History of Music Videos
When music first started it was just played live for those who had instruments and the means to listen to it. Then it was able to be recorded and carried around and shortly after that music videos were created. Or “short films” that were played on vitaphone machines in stores and arcades to promote the songs and increase sales. In the fifties musicians like Elvis acted in movies which used a narrative planned so that they could sing as many of their songs as possible, the clips of these movies starring the song would then be shown to advertise the music, the movie and the artist.
The role of these videos nowadays is to promote the music on a global scale now that television and the internet have made it possible for producers to communicate with the audiences in different countries.
“Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Bob Dylan (1965) is considered to be one of the first official music videos although it was made for the documentary following him called “Don't Look Back”. It contains one camera angle and one shot (medium shot) of Bob Dylan standing to the right of the frame with an alleyway with few people behind him getting on with their business. He is holding cards with the lyrics, he wants people to think about the lyrics of the song which talk about life and how he perceives it. He then drops them to the ground when he's done with them; this is symbolic of the “people get what they can and don't think about anyone else” attitude contained in the lyrics. The picture is black and grey either to match in with the documentary or because they couldn't afford colour. Overall there isn't much going on in the video because most of the styles and processes used today to make sure that the videos are entertaining hadn't been invented yet.
“Hard Day's Night” by The Beatles (1964) is more of a traditional video as it is based on the Beatles instead of characters played by the Beatles, also it has a narrative. The narrative is about the Beatles running away from a crowd of screaming fans. The video creates an image for the band of them being immensely famous, which they were, to the point of women screaming at the top of their lungs when they saw them, it also made the band appear fun as they were doing things like hiding behind a newspaper with a fake beard and moustache. This video was also included in a film called “Hard Day's Night” based on the band.
The video was very relevant to mainstream culture at the time due to the level of success the Beatles had. The fact that it uses editing, cinematography and mise en scene to match the lyrics of the song and the look of the band show that by this point music videos were being made even if they weren't called as much at the time.
“Take a Chance on Me” by ABBA (1978) is a performance video. It features the band is a white room singing and dancing. There is no narrative and the video isn't that impressive or interesting. The group tends to repeat the same dance over again, the girls keep winking and the same wipes are used to the extent it gets boring. This may be because at the time ABBA were also a big band so felt that showing themselves and involving little else would promote the song enough. They use split screen to show all the band members at the same time but then leave the girls on their own for longer to make them look more important in this video. They have more screen time throughout as the song is supposed to promote them to the audience for voyeuristic purposes.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen (1975) is one of the most popular and widely known videos ever made. The video cost over £5000 to make which at the time was worth a lot more than now. The video is also performance as it shows the band on stage and stood together singing. The video starts with a fade, to add to the dream/fantasy like aspect they are trying to sell the audience, and makes heavy use of shadows and silhouettes. Lighting does seem very important in this video, maybe to make the band look more dominant. They even use “Rhapsody” in the title, which means a piece of epic poetry, to make their work feel important and of the moment.
In the seventies musicians were starting to use videos to promote themselves as well as the music. They started appealing to the audience visually as well as through the audio, making they appear narcissistic and egotistical in the process. They began selling an idea to the audience, a lifestyle.
“Club Tropicana” by Wham (1983) uses music videos in a different way. They are selling a lifestyle as well, even more so. They make it look like a short film by using titles and glamorous looking actors. They sell the life of riches and fortune; this matches the lyrics “drinks are free”. They all look happy and aesthetically pleasing which would make the audience jealous and want to be like them. They appear to be listening to the song at the club so the first thing the public is going to think to do is buy the track. They even show the album cover in an attempt to further sell the song.
“Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel (1986) uses a lot of effects to appeal to the audience. Similar to Tron, which had been released four years earlier it takes advantage of the technology available at the time. This in itself will make it popular as it becomes unusual and therefore interesting. The more scandalous something is the more it sells. Gabriel uses the effect of making the actions jerky to make it very unusual. He also has trains going around him and faces made out of fruit.
Before this music was progressing slowly and going in the same direction. This decade saw the different artists splintering off into exceedingly different genres with a related set of values. Music became even more competitive than before and the music industry began advancing it's say on what media would be released to the public. This saw more videos trying to appeal to the audience using voyeurism and effects. The video became as, if not more, important than the song.
“Losing my Religion” by R.E.M. (1991) contains a lot of symbolism and a lot of effects when it comes to the editing and lighting. It include various figures dressed up and rein acting famous scenes from paintings and otherwise. The main man is in a blank room devoid of much furniture or decoration. At the beginning there is a jar on the window sill which fills up with rain water before falling off and smashing. This represents the man's faith which is discussed using both the song and the visual imagery. The man's face is usually covered up to show a loss of identity and was a very strange at the time as music videos were at this point making the audience happy by showing the artist. I believe R.E.M. went against this to back up the song. Maybe by this point musicians had become god like figures that always seemed more perfect than the audience, giving them something or someone that was always better than their own lives. R.E.M. could have been making the point that it wasn't true and that a perfect life is “just a dream”.
“Vogue” by Madonna (1990) does the opposite. It appeals to the mainstream in the extreme. It uses images that promote beauty. Madonna compares herself to previous stars like Grace Kelly and suggests that she's the latest in the long line of media legends. She speaks directly to the audience and makes it blatantly obvious that she is selling her lifestyle and her own image, which she has taken from people like Marilyn Munroe.
In the nineties CD's made music more accessible so there were more sales. But due to this the competition also increased and stars began selling themselves more obviously by dressing more provocatively and no longer using any lyrics with deep meaning. Getting professional song writers to sell songs to groups or artists so the artists could spend more time working on the images and the video became more popular and the niche market became more closed off from the mainstream than ever.
“Telephone” by Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé (2010) is filled with intertexual references to previous American culture. Much like vogue it makes itself appear glamorous by using glamour icons from the past. They have outfits inspired by Bettie Page, the story is similar to “Thelma and Louise” and the text used for the titles were very popular in cheesy old movies from the same eras.
However it's also filled with adverts from the modern era. Beyoncé and Lady Gaga are some of the most famous people in the world so when they announced that they would be singing together loads of labels and brands would have approached them for product placement. Some of the names include Virgin Mobile, Diet Coke, Plenty of Fish dating site, Chevrolet, Polaroid and Wonderbread. This makes it very culturally relevant. Lady Gaga and Beyoncé would have sold records even if the video had almost nothing going on because of who they are but the fact that the video was pretty much a short film and controversial (as it includes mass homicide) it was guaranteed to sell more using the methods from back beyond the 80's.
“Jar of Hearts” by Christina Perri (2010) isn't produced for pleasing the masses as much as Telephone. It relates back to the lyrics of the song more than anything. She uses the imagery the song creates and the melody to plot out the effects, the editing and the choreography. I chose this because it contrasts heavily with Gaga, maybe not in the sound of the music, but with the content of the video completely. This may not sell to the mainstream audience as much but it's the kind of thing a niche audience loves.
Music videos have evolved from short clips from documentaries and films to globally shown selling pitches that use a variety of connotations and conventions to appeal to their selected market. Controversial videos are known to sell more, especially to mainstream, for example if a video is banned from music channels viewers will seek it out using new media like the internet.
The videos have also reached a stage of equal importance to the song as it shows the audience the artist which fits with modern culture as we are now surrounded by images and advertisements that try to appeal to us as much as possible.
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