Video Music History

One of the earliest music videos I have found is what most people in the modern day know to be the first music video ever. The artist of the song was Bessie Smith St.lous blues and the video was performed in a theatre, although this isn't a video in TV but it was still classed as a music video. it was shown in 1929 in theatre however modern day technology allows us now to see it online as a video.





Tony Bennett claimed the video for his song Strangers in Paradise, which featured himself walking along a river in Hyde Park, was the first 'proper' music video. He made this claim because the video was distributed and played on American and British TV stations.

The Beatles:

A huge part of the development of music videos was triggered by The Beatles' in 1964 with their first motion picture 'A Hard Days Night'. Following up on the motion picture, their videos for 'Strawberry Fields Forever' and 'Penny Lane' were a huge hit. They were particularly good because they were some of the first videos to use effects which before were only used in films. They were created at the peak of the psychedelic music period, and were some of the first videos which attempted to illustrate the music in a more artistic way rather than the idealized performance video.

 

The Jackson 5:

Music videos are known to be promotion videos and through the 80's rock videos proved to be a great promotional strategies for artists songs. For example the Jacksons brought out music videos to accompany all their singles which made them millions of dollars.



 The introduction of 'Music Television' (MTV) in 1981 had a large impact for music videos. It was the first channel where audiences could see music videos for songs on television all day every day. The first music video to be played on the channel was 'Video killed the Radio Star' by The Buggles. The television channel was perfect for promoting music videos and increasing their popularity.

 

Many other artists in this era are very well known for the success in music videos, Adam and the Ants, Duran Duran and Madonna all used skilful construction and seductive appeal in their videos.

Here is a timeline of music video history starting from 1941. It shows the different music videos released by certain people throughout the years and how music videos have changed over the years.

MTV came in around 1981, this proved to be a huge history turner as it was the first 24 hour satellite music channel, this changed culture and was a huge hit throughout America. MTV continued to thrive in years to come and music videos gained huge popularity just purely through this television channel.

MTV continued to dominate until 2005 when YouTube came in ,it changed the way people viewed music videos for the first time and till present this has still been he most popular way of watching music videos. To this day different record labels have their own YouTube accounts to put up their music videos, millions of people view the music videos and YouTube now is used for making money through this.

Textual Analysis of Music Video (Arctic Monkeys)

Narative and Themes:

The narrative is set right at the beginning of the music video when we hear non diegetic dialogue, this immediately grabs the audiences attention.

In the music video we follow the narrative of a female prostitute living in a poor, urban area and how she makes money from prostitution to survive. We also follow some parts of her 'pimps' narrative where we see him handling her and dealing with the men he's setting the female up with. A common theme running through this video is prostitution and run down urban life styles. We see this through the use of the lyrics. For example the lyric 'scumbag' is quite derogatory and describes someone quite near the bottom of a social ladder. This relates to the video as the female characters actions (prostitution) and her lack of cleanliness and money connote the idea of a 'scumbag'. Male dominance is illustrated through out this video an example ive picked out is where the male pushed the female character around, grabbing her arm and even stealing food off of her plate. The idea that he is her 'pimp' also shows an unjustified male dominance. This is a stereotypical representation of gender.

Visual codes:

The music video takes place in a run down urban area with connotations of poverty and a lack of hygiene and success. The characters are represented as miserable wearing dull grey and brown colours which are quite negative.

An interesting shot to mention at the start and end of the music video is where the female character looks directly into the camera breaking the fourth wall. It's only common for the artist to look directly at the camera in music videos and as she isn't the artist this is quite interesting and I believe it is used in an attempt for the audience to connect with her character and feel sympathy.

Audience:
would say that the audience of this music video are most likely young adults between the ages of 18 and 27 and they would have to be relatively mature as the video deals with serious topics. I don't think that the video is gender specific as whilst a male audience would most likely be watching for the artist, a female audience could relate and feel sympathy for the female character.

I don't believe that Todrov's narrative theory is applicable to this particular music video. The female character clearly doesn't start with a state of equilibrium and I don't believe she ends with one. The audience is thrown into the ongoing 'disruption' of this woman's life and are pulled out of it just as suddenly without witnessing anything being resolved.

Textual Analysis of Music Video ( Radio Active)

At the very start of the video, non-diegetic sound can be heard of the wind and a crow cawing connoting that the atmosphere is tense and gloomy fitting in with the visuals of the low angled long shot. A little later on, we can hear the diegetic sound of the crowd in the room, which builds up the tension again and shows that the scene is set with an audience. When the monsters and toys fight we can also hear the diegetic sound effects of the attacks connoting that they are actually fighting and they are powerful, as in when real animals fight and get hurt.

The story line of the video is based upon an underground toy brawl, with different toy contenders going up against the big purple toy champion who is owned by the venue's owner, hence why he's the champion. Throughout the video we can see that the purple monster is the strongest as it beats all its other contenders until the girl from the beginning of the videos tiny teddy toy confronts it and surprises the audience with its special powers, defeating the purple toy. I believe the story brings a moral to the video - don't let appearances fool you, as in the end the smaller toy beat the bigger scarier one. 









At the start, a mid shot is used on  a member of the band playing the drum and singing, connoting that he is a performer but also promotes him as an artist. I close up is then used of the purple monster connoting that he is scary and powerful, but is also the champion of the brawl. A low angle shot is then seen on the leader in a chair. This connoted that he is in charge of the brawl and owns the big purple monster. A two shot is seen later on of the girls pink bear shooting lasers at the two henchmen, connoting that it's powerful even though it's very small, but it is also owned by the heroin of the story.













