The History of Music Videos
Alexander
Nevsky:
This 1938
film was one of the earliest to incorporate music with moving images. The scene
depicts a battle between two armies while music, composed by Serge Prokofiev,
plays over the top. The phrase, synaesthesia was coined in reference to the
film as it means mixing two sense together, in this case sight and sound. While
having background music play over a film clip may seem simple to modern
audiences, at the time this was state of the art development in cinema, paving
the way for the golden age of motion picture.
Soundies:
In the
1940’s, the first visual jukeboxes were made available in America. Under the
name “Soundies” they played three minuet long 16mm films specifically for the
visual representation of music. Customers would use the coin-operated machines
to view the film, usually of the artist performing or a dance routine while the
song played over the top.
A new spin
on Videos:
Up until
1956, music videos (if a song was popular enough to garner one) simply depicted
the artist performing or a dancer dancing. However, Tony Bennett’s Stranger in
Paradise had an accompanying music video in which he, albeit simply, strolled
along the Serpentine in Hyde Park. This was one of the first instances were
artists showed thought about what else could be shown during their songs.
Musicals:
The 50’s
ushered in the age of musicals. Still popular to this day, many Hollywood
productions such as “Singin’ in the Rain” and “The Sound of Music” captivated
audiences with vivid imagery while catchy tunes played in the background.
Filmmakers began to experiment with the idea of giving meaning to the songs by
what the audiences could see on screen.
While this
clip from “The Sound of Music” seems very different to the abstract videos we
see in the modern day, it shares many characteristics with present music videos
such as: Choreography, lip syncing, costuming and camera work.
The Modern
age of Music Videos:
The Beatles
are responsible for many of the milestones in musical history so it will come
as no surprise that they are also the first artist to produce the first purpose
made music video (hardly surprising considering the hype of “Beatlemania” that
swept the world in the 60’s. Their song “Strawberry Fields Forever” added a new
element to the music video repertoire, an artistic interpretation of the song,
paving the way for many other influential artists to do the same.
The video
doesn’t simply portray the band performing, nor does it have a series of random
clips intertwined but uses complex (at the tie at least) editing techniques
such as superimposing artists faces over clips.
Express
Yourself:
Music videos
were rapidly becoming a marketing manager’s dream. It allowed artists to
present themselves in a whole new light, it gave them an opportunity to carve
an image for themselves and get their persona’s across to their fans. For
example, The Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night” depicts the bands various
characteristics and shows them to be fun and outgoing. Indeed, the age of the
rock star was born.
Making a
Statement:
The 60s
brought in an age of music where artists were making statements about issues
they felt strongly about. Were it politics, love or war, music videos were an
opportunity for an artists to illustrate their passions in a new and exciting
format guaranteed to be seen by millions. The Doors “The Unknown Soldier”
focuses on the poor treatment of soldiers after war and the accompanying music
video was highly controversial upon its release, try and have a guess why…
Video really
did kill the Radio Star:
1981 saw the
birth of MTV, Music Television, which was channel dedicated to playing artists
music videos. The first song played on the station was The Buggles’ “Video
Killed the Radio Star”.
Narrative
vs. Concept:
Now music
videos were an established form of media, they became more experimental in
their presentation and “concept” videos became popular.
Narrative
Video- Tries to tell a story related to the lyrics of the song, uses imagery to
support what the artists is singing about. The video below is a prime example:
Concept
Video- often an unusual or obscure theme is presented in the video, it will
have connection to the song but will not be a visual representation of the
artists lyrics. For example, Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” depicts the miscarriage
of justice against a black man as Jesus. The imagery of crucifixes and Jesus
may have literal connection to Madonna’s lyrics “It’s like a little prayer”,
though further analysis of the song may suggest she is referencing something
quite different…
Record
Companies:
During the
70s, artists would often use the show “Top of the Pops” as an opportunity to
create a cheap music video though restrictions were placed on what was allowed
to be shown. However, when Queen re-released “Bohemian Rhapsody”, met with
critical acclaim especially it’s psychedelic music video, the record label that
produced the song also paid for the video. This was the first time this was
ever done
The modern
age:
Advancements
in technology allowed artists to create more complex and creative music videos
using special effects and complex editing to make their videos stand out. The
chemical Brothers’ “Let Forever Be” music video was particularly popular for it’s
exciting editing effects, the shots themselves are simple but the editing
brings the video to life.
A Pathway to
Cinema:
In the 90s,
MTV began listing directors names alongside the artists of the music video as
the media was so popular people wanted to know who was creating their favourite
artists videos. Music videos became an amateur directors medium, acting as a
platform for directors to enter the world of cinema. Possibly the most famous
case is David Fincher, Academy Award nominated director of Se7en. He started
his career by directing a plethora of music videos, most notably Madonna’s
“Express Yourself”
How Much!?
Fun fact-
the most expensive music video to date was Michael and Janet Jackson’s “Scream”
costing a staggering $7’000’000! Though watching it, it’s hard to see where the
money went…
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