2. What is a music videos?
• A music video is a short film that accompanies a song.
• There are three main forms, narrative, concept and
performance however forms can be joined together. For
example a performance-narrative music video.
• Theses are generally more popular as audiences view
them as more interesting.
• The purpose of the music video is to promote the artist
and song and therefore increase sales.
3. Music Video Terms
• Music videos are often called promotion videos or
promos, due to the fact that they are usually promotional
devices.
• Sometimes, music videos are termed short-form music
videos to distinguish them from full length movies
pertaining to music.
• In the 1980s, the term “rock video” was often used to
describe this form of entertainment, although the term has
fallen into disuse.
4. Early Music Video
• The earliest music videos were filmed in the mid 1950’s, however,
before then in the 1920’s, films by animators which were
accompanied by musical scores labelled ‘visual music’.
• The early animation of Walt Disney, “Silly Symphonies” , were
built around music. The Warner Brothers cartoons, which still
known today as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, were initially
fashioned around specific songs from upcoming Warner Brothers
musical films.
• The Panoram jukebox with three-minute Soundies were popular in
night spots, however during World War II people lost interest .
5. 1950’s and 60’s
• The development of the modern music video was The Beatles ' first major
motion picture, A Hard Day's Night in 1964. This music video was the basic
visual template of today's music videos, influencing numbers of musicians,
and pop and rock group music videos.
• American TV series The Monkees was another important influence on the
development of the music video genre, each episode included a number of
specially-made film that were created to accompany the various Monkees
songs used in the series. The series ran from 1966 to 1968 .
• The Beatles took the genre to new heights with their films for “Strawberry
Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane “ made in early 1967 , which used
techniques borrowed from underground and avant garde film, such as
reversed film effects, dramatic lighting, unusual camera angles and rhythmic
editing. These two music films are among the very first purpose-made
concept videos that attempt to illustrate the song in an artful manner, rather
than just creating a film of an idealized performance.
6. Modern Era
• The key innovation in the development of the modern
music video was the video recording and editing
processes, visual effects, and high-quality colour
videotape recorders and portable video cameras with the
DIY of the New Wave Muisc.
• This enabled many pop acts to produce promotional
videos quickly and cheaply.
7. 1970s
• Top of the Pops promoted a single which created a
competition amongst bands and record labels as the
show's producers placed strict limits on the number of
videos it would use
• Therefore a good video would increase a song's sales as
viewers hoped to see the video again the following week
• Queen 's Bohemian Rhapsody also started a whole new
era for using music videos as promos.
• American band Devo were one of the first to create early
self-produced music
8. 1980’s
• MTV was launched, The first video to be aired is Buggles
‘Video killed the Radio Star’ - This played a central role
in popular music marketing
• In the early to mid 1980s , artists started to use more
sophisticated effects in their videos, and added a storyline
or plot to the music video.
• Michael Jackson was the first artist to create the concept
of the short film. In 1984 Thriller was released which was
short film that he took the music video format to another
level
9. Internet
• 2001- Yahoo! Music begins as “LAUNCH” and offers users to
watch music videos.
• 2005- Youtube is launched and iTunes store opens.
With the new way to view music videos, the internet, this
meant shows like Top of the pops where eventually cancelled
because it is quicker and easier to watch a music video online
then wait a week for it to be shown on TV. It also meant that
artists such as Ok Go and Soulja Boy gained more success
because of viewings on YouTube.
• 20 days after music videos where available on the iTunes store,
1 million were downloaded.
