History of the Music Video
Thursday 17th September
A music video is a moving image production, in which a song is promoted or atistically represented. There are three general types of music videos:
Performance - performs the song in the video
Narrative - tells a story
Concept - usually random and not to do with the lyrics, uses symbolism
Different types of video are used to convey a song to the audience and entertain fans:
Illustrative - tells the story of the lyrics
Amplifies - tells an exaggerated story (like a love song having a fairytale video)
Disjuncture - the video has nothing to do with the song or lyrics, generally based on an idea
Oskar Fischinger was an abstract-animator, filmmaker and painter. He is best known for creating abstract musical animation many years before computer graphics and music videos. Fischinger created special effects for one of the first sci-fi rocket movies, Woman in the Moon, in 1929. This showed an advance in the film industry.
In 1927, the first feature-length motion picture with synchronised dialogue sequences was realeased.
The Jazz Singer was an American Musical Film, which indicated the commencement of the 'talkies' and the end of the silent film era. The film was a huge success, after using the budget of $422,000 to make a film which grossed a staggering $3.9million in the US alone.
Jailhouse Rock (1957) is an American musical drama starring Elvis Presley. This was a good marketing technique for the film, as Elvis Presley was a well-known singer and performer, at the peak of his career at the time. This would encourage his fans to go and see the movie. The songs shown in the film were pre-recorded, so all performances were mimed. The film made $4,275,000 at the Box Office, with a budget of $1,099,000.
Summer Holiday (1963) is a British CinemaScope (a special lens was used to make it wide screen) and Technicololor (colour film) musical. It starred Cliff Richard, who was a popular singer at the time, however the film flopped in the USA (despite it's success in many other places) mainly because of the time of release. In 1963, Summer Holiday was released two days after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
A Hard Day's Night (1964) is a comedy film (mock documentary) about The Beatles, portraying several days in the lives of the band. The film was a success both financially and critically, as it was rated one of the top 100 all-time great films by Time Magazine, and made $12,299,668 at the Box Office, with a budget of only £189,000. The film was shot using a cinéma vérité style (a style of documentary film making, combining improvisation with the use of the camera to unveil truth or highlight subjects hidden behind crude reality") in black and white.
SOUNDIES were produced in America between 1940 and 1946. They were three minute long musical films each containing song, dance or a band/orchestral number. In 1941, Soundies experimented with comedy genres, however these were not received as well as the original musical Soundies. Soundies were often shot as "fillers" for early television. The films made were often displayed on a PANORAM, a coin-operated juke box, used in nightclubs, restaurants, bars, factory lounges, and amusement centers.
The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals is a traditional folk song, which was a number 1 hit in the UK, US, Sweden, Canada, Australia and Finland in 1964. It was the first British song to reach number 1 in America that wasn't connected with The Beatles. The Animals' version of this song has been described as 'the first folk-rock song, which changed the face of modern music'. The original version of The Animals' cover was thought to be too long at over 4 minutes, so the released version was shortened to 2:58.
Bohemian Rhapsody is a six minute rock song written by Freddie Mercury for his band Queen. At the time of it's release, it was the most expensive single ever made. The song was extremely successful, staying at number 1 for nine weeks, and returning to number one after Mercury's death in 1991. It was only after the release of a promo video with Bohemian Rhapsody, that it became regular practice for record companies to produce a video. Queen made a music video for the song, to avoid having to mime on Top of the Pops.
Video Killed the Radio Star (by The Buggles) is known as the first music video shown on MTV in the US, and the first music video shown on MTV Classic in the UK. Before being aired on MTV, the video drew criticism from viewers for being "too violent" as it involved a scene of a TV being blown up.
Ashes to Ashes (by David Bowie) is noted for its innovative music video. The video contained some scenes in black and white and some in solarised colour (light looks dark, dark looks light - opposite of real life). The video was voted the best music video of the 1980s, as well as Bowie's video for "Fashion". It was also the most expensive music video released at the time, costing £250,000.
The Wall (Pink Floyd) is a concept album, exploring themes of abandonment and personal isolation. The ideology of "The Wall" is based on band member Roger Waters' feeling of isolation, and his desire to isolate him self from the audience by building a wall between the stage and the crowd. The songs on the album create a storyline of a protagonist called "Pink", who is based on Waters and Barrett.