PLANNING- Aspects of Music Videos: Like a Prayer

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Lauren Wright

PLANNING- Ultimate goal of a Music Video

The ultimate goal of a music video is to ensure viewers repeatedly watch the video. However it is difficult to maintain the viewers attention as many people watch TV passively since there are many other things you can do while watching TV. Such as doing homework, cooking, talking on the phone etc. Therefore music videos need to be interesting and worth watching in order to catch the viewer’s attention and encourage them to watch the whole thing. It is estimated that viewers stay on a channel for a maximum of 10 seconds before wanting to change the channel, this means it is important for music videos to interest the viewer and grab their attention as soon as they put on the music video.

Music videos are normally 3 to 5 minutes long; any song longer than this is usually compressed. Music videos are short for both psychological and economical reasons. The psychological reason being, because of the short attention span viewers have and the economical reason being, producers want to be able to play as many songs as possible in a short period of time and avoid any tune outs.

Music videos have developed the way they have because TV is practically a free method of entertainment. It is something that can be consumed in the home and since there are a number of things to do while watching TV, there is no real reason to pay attention.

Seeing as music videos are short there is no time to develop characters, instead we get a persona, as character’s and plot are weak to accommodate the song.

Within a music video, a narrative or an overall message is usually being told. Multiple clips being shot are edited together do this. The clips are too short and make little sense on their own, so the rest of them are needed in order for the message to be understood clearly.

PLANNING - WHAT HAS BEEN LEARNED BY LOOKING AT THE HSTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS?

From looking at the history of music videos I have learnt that they have increasingly become more  controversial as the public have become more desensitised to them.  This therefore means artists need to think of new ways and ideas to shock their audience. In an attempt to do this their videos have become more drug influenced and contain more sexual content compared to many years ago.
As in the 1920s and 30s, Soundies where seen as very controversial; women wore provocative clothing and black people were the main people in the videos. Although widely stigmatised in the past it is now seen as normal. This didn't happen until the hippy era where drug use was very high especially among hippies. Nowadays boundaries are being pushed when it comes to sexuality as we are now seeing more homosexual images which is still very controversial at this day and age.
Bearing all of this in mind, I have to try and create a music video that will interest my audience and encourage them to watch it again. It needs to present aspects of controversy but there have to be boundaries. I'm aware I have to be careful with the amount of sexual content present in my video as well as any aspects of drug and alcohol; it has to be appropriate for my audience.

By Samantha Eneli

PLANNING- The History of Music Videos

EARLY HISTORY

In the 1920s and 30s they experimented with silent film and soundtracks which led to music becoming a film genre. Then soundies were introduced which were an early version of music videos and usually lasted three minutes.

This video is a  soundie. This video would have been viewed as controversial because black people are present in it. At just 8 seconds in we see the the first black person in the video and this is maintained throughout. Black people were not accepted during this period of time, therefore the presence of them in a music video would have been extremely frowned upon. The soundie also features women in provocative clothing, for the time period, which also would have caused controversy. Women were seen as inferior to men, to be seen and not heard therefore the fact that they are presented in this way would not have been accepted at this time. Soundies were shown in movie theatres.

Scopitones
They were created in France in the late 50s/early 60s. They were considered the early jukebox and consisted of more sexual content (which coincided with the generation). It was used as a model for the first music promo.

This video here is a Scopitone. They contain more sexual content then soundies and again this would have cause a lot of controversy. There are a lot of girls in the video all in minimum clothing and being portrayed as sexual objects.

1960s PROMO
This period of time was also know as the hippy era. Many rock artists made little films to promote their new albums; a lot were drug influenced. Artists included Bob Dylan and The Beatles.

This video is highly  representative of the hippy era due to the use of colours and graphics. It's very eccentric which was what the hippy era was about, almost like a form of rebellion and this is what the music video is doing; rebelling and going against the standard form of music videos to create something new.

1970s Promo
This type of music video was widely used by 'top of charts' bands. They acted as a substitution when bands were away on tour. The 70s were also an era were Glamrock began to emerge, this pushed the boundaries of sexuality. Some artists who represent this era are Queen and David Bowie.

This is a music video by David Bowie called 'Life on Mars' and represents the Glamrock era. He is heavily dressesd in make up which shows how boundaries of sexually were being pushed. Men began to dress up as women in their music videos and wear alot of makeup, something David Bowie doe in his. This sexualised nature would have been extremely contraversial because of the way in which men were presenting themselves.

1980's - MTV is born
The rise of cable TV saw the start of MTV (formally Music Television) in 1981which was made solely to show music videos. This caused artist and bands to compete with one another to make the best videos so that they could be aired on MTV. On August 1st 1981, the first music video was show on MTV, this was 'Video Killed The Radio Star' by The Buggles.

This music video is 'Our House' by Madness. It was released in 1982. At this time, MTV had been showing music videos for around a year and was extremely popular. Madness were famous for their unique videos which were very popular. Music videos began to tell a story, with the music depicting what was happening in the videos. For example, this video displays the day to day lifestyle of a family which exactly what the song is about.

1990's - Hip Hop Era
By the 1990's the definition of Hip Hop began to change. Instead of portraying reality and the daily life of average people, they began to promote a gangster lifestyle of partying, alcohol and drug use. The budgets for music videos were also increasing and were equalling those of motion pictures.

This is the video for 'Doggystyle' by Snoop Dogg. In it you will see images associated with drugs and alcohol. The video widely revolves around the 'gangster lifestyle', showing the artist at a party or with friends which helps reinforce this image of the  1990s hip Hop era.

By Lauren Wright

PLANNING- Vlog

Vlog:

PLANNING- Brief

As part of our A2 coursework, this year we are going to create a promotion package for the release of an album. This will include a music promo along with a website homepage for the brand and a digipak for the album's release.