Music videos are created with the general focus on the artist, rather than the song, in order to promote the artist. Music videos have given artists the chance to impress and attract their audience, not just with their vocal talent but with their performance. The first introduction to music videos was produced by George Thomas in 1894. It was created by using a magic lantern to project a series of still images onto a screen simultaneous to live performances. This was known as the 'Illustrated Song'.
In 1926, many short musical films were produced called Vitaphone Shorts. These were first created by Warner Brothers. They featured many bands, vocalists and dancers. Shorts were typically 6 minutes in duration and featured animations and backgrounds combined with film of the performer singing.
In the late 50's/early 60's many artists began to promote themselves using the medium of film. Using the soundtrack from their new album in a motion picture film such as a Hollywood musicals. A well known example of this is Elvis Presley. Elvis starred in films such as Jailhouse Rock and Loving You in which a large portion of the film had him singing his own hit songs. Although Elvis was not known for his acting ability, he was able to please the audience with his singing and thus promote his rock star image, which in turn sold more records. Other big artists such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan started creating such movies to promote their music and create a higher status for themselves. The Beatles hit films were A Hard Day's Night, Help and The Magical Mystery Tour.
In 'Help', The Beatles portrayed themselves in the movie, but still having a script to keep to. This film took them a step forward from their previous film 'Hard Days Night' because it was their first film in colour. In the film the director uses a lot of close ups of the band to show that they are the main focus of the film and to make the audience feel active and part of the action.
Bob Dylan also created a music video for his song 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' , directed by D.A Pennebaker, which features at the beginning of his movie 'Don't Look Back' which was a documentary of his tour. The video uses a fixed camera shot of him standing in front of an alley way with scaffolding in the background whilst he holds up cards with the lyrics of the song written on them. As the words are being sung, he holds the card towards the camera and then throws it away as the next line approaches. The lyrics of this song sends a message of rebelling against society and changing the rules of the previous generation by challenging the values and systems of parents.
All music videos have a genre, codes and conventions. A code is an individual action or sign which we understand to represent something e.g., at the end of the news the presenters shuffle their papers which we recognise as code for the end of the show even though this might not be their intention. We recognise the codes by what is being presented to us in the music video. For example, in the video Radio Ga Ga by Queen, the lyrics are talking about how good radio is and how we would miss it now that video has taken over the airwaves. To show this in the video, the band have recreated a World War 2 feel to the video. They have used film images from world war 2 and recreated scenes with a 1930/40's family. This then tells the viewer that the video is set in the past. If the viewer already has knowledge of WW2, they will instantly realise what the video is showing rather than being told. This is a code in this the music video. Another example would be in Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' music video. In the video, we see zombies, werewolves and graveyards. These automatically tell us that it is a horror video.
Peter Gabriel uses stop motion animation in his hit music video Sledgehammer. This animation technique is to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on it's own. The object is moved slightly between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the frames are put together and played as a continuous sequence. Peter Gabriel's video for Sledgehammer to 6 months to create as it uses so much stop motion animation. The video also uses Pixilation which is another stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame by frame subject in a video. They use a pose for one or other frames then change it slightly for the next frame to create a movement similar to a living puppet. This video was directed by Stephen R. Johnson, Adam Whittaker and at some points by the director of Wallace and Gromit, Nick park.
Taking a huge leap from animated videos, in the 1998 a new band was formed called 'Gorillaz' . Not only are the music video animated but the band characters are animated. The band are made up of 4 animated members 2D, Noodle, Russell and Murdoc. The band try to include their animated selves in everything rather than their human selves. Their fictional universe is explored through the band's website and music videos, as well as a number of other media, such as short cartoons.
MTV was one of the first creators to take advantage of the power of music videos. Since 1981, MTV started broadcasting in the USA. 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles was the first music video aired on MTV. From then on, MTV became one of the most highly controversial shows. Some saw it as a new era in the music industry, however, some saw it as the end to true musical talent. Music video aims to deliver the song or give meaning to the song. It helps listeners relate to the song and feel that the song was written for them. However, over the past few years several music videos have caused huge controversy for showing offensive or graphic content. Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' video was apparently banned by MTV because of the explicit content featured in the video. Other music video such as 'S&M' by Rihanna, Robbie William - 'Rock DJ' and 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna have also been banned in several places for it offensive content.
In the present day, the music video has become as important as the song itself .Collections of music videos are being sold on DVDs. Some people even buy them to just watch the video and not listen to the song.
In conclusion, although viewers see music videos to be a form of entertainment, the music video is still only just a work of business used in order to sell the song. However, music videos have become an important part of the music industry. Creating these videos gives the artist an option to promote their song on TV as well as radio.
While animated images to music have been made all through film history, the animated music video did not enter until the mid 1980s with big hits like Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel and Take on Me by A-ha and Leave Me Alone - Michael Jackson. Take on me uses comic book animation in the video. It's a love story between and ordinary working class girl and her successful dream to be the lead singer Morten Harket's lover. Its a traditional narrative music video and the combination of live action and animation shows the contrast between the reality of the video and the dream. The realistic animated pencil drawing were amazing visuals which audiences had rarely seen before.
Peter Gabriel uses stop motion animation in his hit music video Sledgehammer. This animation technique is to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on it's own. The object is moved slightly between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the frames are put together and played as a continuous sequence. Peter Gabriel's video for Sledgehammer to 6 months to create as it uses so much stop motion animation. The video also uses Pixilation which is another stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame by frame subject in a video. They use a pose for one or other frames then change it slightly for the next frame to create a movement similar to a living puppet. This video was directed by Stephen R. Johnson, Adam Whittaker and at some points by the director of Wallace and Gromit, Nick park.
MTV was one of the first creators to take advantage of the power of music videos. Since 1981, MTV started broadcasting in the USA. 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles was the first music video aired on MTV. From then on, MTV became one of the most highly controversial shows. Some saw it as a new era in the music industry, however, some saw it as the end to true musical talent. Music video aims to deliver the song or give meaning to the song. It helps listeners relate to the song and feel that the song was written for them. However, over the past few years several music videos have caused huge controversy for showing offensive or graphic content. Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' video was apparently banned by MTV because of the explicit content featured in the video. Other music video such as 'S&M' by Rihanna, Robbie William - 'Rock DJ' and 'Like A Prayer' by Madonna have also been banned in several places for it offensive content.
In conclusion, although viewers see music videos to be a form of entertainment, the music video is still only just a work of business used in order to sell the song. However, music videos have become an important part of the music industry. Creating these videos gives the artist an option to promote their song on TV as well as radio.
