History of Music videos

History of music videos:

 

1929:This was the first time moving Images had been used with song. This was a 2-reel short film called Saint Louis Blues. This featured a dramatized performance from Bessie Smith performing a hit song. This wasn't consider as a music video because at the time there were many films that were accompanied by sound, mainly animations.

 1940: Walt Disney's fanatasia, was a animated film accompanied by classical pieces of music. This was an experiment of sound recording and reproduction techniques.

1950: Tony Bennett filmed walking in hyde park London for his song"Walking in paradise". The single/video was distributed. On Us and UK television, leading Bennett to claim he made 1st music video.

1964:Arguably, the video set out the visual vocalbary  today's music video, influencing a vast number of contemporary musicians at the time to create similar moving images to accompany.


1966: Birth of the Top of the pops. The Importance of this was that it was used to promote a single. This meant that competitive videos had to be created by artists for airtime as a limited number of videos were showed , mainly it was performance based.

1967: Videos started to use techniques that are borrowed from film. This included: Film effects, dramatic lighting, camera angles and rhythm editing.


1966-1968: 'The Monkees' was a TV show. A specially made film segment was included in each episode. This was created in order to accompany their songs that was used in the TV series.

1975:Queen 'Bohemian Rhapsody' song was the first video to replace performance live on tv. Queen were the first artist to create a song to have it played on live TV. Bohemian rhapsody to be made in the format of video.

The music video of the song wasn't a film promo because the whole action in the video was shown.

Song and moving Images:

The key development of the modern music video recording with editing processes. High quality videotape recorders and portable video cameras enabled many pop acts to produce promotional videos quickly and cheaply, rather than using film which was expensive.

1981: MTV  launch and the development of music videos. MTV is  launched the first video to be aired is Buggles ' video killed the radio star'.

. Artists started to use more sophisticated effects in their videos, in the early to mid 1980's . A storyline or plot was added to the music videos.

1984: Michael Jackson 's thriller and the concept of a short film. A short film is a music video that has a beginning, middle and an end, Jackson's thriller took the music video format to another level.

Top of the pops started to censor videos because of it's controversy in different aspects. Example: Duran Duran's "Girls on Film". Music videos would, by the mid -1980's, grow to play a central role In popular music marketing.

Madonna, owed a great deal of her success to the skilful construction and selective appeal of her videos.

Many people see MTV as the start of a golden age of music videos. A unparalleled success of a new art form popular music videos.

Traditional to modern music videos:
Traditional music videos at the time in the early periods of the 20th century were always part of a film. In other words, there was no true focus on the music artist. Where as now, modern day music videos has now become a tool to promote an artist or a message that the artist is supporting and making. Music videos have mainly changed due to the development of technology, which was hugely reflected in Queen's song Bohemian rhapsody, where special effects were used visually and through sound.


CONCLUSION:
Over the years, music videos have changed over the years due the advancement and development of technology. Music videos can be produced with the usage of technological elements CGI.
The reason why is important to know the history is because it help with making ideas for a music video.

Research:Media Institutions

MEDIA INSTITUTIONS:

Media institutions have a huge impact on the promotion of a product. These help to attract an audience to the product that is being promoted.

Music video Institutions:

 

A music video institution are companies that benefit their signed artists by helping to produce and to fund for the music videos. This is whatever music genre they are as long as their popular.

 

Advantages:

 The advantage of a artsist having music video institutions is that they could attract a new fan base. This means more money is made for the artist. Also, music institutions can make their signed artist improve in making them diversed from their main genre that they are used to performing. Furthermore, music institutons can financially provide for the signed artist as they are touring internationally.

4 Leading institutions:

EMI:  This company is one of the 4 leading music instituitons in the world. The instituton has a diversity of the artits that they sign. EMI was founded in 1931 by the manger of columbia graphophone company.

Emi over the years has become one of the global dominating music industries in the world. The artists signed to this music institution include: Lily Allen, Gorrilaz, Snoop Dogg, Coldplay and many more. The record label tends to have a diverse range of artists in terms of genre. This influences the amount of profit they make from their artist.

SONY BMG ENTERTAINMENT: Sony Bmg entertainment is another of the 4 dominating music institutions. The record label is a subsidiary of Sony corporation of America. The advantage of this is that lots of profit can be made. The signed artists include: Jennifer Hudson, Usher, T.I etc.  The institution also has so many known record labels Including: RCA records, Colombia records, Epic records, Roc nation records etc.

The institution started through the merging of different record companies in 1929. The name of the institution at this time was ARC(American record cooperation). The institution was eventually named Sony music entertainment in the year of 1991.

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP: Universal music group, is another dominating global institution within the music industry. The institution was originally started through the merging of different companies in 1962. The institution  has well known labels including: Interscope records, Def jam records, Virgin records etc. Artists that are signed to this institution include: Emeli Sande, Akon, Kendrick Lamar, Kelly Rowland, Kaiser chiefs and many more.

