Why music videos were created
· A music
video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional
or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a
marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are
also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them
to become more than just a song. Music videos use a wide range of styles of
contemporary video making techniques, including animation, live action filming,
documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music
videos blend different styles, such as animation, music, and live action.
Combining these styles and techniques has become more popular because of the
variation it presents to the audience. Many music videos interpret images and
scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach.
·
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". Using a magic lantern, Thomas projected a series of still
images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a
popular form of entertainment known as the illustrated song, the first step
toward music video.
·
In 1981, the
U.S. video channel MTV launched, airing "Video Killed the Radio Star"
and beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. With this new outlet
for material, the music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central
role in popular music marketing. Many important acts of this period, most
notably Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran and Madonna, owed a great deal of their
success to the skilful construction and seductive appeal of their videos.
The most expensive music videos (Top 5)
·
Michael
Jackson and Janet Jackson - "Scream" - 1995, May - $7,000,000
·
Madonna -
"Die Another Day" - 2002, October 22 - $6,100,000
·
Madonna - "Express
Yourself" - 1989, May 17 - $5,000,000
·
Madonna -
"Bedtime Story" - 1995, March 10 - $5,000,000
·
Michael
Jackson - "Black or White" - 1991, November 14 - $4,000,000
Key conventions found in music videos
·
Country &western
o
Man or woman
sitting in a field playing an acoustic guitar.
o
Field of
wheat, corn, barley
o
Barrels of
straw
o
Slow paced
songs
o
Not much
movement
o
Artist very
static
o
Performance
based
Pop / chart music
o
Mixture of
both fast and slow paced
o
Fast paced
will contain a lot of dancing
o
Boybands
o
Girlbands
o
Young
artists
o
Well known
locations
o
Narrative
& performance based
Rap
o
Swearing
o
More
performance based
o
Close ups of
artists
o
Fast paced
o
Dancing
o
Waving hands
at the camera a lot (hands signs)
o
Scantily
clad women
Most watched music videos (Top 5)
·
"Gangnam
Style" – Psy - 2.872
views - July 15, 2012
·
"See
You Again" - Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth - 2.830 views - April 6, 2015
·
"Uptown
Funk" - Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars - 2.502 views - November 19, 2014
·
"Shake
It Off" - Taylor Swift - 2.205 views - August 18, 2014
Most popular music videos from each decade
·
60s - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
o
This was
popular because the rolling stones were quite a big band back in the 60s and
they were loved by a lot of people, they had a big audience.
·
70s - Queen: “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975)
o
Queen are
another big band and they were extremely popular their song Bohemian Rhapsody
was completely different to their other songs and it was kind of like a shock
to the public, it massively showed Freddie Mercury’s vocal range.
·
80s - "Thriller" - Michael
Jackson (1983)
o
A lot of
money went in to every Michael Jackson music video, he was also very well know
and that impacted massively on the amount of views the music video received.
o
The
13-minute film that resulted changed the music video for ever, becoming less a
promo clip than a cultural phenomenon. Directed by John Landis. Nevertheless,
the Thriller video was set to be so expensive – $900,000, to pay for not just
the filming and effects but 10 days of dance rehearsals – that Landis and
Jackson had to find a way to fund it (Jackson had paid the $150,000 cost of the
Beat It video himself).
·
90s - Baby One More Time - Britney
Spears (1998)
o
Kicking off
a fruitful career, the teenaged Britney won the fervent love of millions of
fans with this instant pop classic set inside a high school and prominently
featuring Ms. Spears dancing in her mini-skirted take on the school uniform
·
2000s - Bad Romance - Lady Gaga (2009)
o
Lady Gaga's
"Paparazzi" video, as elaborate a plotline as it had, was just the
appetizer to her cinematic climax of 2009's "Bad Romance," which won
Video of the Year at the 2010 VMAs
Looking into the history of music videos will help me to understand more about them and I will be able to use some of the knowledge that I've learned in the process of making my music video.
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