Jay-Z track Encore with music sampled from The Beatles' White Album,  which shows concert footage of The Beatles remixed with footage of Jay-Z and rap dancers.

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Coursework - Music Video

I've chosen to do a music video for my coursework as I've found a song that I want to do a video to. Arctic Monkeys released their new album, AM, this week, which included a faster version of one of my favourite songs R U Mine, and I think it would be perfect to make a video to. It's an upbeat song which is what I wanted as I find their lyrics easier to follow as they don't have an incredibly deep storyline like ballads, meaning I can have a lot more fun creating my video. 

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Now that my song is chosen I need to chose which type of video I want to produce. In order to do this I'm going to look at videos in each category and see which appeals to me the most.

Coursework Ideas

At the moment I'm still no closer to choosing whether I'll create a music video or a short film, but I have come up with some ideas for both.

If I choose to do a short film I am going to do either a horror or a comedy. Neither of them are types of films that I personally watch a lot and this is why I thought it would be a good idea to do one of them. I would be working outside of my comfort zone and pushing myself to do well. However, this could also be a risky move as I would need to do research into conventions and tropes to make sure that I follow and stick to them and don't steer away to another genre unexpectedly. 

I'm being drawn more towards a music video even though I have no ideas for it. I have a very wide taste in music and so finding a song is seemingly impossible! My aim is to try and find one within the next few days and if I can't then I'm going to do a film instead as I can't afford to spend too much time deciding this time round.

Types of Music Video

Music videos fall into many different categories depending on their effect on the audience. However, as with most things, there are 3 most common types:

• Narrative
• Parody
• Performance

Narrative
A narrative video is based around the lyrics of the song, creating a storyline. They are usually used to promote songs that are featured in films, with scenes from the film cutting into the video. It is a good technique for engaging the audience as they feel like a part of an action or can relate to what is going on in the video.

Arctic Monkeys, "When The Sun Goes Down", has a clear storyline which fits with the lyrics of the song and the watcher sympathises for the character.



Another example is Bruno Mars, "It Will Rain". This song was used in the Twilight sound track and some parts of the film are shown through a projector in the video. 

Concept
Concept videos are based around a single idea which is usually unusual and has nothing to do with the song itself. This draws the audience in as it keeps them entertained and they constantly want to know what is going on in the video. However, sometimes concept videos are combined with either performance or narrative as well to widen the demographic that they can appeal to.

OK Go, "This Too Will Pass", works really well as it based around one idea and the audience is instantly attracted to everything that is going on in the video right until the end. It is based around just one idea and is highly memorable.

Performance

Performance videos mainly focus on the artist or band performing on their own or to a crowd. There are three different types of performance video - dance, instrumental and song. They usually include a wide variety of camera shots and angles. The effect this has on the audience is that they feel as though they are there, so it sells the experience to them. Therefore, when the band next has a gig or a tour people will want to buy tickets to see them. It's normally used by rock and indie bands who include lots of fast cutting to fit in with the upbeat tempo.

Mumford & Sons, "I Will Wait" is an example of this. As it is filmed at one of their gigs it will make the watcher feel as though they are there.

Pudding Bowl

For my short film evaluation I watched "Pudding Bowl" by Vanessa Caswill. It's focussed around nine-year-old protagonist, Ivy who is stuck in 50s British suburbia and loses herself in glamorous images of Hollywood magazines. However, her brother's actions result in her mother giving her a traumatic Pudding Bowl haircut and so her imagination takes flight as she refuses to be cut down by misfortune.

Mise-En-Scene

• Ivy's red spotty dress is similar to the dresses the models in her montage are wearing, showing that she wishes she looks like them

Editing

• Fade in
• Clock-wipe transition indicates the passing of time
• Ivy's glasses, the editing used here portrays her poor eyesight

Sound

• Sound Bridge
• Pause between Ivy and her brother's talking which could indicate her naivety
• Piano music when Ivy is in the bedroom which sets a sad tone to the film
• Upbeat guitar music signifies that she is about to cause trouble
• Radio - diegetic sound

Camerawork

• Extreme close-up of Ivy helps to build a relationship with her early on
• Close up when Ivy crumples up her paper which could represent her dreams
• Worm's eve view when Ivy is having her hair cut off to highlight her vulnerability
• Panning Shot of Ivy's magazines and to the sky at the end of the film

Music Video Directors - Spike Jonze

Spike Jonze is an American director who has directed music videos for some of the largest names in the industry over the last 20 years. His work includes "Da Funk" for Daft Punk and most recently "Otis"which features Jay-Z and Kanye West. 












Jonze has many alter egos, including Richard Koufey, the leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, who is perhaps his most famous. Jonze, in character as Koufey, filmed himself dancing to Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" playing on a boombox in public. He showed the video to Slim who loved it so much he wanted it as "Praise You"'s official video. Jonze assembled a group of dancers who performed "Praise You" outside a Westwood, California movie theatre. The video received awards for Best Direction, Breakthrough and Best Choreography, which Jonze accepted, still in character.

Music Video Directors - Hype Williams

Hype Williams is an American producer who has produced music videos for some of the biggest Hip Hop Stars of the 21st Century. Some of his work includes Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and "California Love" by 2Pac.













Williams used the signature style of a fisheye lense throughout the vast majority of his videos, which distorted the camera view around the central focus. This was used in videos such as Missy Elliot's "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" and Busta Rhymes' "Gimme Some More". However, he chose to drop this in 2003.




Another one of his signature styles involves placing shots in regular widescreen ratio, whilst a second shot is split and placed in the upper and lower bands. Additionally, he frequently utilizes aerial and tracking shots which often move backwards or forwards. This method allows Williams videos to be dynamic, multi-dimensional and atmospheric, as opposed to having static camera angles. "Rock the Boat" by Aaliyah showcases these styles.




In 2003 Williams introduced the combination of a centre camera focus on the artist's body from the torso upward and a solid colour background with a soft different-colour light being show in the centre of the background, which gives the video a sense of illumination of the background by the foreground subject. This is displayed in Kanye West's "Gold Digger".