The Institution is a subsidiary of French based company vivendi.

 Warner music group: This Institution is a subsidiary of access industries. Formerly, it was owned by Time warner. The institution was founded in 1958 as part of warner brother pictures.Like the other 3 music institutions Warner has well known labels. This includes: East west records, Atlantic records, Elektra records and much more.



 The artist that are signed to the institution include: Bruno Mars, Kylie Minogue, Paramore and much more. These are obviously well known artists.


CONCLUSION: The music institution I would choose for my music video would be EMI records. The reason being is because the record company gives a platform for genres that are underrepresented in the mainstream. Therefore my music video would be funded by the EMI record company.





Music video Genres

Music genres:

There is a style and category for everything especially music. In this blog post I am going to introduce and analyse different music video genres.

HIP HOP MUSIC:

The audience for this is unisex. The age range is from 12 -40. The genre tends to be quite negative and rebellious.The genre was started in the streets of new York in the 1970's. Over time hip hop has become one of the most popular music genres in the world. The genre has produced some of the most influential musicians of all time. Rappers like: Tupac, Eminem, Nas, Krs One etc.


The music videos of hip hop usually portray strong violence. This could be because of the background of the genre. There are elements within the genres music videos that makes it conventional.  The audience for hip hop music videos will start from teenage years or younger, 11-40 at least. The cinematography that will be used mainly is a close up shot, it helps to emphasise the artist image or what is being rapped about.` A pan shot will also be used to show the hip hop audience what is occurring in the music video. The sound of the music video will usually be upbeat and mellow, it depends on the rap artist. Slow editing is usually used  to build up tension of what is going to happen in the music video. Low-key lighting will be used to represent the background of the music genre, which is quite depressing. The character in the hip hop music video will be a young rapper as the main attraction. The common themes that will be violence,drugs and women.  Usually the music video will be performance based with the main focus being on the artist. At times it could be narrative or concept based.

 

 

POP MUSIC :

 

 

Pop music means the music that is popular among a global audience. The audience for this would be unisex, in some cases it could be just girls(in the case of one direction).

 

 For the music video, the cinematography that will be used for the pop music videos is close up shot. This would be for the star image motifs as the artist face is being recognised in the pop music video. The usual sound for pop music will be upbeat as the genre is usually cheerful and optimistic. The editing will be normal for this genre. Within mise en scene , the artist would wear bright coloured clothing  to connote the background mood of the genre. Also, there would be high key lighting to suggest the upbeat mood in the music. The characters in the music video will be a young good looking artist, this goes back to Goodwin's theory of notion of looking (especially female artists). The themes that will be mainly sung about in pop music videos will be love, fame and sex. This would be a performance based music video usually. Focus is mainly on the artist.

 





 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Music:

 

 

Jazz music has been a well respected genre that originated from the New Orleans. Jazz music for the audience is very relaxed and laid back, which is the reason for it's attraction. The genre has produced legends like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and so on.

 

As for the music video, the target audience would be 40 years or older. The music video will usually include the musicians. A panning shot will be used to emphasise the jazz band playing. A close up shot will also be used so that the musician will be recognised. The sound of the music will be mellow usually as it will reflect the mood. The editing will be slow. Concerning mise en scene , suit clothing will be worn by the male musician while long gown dress will usually be worn by the female jazz musician in the music video. The character will usually be elderly male or female performing on stage. The common themes that will be sung in jazz music videos will be: love, childhood, and society.  

 





 

 

 

 

ROCK MUSIC:

Rock music is a global and well respected genre that has grown in the 20th century, when it started in the 1950's. Different forms of rock have been formed in the last century. Heavy- metal, death metal, rock n roll etc. The music videos would fulfil it's generic conventions.

 The audience for this genre will be unisex. The age range will be from 14 to 40.

 

The cinematography for the music video will include a panning shot to view the artists and to view what is occurring in the music video. The editing will be fast to combine with the fast tempo of the genre. The sound will be noisy and upbeat. In mis en scene (modern days), the costume of the artist will be dark clothing to represent the gothic side of the genre. The character will usually be a band playing, which features a actor or actress. The common themes that will be portrayed is love, pain and anger. The music video will be performance based as the band is performing. At times, it could be concept for the genre can sound quite surreal.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: 

Artist have to stick to their generic conventions, or else they risk losing their fan base. In conclusion, this has shown me the way in which music videos operate and how they are used to promote the genre as well as the artist. The genre I would like to do is hip hop music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



GOODWIN'S THEORY:
Introduction:
There is a crucial theory behind the making of music video, that theory is explained by Andrew Goodwin. In other words this is known as the Goodwin's theory. The Goodwin's theory consist of 8 elements.

Genre characteristics:
The first one is genre characteristics. This occurs when the music video reflects the genre through specific characteristics which makes the video conventional to it's genre. For example the rapper Eminem's song "Lose yourself" is conventional to the hip hop genre because of the clothes he is wearing.