The main focus of the video is the boxing ring underground where all the toys fight, connoting that this is the main attraction and purpose of the video. We also see the band performing, but are not really part of the story line's narrative, but rather just a live performance extra to promote the band.

Textual Analysis of Music Vidoe ( Need U 100% - Duke Dumont)

At the start of the video, the name of the song and the artist is displayed on the screen. I believe this is effective as it makes the video look professional and of a high standard.

Also, at the start and end of the video, diegetic sounds from the hospital can be heard over the music, connoting that the main character is going to have an operation meaning the video should be serious, but as the story progresses we can see that the dancing juxtaposes this theme.

 

This video has a narrative throughout . At the start of the video, again we can see the main character in a hospital meaning he needs some sort of operation and as the story progresses we can see the reason why he has a radio inside him in which people around him start frantically dancing to.

The majority of camera angles used are two (or more) shots showing the main character with another person dancing frantically next to him, highlighting his problem throughout the video. Long shots are also used to show who ever the main character is with dancing, which also shows the song is in the dance/pop genre.

 

Textual analysis of 99 problems

The genre of this music video is Hip Hop/ Rap, Jay Z is very well known for his artistry work within this genre producing many top hits.

In these screenshots shown, the editing is effective as there is a black and white filter on the camera which creates a very dull and bland look. It also reflects to the surroundings around him and reflects poverty.

Through out the music video there is a lot of reference towards crime and has a 'gangster' feel to it. The reason for this is because is it very typically Hip Hop/ RAP, and there are lots of elements showing crime. For example, in these shots shown, there are close ups of guns, balaclavas, graffiti; which reflects to the Urban feel to the area. Also there are shots of money/drugs which relates to the typical 'gangster life style. The characters in the video are all wearing heavy looking jewellery which also connotes that they have a lot of money.

 

 

 

When it comes to different shots used throughout this clip there are a variety of shots purely representing Jay Z. Here is a screen shot, showing a very low angle shot used which is very low under Jay Z, which shows a sense of Power that Jay Z has and makes the audience feel small.

 



When looking at the shots used, there are a lot of close up shots of Jay Z, which is ideal as the point of a music video is to promote the artist which this does, so through out the video, no one forgets who's song it is and start to recognise his face.

 

 
 

Also, as the music video begins it starts with a P.O.V shot of him or someone running up the stairs of a rough looking subway showing signs of Brooklyn, which automatically tells the audience were it is set and makes the audience feel involved. Also, the use of hand held camera in various shots is very effective as it relates to the feel of the video and the surroundings, with it feeling very hectic and unsteady, just like the area it is set and what's going on within the frames. Everything is very unpredictable and unstructured.

When looking at the pace of the shots, there are hundreds of shots used through the video but all goes with the pace of the song. When looking at the shots used, there is not a lot of performance used, as most of the video is a montage of different little stories happening. I really like the use of montage as it keeps it exciting and so much is going on keeping the audience engaged to the video.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, there is a very nice shot that is a use of screen within a screen shot, which shows Jay Z on a large screen next to the subway with signs showing they're in New York. This expresses the setting to the audience so the audience can interact.



Music Video Analysis Plan B - Writings On The Wall

Plan B is a known artist for the following genres, Rap, Pop, Jazz, Alternative.


What is the narrative?

The narrative is based on an event in Strickland Banks' life. Plan B plays Strickland Banks in this video. He is performing at some sort of venue whilst his wife is home cooking a meal for him expecting him to return. He does not return after his performance but instead goes out drinking with friends and meets a woman at a club/bar who he has a one night stand with. The wife knows what is going on and becomes upset and angry about the situation.

Are there any themes in this music video?

The main theme in this video is love and betrayal. We see this as Strickland Banks has a steady relationship with his wife they are in love however the betrayal kicks in when he doesn't come home to dinner with her, instead he goes out with friends and has a one night stand with another women, his wife then finds out he betrayed her.

Key characters?

There are 3 key characters to look at in this music video, Strickland banks, his wife and the women he has a one night stand with. The whole storyline is made around these three characters.

What issues of representation are shown?

The main representational issue to look at is gender, there is a very stereotypical representation of women the whole way through this video. Strickland Banks wife is at home preparing dinner in the kitchen whilst Strickland is out celebrating a good gig. Strickland also stereotypically betrays his wife by having a one night stand with another women. The female who Strickland sleeps with is also stereotypical by being represented in a  promiscuous way.


Visual Codes

Where is the video set and what connotations are presented?

Half of the video is set in the kitchen of a home which conveys a homely feeling and represents the woman as being the loyal one as she doesn't leave the home. The cooking which is going on in the kitchen could also connote how things are heating up, as we see shots of things boiling.

 

The setting of a dim lighted club connotes the danger as we stereo-typically see negative things happen in these scenes when there are promiscuous females around as well as alcohol.

What connotations do the colours have in the video?

In the setting of the house there are mainly bright colours, connoting the positive attitude the female has towards preserving the relationship. In contrast the colours surrounding the male character (apart from when he's performing) are very dim, connoting negative influences.

Audience

 Who is this music video aimed towards?

This music video I believe is aimed towards older teenagers to mid 20 year olds. Also people in relationship or those currently dealing with a breakup.  

I have analysed this music video as it is a great example of Todarovs theory as I talk about in another post. The narrative is clear which draws the audience in and I really like this. I have also done this to help me identify key conventions first hand within music videos and how to use a narrative to effect.