The History Of Music Video

STUDYING MUSIC VIDEO

WHAT IS A MUSIC VIDEO?

• anything you want?

• does have specific conventions

• lasts the length of the song (but sometimes longer)

• features the artist (but not always)

• can tell a story (but doesn’t have to)

• needs to be visually memorable and worth repeat viewings

a distinctive art form which can allow really interesting creative opportunities

OUTLINE OF THE SESSION

• Pre-history of music video: origins, ‘soundies’ and ‘scopitones’

• Promos of the 60s and 70s

• The rise of MTV

• How to analyse a music video

• Pitch for your own video

• Controversial videos

• New media and other forms of distribution

EARLY HISTORY

• Music and moving images have long gone together

• 1920s and 1930s experimental film

• The musical as a film genre

• The ‘soundies’- early US jukebox

EXPERIMENTAL FILM

1935

EXPERIMENTAL FILM

1935

ABSTRACT INFLUENCE

ABSTRACT INFLUENCE

ABSTRACT INFLUENCE

2004!

THE “SOUNDIES”

1945

THE “SOUNDIES”

THE “SOUNDIES”

THE “SOUNDIES”

SCOPITONES

• French version of video jukebox

• Popular in early 60s

• Model for the music promo

SCOPITONE

SCOPITONES on DVD

SCOPITONE

1963

SCOPITONE

SCOPITONE

1960s PROMOS

• ‘Hard Day’s Night’ and other ‘rock’ films

• Lots of artists made little films

• Many drug-influenced

The BEATLES

1964

BOB DYLAN

1965

The BEATLES

1966

1970s PROMOS

• Top Of The Pops started to use them

• Substitute when band on tour

• Still very experimental

DAVID BOWIE

1972

DAVID BOWIE

DAVID BOWIE

DAVID BOWIE

1975

QUEEN

1975

QUEEN

BEGINNINGS OF MTV

• Artists began to take need for promo for every release seriously

• Changes in technology and gap in the cable market

• Boom in promos in the early 80s

MADNESS

1982

MADNESS

1982

MADONNA

1986

MADONNA

MADONNA

MADONNA

MADONNA

MADONNA

MULTI-CHANNEL MUSIC TV

• Growth of genre-based channels

• Black music at last broke into the market

• Other companies set up channels as spin-offs from other products

• e.g. EMAP: Smash hits, Q etc

METHODS OF ANALYSIS

Goodwin’s six points:

• Genre characteristics

• Visuals/Lyrics

• Visuals/Music

• Need to sell artist

• Intertextuality

• Voyeurism

50 CENT

2005

50 CENT

2005

50 CENT

50 CENT

50 CENT

50 CENT

50 CENT

50 CENT

50 CENT

METHODS OF ANALYSIS

Goodwin’s six points:

• Genre characteristics

• Visuals/Lyrics

• Visuals/Music

• Need to sell artist

• Intertextuality

• Voyeurism

PRACTICE PITCH

Listen to the songand

come up with some initial ideas for a video.

PRACTICE PITCH

Listen to the songand

come up with some initial ideas for a video.

PRACTICE PITCH

PRACTICE PITCH

CONTROVERSY

• Sex

• Violence

• Drugs

• Bad Driving!

THE CARDIGANS

1998

THE CARDIGANS

1998

THE PROCESS

• Commissioning editor

• Production companies/directors

• Treatments/pitches

• Budgets

• Where the money goes

• Pre-production and personnel involved

• The shoot

• The edit

• Post-production work and delivery

OTHER FORMS OF DISTRIBUTION

DVD RELEASE

ONLINE MUSIC VIDEO

Video-C

ONLINE MUSIC VIDEO

ninjatune

ONLINE MUSIC VIDEO

YouTube

MySpace

STUDYING MUSIC VIDEO