Friday, 16 September 2011

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














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