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A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the 1980s, when MTV's format was based around them.
Music videos are an essential part of a stars image and marketing campaign • They reflect on the artist in the public’s eyes and have an effect on sales • A music video should reflect the artists style, “feel” and genre • There are hundreds of different genres and style of music video, ranging from performance and dance to storytelling and intertextuality
History of Music Videos • In 1981, the U.S. video channel MTV launched, beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. The first video broadcast was "Video Killed the Radio Star". With this new outlet for material, the music video would, by the mid-1980s, grow to play a central role in popular music marketing. Although many see MTV as the start of a "golden era" of music videos and the unparalleled success of a new artform in popular culture, others see it as hastening the death of the true musical artist, because physical appeal is now critical to popularity to an unprecedented degree.
In the early to mid 1980s, artists started to use more sophisticated effects in their videos, and added a storyline or plot to the music video. Michael Jackson was the first artist to create the concept of the short film. A short film is a music video that has a beginning, middle and end. He did this in a small way with Billie Jean, then in a West Side Story way with director Bob Giraldi's Beat It, but it wasn't until the 1984 release of the Thriller short film that he took the music video format to another level. Thriller was a 14-minute-long music video with a clear beginning, middle and ending.
1986 became a landmark year for music videos, thanks to Peter Gabriel's smash hit "Sledgehammer." The video broke new ground in the use of special effects and sophisticated animation techniques. It was animated by British studio Aardman Animation (and, incidentally, was one of Nick Park's first projects with the studio). "Sledgehammer" won 9 MTV Video Music Awards in 1986, a record which still stands. The video is, to this day, considered one of the most important and influential music videos ever created.
Characteristics • 1. Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics (eg stage performance in metal video, dance routine for boy/girl band). • 2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting). • 3. There is a relationship between music and visuals (either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting).
4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work (a visual style). • 5. There is frequently reference to the notion of looking (screens within screens, telescopes, etc) and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. • 6. There is often intertextual reference (to films, TV programmes, other music videos, etc)
3 Main Styles of Video • Performance-based • Narrative-based • Concept-based • Most videos will use a mixture of two of three of the above elements
EXAMPLE • “The Scientist” – Coldplay • http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2478036?htv=12
The Scientist • Narrative-based, incorporating performance • Chris Martin learnt to sing the lyrics backwards to lip-synch the song • Sting in the tale – we see she took her seatbelt off to put her jacket on • Won 3 awards at the 2003 MTV Music Awards
Camerawork • How the camera is used and how images are sequenced will have a significant impact upon meaning • Camera movement, angle and shot distance all need to be analysed. • Camera movement may accompany movement of performers (walking, dancing, etc) • Camerawork may also be used to create a more dynamic feel to stage performance, by for instance constantly circling the band as they perform on stage. • The close up dominates in Music Videos, as in most TV, partly because of the size of the screen and partly because of the desire to create a sense of intimacy for the viewer – look out for this in your video
Editing • Most music videos use a fast cut montage, rendering many of the images impossible to grasp on first viewing thus ensuring multiple viewing • Some videos use slow pace and gentler transitions to establish mood, ie female solo artists with a broad audience appeal, such as Dido. • Some music videos speed up the editing as the song goes on • How is your example edited? How does this add to the overall effect of the video?
Voyeurism • This idea comes from Freud, broadly referring to the idea of looking in order to gain sexual pleasure. • It has been argued that the male viewer’s gaze at the screen is geared to notions of voyeurism in that it is a powerful controlling gaze at the objectified female on display. • In music promos the female on display has been a staple element and the female performer will frequently be objectified in this fashion, often through a combination of camerawork and editing with fragmented body shots emphasising a sexualised treatment of the star. • In male performance videos too the idea of voyeuristic treatment of the female body is often apparent with the use of dancers as adornments flattering the male star ego. • Is this evident is your example?
Screens within the Screen • The idea of voyeurism is also frequently evident in music video through a system of screens within screens- characters shown watching performers or others on television, via webcams, as images on a video camera screen or CCTV within the world of the narrative. Indeed the proliferation of such motifs has reached a point where it has become almost an obsession in music promos.
Intertextuality • Music videos frequently drawing upon existing texts in order to spark recognition in the audience • Not all audiences will necessarily spot the reference and this need not massively detract from their pleasure in the text itself, but it is often argued that greater pleasure will be derived by those who know the reference and are somehow flattered by this. • Can you spot intertextual references in your chosen example?
Narrative and Performance • “Often, music videos will cut between a narrative and a performance of the song by the band. Additionally, a carefully choreographed dance might be a part of the artist’s performance or an extra aspect of the video designed to aid visualisation and the ‘repeatability’ factor. Sometimes, the artist (especially the singer) will be a part of the story, acting as narrator and participant at the same time. But it is the lip-synch close-up and the miming of playing instruments that remains at the heart of music videos, as if to assure us that the band really can kick it.” (Steve Archer 2004)
Treatment of the “Star” • The video allows the audience access to the performer in a much greater range of ways than a stage performance could. Eye contact and facial gestures via the close up, role playing through the narrative and mise-en-scene will present the artist in a number of ways which would not be possible in a live concert. • Music videos will act as a showcase for a stars talents and a significant part in the construction/maintenance of their image. • How is your star portayed in your example? Is this reinforcing their image? Re-inventing the star?
Pink • Use the worksheet provided to analyse the Stupid Girls Video
Kelly Clarkson • Use the worksheet provided to analyse the Since you been gone Video
Green Day • Use the worksheet provided to analyse the American Idiot Video
