The history of music videos

The History Of Music Videos

The purpose of the text of a music video is to promote the artist and album. The idea of using video to promote artists and songs was first initiated in the late 1950s, when a type of visual juke box was invented. The next stage of development in the early 1960s was the use of short films about the artist in which the songs were incorporated into,  for example Bob Dylan’s ‘Don’t look back’. The use of words used in this challenged society and the values of the previous generation, as the 1960’s was a time of change and younger generations were starting to rebel against traditional values. One of the most significant films made by an artist during this period was ‘A hard days night’ by The Beatles. This film incorporated the conventions we have for music videos today into the scenes with the songs as it shows the band performing, and creates a consistent image of the artist. The scenes with the songs are also anti-realist, show no continuity and are made up of montage editing which is conventional for music videos.  A later film made by The Beatles called ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ shows that the use of video has become more surreal, and the song scenes in the film had begun to interpret the lyrics of the song with the use of setting, props and performance which is conventional for music videos. It also again criticizes traditional values and challenges beliefs in society.

In 1972 David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ was one of the first music videos to be made which was not part of a film. The video is futuristic, which perhaps represents the fact this type of music video is a breakthrough for the music industry and music videos are going to continue to develop in the future.  It also uses conventional cinematography such as lots of zooms and close ups of the artist’s face which is conventional for music videos. In 1975, Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was another big breakthrough for the music video as it was the first that used advanced special effects, therefore was similar to the music videos we see today, and about £35,000 was spent on producing it.  The video for The Beautiful South’s song ‘Song for whoever’, shows the artist actually writing the song in the video, therefore it is self reflective. This shows a new development in music videos as early music videos did not do this, and self-reflectiveness has since become a convention for music videos.

‘Losing my religion’ by REM in the early 90’s shows how beliefs in society have changed as the lyrics explain how people in society have become less religious over the years, and the video interprets the lyrics as it shows characters from the bible and other religions, and illustrates that the belief system for religion is falling apart. It also interprets the lyrics in a visual form as it shows the building of the wings. This particular music video uses conventions as it is conventional for music videos to fit in with the beliefs of society.  Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ uses the idea of voyeurism which is conventional for music videos, and is also inter textual as it references a list of big stars, and she is deliberately made to look like Marilyn Monroe in the video.  The video also shows narcissism as it fits in with the lyrics of the song, and the audience becomes the star of the video.

Wham!’s ‘Club Tropicana’ is another video which shows beliefs in society at that time as it is set in an exotic location, which is conventional as the 1980’s when the video was made was a glamorous period, where people were vain, and the video interprets the lyrics of the song. ‘Buddy Holly’ by Weezer is inter textual  as it references the singer Buddy Holly, and it uses the format of ‘Happy days’, a sitcom set in the 1950s, just as change was occurring and young people were starting to rebel.

One of the most influential videos in the history of music videos is Micheal Jackson’s ‘Thriller’. The video is in the format of a short film, just like when music videos first started. It also shows the conventions of the horror genre, for example it shows the innocent girl, graveyard, isolated house, it is set at night and has eerie music. Vincent Price’s voice also features in it, which is an iconic voice of horror films. ‘The importance of being idle’ by Oasis is in black and white as it is set in the 1960s, and it is inter textual as it shows resemblance to ‘Saturday night/ Sunday morning’ which was a film made in the 1960s about working class life. It also illustrates the point of British Social Realism, which meant a change from British cinema being only focused on middle and upper classes, to working class life starting to be represented. Blink 182’s ‘All the small things’ in the early 2000s parodies all of the conventions of music videos and shows references to other artists. Another video which interprets the lyrics well is Peter Gabriel’s ‘Sledgehammer’ as it shows images referencing the lyrics of the song. This video also represents change with the technology used to make music videos as it is one of the first to use stop motion.  Fatboy Slim’s ‘Right here right now’ shows change in society as it shows evolution into a person but then shows the person become overweight, which is a current issue in society. Radiohead’s ‘ Street Spirit’ also shows how music videos have changed as it is abstract and arty, and the video has no real relation to the lyrics of the song.

In conclusion to this essay, it is evident that as society evolves and changes it effects how music videos are produced, as music videos appear to always fit in with the beliefs of society at the time they are set or at the time they are produced. For example the two short films made by The Beatles show how the 1960s was a period of change and young people were starting to rebel against the conservative beliefs of the older generation. Another good example of this is REM’s ‘Losing my religion’, as religion is seen as being quite conservative, and the young people of today tend not to believe in religion, whereas they would have a hundred years ago.