History Of Music Videos

History of Music Videos

Introduction

Modern day music videos have dramatically changed over the last few years. For example, back in the day when music videos were a mere myth, they were solely motion pictures however progressing on further through the years they began to develop into videos which can promote artists singles. Many films were also accompanied by moving images, especially animations From this, a large audience appeal evolved forcing artists to create videos to accompany their music so that they can compete for the better artist status within the music industry.

I will now create a timeline which identifies the key moments within music video history starting from the 1920's to the present day.

History of Music Videos Timeline

1929: 'Saint Louis Blues' 

Bessie Smith appeared in a two-reel short film called 'Saint Louis Blues'. This featured a dramatized performance of her singing in the film a song that was featured within. This was the first time music was included to a film thus adapted through the use of editing. Due to this it was not regarded as a music video because it was not for promotional purposes, rather than for the sake of the film.

1940: Fantasia!

Walt Disney released 'Fantasia', an animated film based around famous pieces of classical music.

1956: Tony Bennett - Stranger In Paradise 

Tony Bennett is filmed walking in Hyde Park for his song "Stranger In Paradise". The single/hit was distributed on US and UK television, leading Bennett to claim he made the first music video.

1964: Songs & Moving Images - The video arguably set out the basic visual vocabulary of today's music videos, influencing a vast number of contemporary musicians etc.

1966-1968: 'The Monkees' 
This was a TV show aired at the time. Each episode included a specifically made film segment that was created to accompany their songs.








1966: The 'Birth of Top of The Pops'  
TOTP was used to promote singles so artists began to create competitive videos in order to compete for air time. This allowed artists a gateway to show off their talents as well as improve their unique style.








1950-1960 (1967) - 'The Beatles - Penny Lane'
These videos used techniques borrowed from film ideas.







1975: 'Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
This video was created to replace a live TV performance. However it is questionable whether this video was created for promotional use or rather for the TV performance purposes.







1970-1980: The Jackson 5! 
 The key development of the modern music video was video recording with editing processes. High quality video tape recorders and portable cameras enabled pop artist such as Michael Jackson's group 'he Jackson 5'.




1981: 'MTV is launched!'
 The first video aired is 'Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star. In the early 1980's, artists started to use more sophisticated effects in their videos.

1984: 'Michael Jackson - Thriller'

 A short film is a music video that has a beginning, middle and end, Jackson's Thriller took the music videos format to another level.

1980: MTV and Music Success

Music videos would, by the end mid 1980's, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing. Artists such as Madonna owed a great deal of her success to the skilful construction and seductive appeal of her videos. 

Conclusion

As you can see, music videos have highly changed since history has evolved. This has allowed audiences such as ourselves to demand more from our artists and also differentiate in genres which causes a wider variety of video styles that can be made.

It is important to know how the history of music videos have changed because it gives our audience a broader understanding of how far technological advancements have come. It has given me many ideas such has the conventions that accompany particular genres and also a brighter understanding of the different styles of a video can be filmed in. 



Research: Goodwin's Theory

Goodwin's Theory

Introduction

Goodwin's theory states that all successful music videos are successful due to following a simple 8 point structure. This structure includes 8 key aspects that are said to be essential in creating a good music video.



Goodwin's 8 Key Aspects:


1. Genre Characteristics e.g. hip hop videos include flashy cars, money and women

Snoop Dogg 



2. Relationship between lyrics and visuals e.g. lyrics have to match what being seen.

Schoolboy Q - Man Of The Year



3. Relationship between music and visuals e.g. visuals show a connection to the music

50 cent - Candy Shop 



4. Star image motifs e.g. includes many close ups, by record label to increase popularity.

Chris Brown - Loyal 



5. Notion of looking e.g. "predatorial" treatment of the female body, objectifying

Nicki Minaj - Anaconda



6. Performance, Narrative or Concept Based? e.g. styling of the video

Ciara - Like A Boy





7. Intertextual references e.g. direct links to other films, icons or known moments in life.

Eminem - The Real Slim Shady



8. Technical Elements e.g. mise en scene, cinematography, editing and sound.

Rudimental - Not Giving In

To prove Goodwin's theory correct, I have used it to analyse a video clip widely known within the music industry.