Relationship between the lyrics and visuals:
 The second element is the relationship between lyrics and visuals. A connection is shown either through the lyrics being explained visually, amplifying when the music video is being enlarged upon. The exaggeration of the lyrics linking to the video and contradicting; when the visuals are being opposite to the lyrics. Again, Eminem's rap song "Dear Stan" where a true depressing story is explained in lyrics while the visuals are quite dark.

Relationship between music and visuals:
The third part of Goodwin's theory is the relationship between the music and the visuals. To the actual music the visuals show a connection. Similar to the relationship between lyrics and visuals there is illustrative, amplifying and contradicting within the relationship between the music and visuals. When the music is upbeat the visuals will be. Also, when the music is monotone the visuals will reflect that.

Stars motifs:
The next part of Goodwin's theory is star motifs, this occurs when the music videos uses close up shots of the artist. This  usually occurs because it is demanded by the record label to make the artist identifiable and popular as this would promote the artist even more. Pink is a perfect example of this for her song "Just give me a reason".

Notion of looking:
The 5th crucial element of Goodwin's theory is the notion of looking, this is usually when females are seen as sexual objects, this through the voyeuristic treatment of the female body that can be shown in music videos. Usher's song "In da club" featuring Young Jeezy is a good example with the voyeuristic way Usher is staring at the female dancer in the music video.

Inter-textual reference:
The sixth element of the theory is inter textual reference. This means when a reference is made in a music video that links  to other  programmed, other music videos etc. Eminem is a perfect example for this . In his song' Just lose it'  part of the music video shows Michael Jackson when his hair got burnt while rehearsing . This process was seen as offensive.



Performance, Narrative or Concept:
The next part of the element is performance, narrative and concept based. Performance occurs when the video is strongly focused on the artist or band. Lady Gaga songs usually tend to have performance based songs, one of them is bad romance. Passenger is another example with his song "Let her go". Narrative based occurs when there is a story that is attached and related to the lyrics if a song. Eminem 's song "When I'm gone' is an example of a narrative based song as it gives an insight into his personal life. A concept based  occurs when a music video uses surreal images which the audience might find obscure as they will struggle to understand how it relates to the video.

 

 

 

 

Technical elements:

The final part of the Goodwin's theory is the use of technical elements: cinematography, editing, sound and mis en scene. This also applies in films.




Will Smith "Miami":

     

Will Smith's music video of his rap Miami, is an example I will use to explain how the Goodwin theory applies to it. Firstly the genre of the music video is Hip Hop rap, this is shown through the genre characteristic of beautiful girls on the beach. this make the music video conventional to it genre of hip hop, specifically because of the way Will Smith is looking at them.

As always there is a clear relationship between the lyrics and visuals, as Will Smith is rapping the visuals are appearing in the music video. The  nice lyrics that Will Smith are saying about Miami are coming true  in the music video, this is the specific relationship between the lyrics and visuals in the song.

The music of the song is very upbeat and the visuals of the beach represents that mood, as people are dancing on the beach in the music video.

There are close ups in the music video. One detailed example is when Will Smith is collecting sunglasses from the bar. This would certainly increase his popularity in terms of fan base. Further on, there is a notion of looking mainly with the females that appear in the music video. A panning shot is used to highlight the voyeuristic way females are being looked at.

There is a inter textual reference at the start of the song with a newspaper journal being shown. The song visually refers to the Philadelphia sun sentel.

The song is both narrative and performance based. The reason being is because there is a main focus on Will Smith throughout the song while there is a little story attached to the lyrics of the song about Miami. 

Technical elements are used in the music video mostly the editing. There is a part of the music video in which fast editing is used.

Michael Jackson "The way you make me feel":

Michael Jackson's song "The way you make me feel" is another example I will use to explain how the Goodwin theory applies to it.

The song is R&B, the genre characteristic that is shown is the way the singer is acting towards the female character in the music video. Michael Jackson is acting in a romantic flirtatious way towards the female character to express his love and desire towards her.

In addition, the relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in the music video is very contradicting. The lyrics Jackson are saying shows his mood of love and affection, but the visual is a dark raining street which is the reason for the contradicting relationship.

The same thing could be said of the relationship between the visuals and music. The music is slow and upbeat, but the visual is dark and raining this is the reason why it is contradicting.

The music video contains close up shots of Michael Jackson as it is what his record label requires. This will increase his popularity and make him identifiable.

Notion of looking is strongly shown in the music video.  There is a voyeuristic treatment of the female body with the way Michael Jackson looking at her and the way he is interacting with her.

In this music video the inter textual reference that is his usually high pitched notes that he usually sings. He has used this in his other well known songs.

The music video is narrative and performance based. Michael Jackson uses his dancing skills which is represents the performance. There is main focus on Michael Jackson throughout the music video. Also, there is the story of Michael Jackson's attraction to the girl which is attached to the lyrics.

Technical elements used throughout the video mostly with cinematography, specifically with the pan shot.