A2 Media Studies

1. CHANGES TO
MUSIC VIDEOS
JAILHOUSE ROCK - ELVIS PRESLEY (1957)
BAD BLOOD – TAYLOR SWIFT (2015)

2. ‘Bad Blood’ starts off with an
establishing shot of a city which
tells you where the music video is
set. The shot is very high-quality
and it’s now what people expect
what they watch a music video.
This is because they are
becoming increasing popular with
songs and can boost sales. For
example ‘Bad Blood’ is very well
known for the fight scene before
the song even begins.
‘Jailhouse Rock’ starts off with
Elvis Presley talking to the
audience about how he enjoyed
the music video and song and
then he introduces the music
video. This is not very common
anymore because it’s not very
interesting and people would
expect to see the music video
and not a message from the
artist.
JAILHOUSE ROCK – ELVIS PRESLEY (1957)
BAD BLOOD – TAYLOR SWIFT (2015)

3. Looking at the first scene of the
music video shows you a lot
about how music videos have
changed over time.
In ‘Jailhouse Rock’, the set looks
very basic and is meant to
represent a jail. It is built on a set
with two levels, windows and a
fireman’s pole. Comparing this to
‘Bad Blood’, it is a real set in a
business block. There are also
desks, computers and chairs
which makes it look very
sophisticated compared to
‘Jailhouse Rock’.
Also the main difference is that
‘Jailhouse Rock’ is in low-quality
black and white while ‘Bad Blood’
is in high-quality colour. Improving
the visuals of the music video
makes it a lot more appealing.
JAILHOUSE ROCK – ELVIS PRESLEY (1957)
BAD BLOOD – TAYLOR SWIFT (2015)

4. In ‘Bad Blood’, a lot of mid shots
and mid-long shots are used. The
close ups are used on the
characters in the music video and
the mid-long shots are used to
give an idea to the audience what
is happening in the story. In this
music video there are a lot of
characters who have a big role.
Compared to ‘Jailhouse Rock’
this isn’t the case.
In ‘Jailhouse Rock’, a lot of close
ups and long shots are used. All
of the close ups are used on Elvis
Presley to show him singing and
above-the-waist dance
movements. The long shots are
used to show the dance
choreography for the song. Also
in this music video Elvis Presley
is the only main person which is
understandable in a lot of music
videos even today.
JAILHOUSE ROCK – ELVIS PRESLEY (1957)
BAD BLOOD – TAYLOR SWIFT (2015)

5. In ‘Bad Blood’, there is a storyline
whereas in ‘Jailhouse Rock’ there
is just dance choreography.
Typically in modern music a
storyline is involved which
originated in the 1970s. The focus
wasn’t just on the artist singing
but the cross cutting between the
story and the artist singing.
The development of Chroma-Key
meant that green and blue
screens could be used to create
realistic or unrealistic
backgrounds. This let artists have
a large variety of options open to
them, on where they wanted their
music video to be set and the
storyline of it. This form of special
effects would be used in the
editing process by compositing
two layers of images or videos
together.
JAILHOUSE ROCK – ELVIS PRESLEY (1957)
BAD BLOOD – TAYLOR SWIFT (2015)