'Will Smith - Miami' Music Video Analysis

*i will include another music video & picture of analysis*

Conclusion

In conclusion, from the analysis I have made on the following videos, my music video should contain close ups of the artist and intertextual references. The pace of my editing should also match the pace of the music. It should also use visuals to illustrate or amplify meaning. Lastly, if I should make it performance based, it should make the narrative clear for the audience to comprehend.

Research: Media Institutions

Media Institutions

Introduction: What are media institutions?

Music video institutions are companies who help produce and fund music videos for signed artists/bands . They provide many benefits for these artists such as money , promotions etc. 

There are many within the industry therefore choice for the artists are high, however there are four that lead the music industry who I would imagine would be first choice and they are:

EMI:

• One of the world's leading music companies
• International institution
• Own labels such as Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capital, Capital Latin etc.
• An example of artists signed to EMI are Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg and Coldplay.

Sony Entertainment:



• Provides music labels for international superstars
• Formerly known as Sony BMG Music Entertainment and changed it's name to Sony Music in Oct, 2008.
• It offers hip hop, country, classical, gospel, pop and rock recording labels.
• An example of artists signed to Sony Music are Chris Brown, Beyoncé and Willow Smith.

Universal Music Group (UMG)

• Is the official world's largest music content company
• Helps to discover and develop recording artists and market their music worldwide
• Examples of artists signed to UMG are Nicki Minaj Cheryl Cole and Busta Rhymes

Warner Music Group

• Not as popular as the rest however is still an international institution
• Record labels include Asylum, Atlantic, Cordless, East West, Elektra etc.
• Helps artists achieve long term creative and financial success by providing consumers with the highest quality music content available
• Examples are Paramore, Bruno Mars, and Kid Rock

Conclusion:

In conclusion, for my media project if I had to choose out of the following institutions I would pick UMG. This is because I feel that they are very good at discovering and developing recording artists. Also, they have a wide amounts of formats and platforms to market and promotes aritsts music.



Research: Purpose Of A Music Video

Purpose Of A Music Video?

The definition of a music video is a short visual film which is created to match the pace of an artists song. The purpose of music videos are to help promote an artists single, entirely making them more popular to their audience. For example, Chris Brown's latest music video craze to the hit single "Loyal".

The classic conventions of a music video are that they are:

Visually stylish - this includes the common conventions within Mise En Scene to create a more artistic video.

Rhythmic - this means that the music video will tend to match the pace of the song, this involves the parts of the song such as; chorus, bridge etc.

Experimental - this is the conventional use of camera editing. This allows a video to look more effective and hold more meaning and significance to an audience.

Conspicuous Lighting and Cinematography - This will help to increase the popularity of the video, thus making it more appealing to its target audience. With the use of various shots and range of lighting techniques this will make the video more entertaining boosting it's success.

Focus on the artist - This is done by using close up shots to make the artist look more identifiable and popular.

Mix between narrative and performance - This is when a music video contains a storyline but still has the artist performing the song. This allows the artist to seem more in depth with the use of a storyline whilst also performing their song 

Schoolboy Q - Man Of The Year

 This music video is a clear example of how all the conventions mentioned above are formed in a music video. Schoolboy Q thus made a large revenue from this music video and was the main cause of his career boost into the mainstream hip hop industry.

Synergy

Synergy is the strategy of synchronising and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment for an overall outcome. Synergy plays a massive part within music videos as it is what allows a music video to be attracted to by an audience therefore giving it success.

Audiences Impact

The audience also play a big part within music videos as it is the audience who are left to watch these videos of our favourite artists and decide on whether they deserve success and further on ratings.

Technological Advancements

With technology advancing year by year, the future of music videos is very bright. Music videos are now filmed using the latest high definition cameras and are directed by famous directors who put time and effort in these videos which are now being made into short films for the audiences approval and excitement.

The use of a director help to create an interesting narrative around an artist single which can then be used by others such as; commercials, blockbuster films etc.


 Rudimental - Not Giving In

This music video displays how synergy and technological advancements can assist to make an amazing music video. The use of cinematography is backed up with high quality technology and equipment to give the narrative, directed by Josh Cole a deserving outcome.

Conclusion

In conclusion, music videos are necessary for higher success for the singles of our day and age. They have the potential to make an artist look more attractive, sound more attractive and ultimately implement a successful career.

Also the more technological advancements we have, the better future music videos we will see developed, making music videos a key way for artists to succeed in their field.

END