The document provides a history of the music video from its origins in the late 19th century to modern times. It notes that the first person to synchronize images with music was American electrician George Thomas in 1894. In the 1930s, Warner Bros. created early musical short films combining animation and live action. In the 1950s and 60s, the Scopitone jukebox in France helped popularize incorporating film into music. The Beatles and Queen released pioneering music videos in the 1960s and 70s that helped establish the format. MTV first aired The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" in 1979. Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983 and Guns N' Roses' "November

1. THE HISTORY OF THE
MUSIC VIDEO
By Abbie-Rose Booth MBE

2. GEORGE THOMAS
American electrician/photographer
was the first to “marry” images to
music in 1894, as he projected his
own images onto a screen whilst
an orchestra played. He called this
the “illustrated song” and created
“The Little Lost Child”, which was
a huge hit.

3. WARNER BROS
Between 1930 and 1931, Warner
Bros created a series of five
musical shorts, of which “Spooney
Melodies” was the first. These
were short films that combined
animation and live-action footage
and the popular tunes of the day.
They lasted around 6 minutes, a
similar length to some music
videos of today.

4. THE SCOPITONE
In the late 1950’s, a French
company called Cameca produced
a juke box that incorporated a
16mm film component. It became
ridiculously popular in the States
in the 60’s, as shown by the poster
to the left.

5. THE BEATLES
The Beatles are thought to have
popularized music videos to the
extent we see today. Their first
was “I Feel Fine” in 1965, directed
by Joe McGrath, who produced 5
videos in ‘65 with the band.

6. QUEEN
In 1975, Queen released
“Bohemian Rhapsody”, which
became, arguably the most
recognizable music video of all
time. It took only 4 hours to film
and cost £400,000 to produce.

7. THE BUGGLES
In 1979, The Buggles became the
first band to have a music video
broadcasted on MTV, with “Video
Killed the Radio Star”. The song
was at number one in the charts of
sixteen countries at the time.

8. MICHAEL JACKSON
In 1983, Michael Jackson released
his video for “Thriller”, directed by
John Landis. Contrary to popular
belief that production of the video
cost $800,000, Landis reported it
cost $500,000 and marked history
for ethnic artists. Many of artists,
including Lady Gaga have been
inspired by Thriller.

9. MOST EXPENSIVE
Speaking of Jackson, his video
“Scream”, with sister Janet, is
considered the most expensive
music video of all time. It cost
$7,000,000 to produce.

10. MY TOP 3 MUSIC
VIDEOS

11. 3. “IN BLOOM”- NIRVANA
This parody of early variety shows
implies that fans didn’t quite “get
the message” that Nirvana were
trying to give out initially,
confirmed by Cobain’s lyrics and
costume changes throughout the
video. The band start in suits and
change to dresses. Courtney
Love’s, according to Cobain. It’s a
classic.

12. 2. “THE GHOST OF YOU”-
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
“The Ghost of You” tells the
shockingly true story of war and is
a desperate protest against it. The
video, filmed partly on a beach,
references Saving Private Ryan
and is based on the events of
WW2. It’s infamous amongst the
band’s fans for being shocking,
especially when bassist Mikey
dies.

13. 1. “NOVEMBER RAIN”-
GUNS N’ ROSES
This theatrical 10-minute classic from
Guns N’ Roses references one of Axl
Rose’s favourite stories, in which a
woman marries a musician, feels
unloved due to him caring more
about his music than her. In the short
story, she kills herself listening to his
music, which is also referenced
throughout the video. In my opinion,
it’s the best song/video ever.