History Of Music Videos

2.  In the 1920s and 30s, most “music videos” were performance based.
It was common for the videos to be filmed in one take. Something
that resembled the music video started to appear on the big screen
however short films emerged where artists performed during their
duration. Bessie Smith’s ‘St. Louis Blues’ is a prime example of a 16
minute short comprising of performance and narrative.
Bessie Smith – ‘St. Louis Blues’ (1929)

3.  The 40s and 50s featured performance music videos again however
some performances had a dance routine to accompany the music.
Elvis Presley was undoubtedly the most famous individual to exhibit
this during his music videos. His ‘music videos’ were taken from full-
length movies that starred him.
Elvis Presley – ‘Jailhouse Rock’
(1957)

4.  The 1960’s was the era of the dancing culture through society and
music videos at the time. The videos were still in basic black and
white however technology had advanced a lot and the music videos
featured a wider variation of camera shots. Chubby Checker’s ‘Let’s
Twist Again’ displays panning and close-up shots with help from a
Crane.
Chubby Checker – ‘Let’s Twist Again’ (1961)

5.  The 1970’s saw the introduction of Rock and Roll with bands like Led Zeppelin and
artists such as Bruce Springsteen. However, Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ made
music video history. The use of effects such as the ‘kaleidoscope’ effect and 2 images
merged together were ground-breaking at the time. The start of ‘Top of the Pops’ was
a also a huge turning point in the history of music videos as it allowed artists to
promote themselves further and perform ‘live’ on the programme. The use of colour
film also boosted the production of music videos. Music videos were no longer just a
performance of the song.
Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975) Alice Cooper – ‘Steven’ (1975)

6.  With the introduction of MTV in 1983, artists reached superstardom through their
highly successful music videos. The 1980s saw the reinvention of Michael Jackson,
the astounding success of Prince and the emergence of Madonna. The videos of the
aforementioned became a permanent fixture on MTV and gained a worldwide mass
audience. Artists began to become more controversial and so music videos began to
become more controversial to attempt to gain higher publicity than their competitors.
Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ is a brilliant example of this as a Jesus is embodied by a
Black man. Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ was undoubtedly the most prominent music
video of the decade.
Madonna – ‘Like A Prayer’ Michael Jackson – ‘Thriller’ (1982)

7.  The 1990’s was a golden age for music videos. Music videos in the 90’s provided an
outlet for ground-breaking directors to cultivate an image for an artist or song that
could become as memorable as the song itself. MTV had the ability to place a song
and musician into the pop music conversation and that resulted in an absurd amount
of both financial and creative commitment to music videos. Gun’s N’ Roses
‘November Rain’ is a fitting example as well as Michael Jackson/Janet Jackson’s
‘Scream’.
Gun’s N’ Roses – ‘November Rain’ (1992) Michael/Janet Jackson – ‘Scream’ (1995)

8.  For the first time ever, most music videos went straight to the web and were
available on countless sites. Due to this, budgets for videos got a lot smaller.
This decade saw the height of the use of the male gaze theory with the
popularity of Hip-Hop and R&B music. 50 Cent’s ‘Candy Shop is a prime
example of the male gaze theory being put into full practice. Dance music
also adopted the male gaze theory too.
50 Cent – ‘Candy Shop’ (2005) Benny Benassi – ‘Satisfaction’
(2002)

9. Nowadays, emerging artists usually begin to cement their artist status
through simple performance music videos. For example, The 1975’s first
music video for their single ‘Sex’ featured the band performing in a small
room. However, artists who already have a recognisable star image, like
Beyoncé and Rihanna, tend to embrace their sexuality during their music
videos. Narrative is a lot less popular in music videos now than it used to
be during Michael Jackson’s prime and the early 2000’s.
The 1975 – ‘Sex’ (2012) Rihanna – ‘Stay’ (2013)