From Elvis and The Beatles' film debuts to Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', music videos have now entered a whole new era. When YouTube was introduced back in February 2005 it opened up a whole new format of watching and sharing music videos. With over a seventh of the entire Earth users on the video sharing site including me and more non users using the site, it means that music videos are easer than ever to watch. Gone are the days of going down to the local Blockbusters to rent the video or paying to watch MTV on satellite TV, you can open up the interent type in 'YouTube' and watch almost every single music video made.
Here is the History of YoTube by The Gregory Brothers:
Vevo:
Friday 24 October 2014
Thursday 23 October 2014
Music Videos in History - Iconic Imagery and Artistic Vision
Thriller - Michael Jackson
In 1983 Michael Jackson released a thirteen minute music video, directed by John Landis, for his song 'Thriller'.
The video has been voted the most influential music video of all time and was named "A watershed moment for the music industry".
Costing almost $1m dollars to make, it took the idea behind the music videos to a whole new level. Thriller had Hollywood movie narrative conventions, more specifically into the horror genre. It made the video more of a short film and a chance for new directors to get into the business. It had become more of a form of entertainment making it more of a promotional weapon when it came to selling the tracks.
Along with making this music video Michael Jackson created iconic imagery. The red jacket, the zombies and the dance routine have become world famous and can be instantly recognised.
Vogue - Madonna
Along with 'Thriller' creating iconic imagery, Madonna created her own with the music video for her song 'Vogue'. The music video then became more important than song. The music video created reference to values of 1940's upper class civilisation and especially the fashion magazine under the same name as the song.
'Vogue' also now started to look more into the performance of an artist, with the music and the dance becoming very iconic in clubs around the world. The famous line 'Strike a pose' is a worldwide phenomenon the hand actions are easily recognisable.
The two music videos have become very influential in modern performance based videos.
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
With the music video for Sledgehammer Peter Gabriel created a groundbreaking product. No video had ever been made like it before and he is pushing the boundaries on what can actually be done. He creates an artistic vision using techniques such as stop frame animation. This then in turn creates a whole new meaning for the future of music videos, they can be done to show the true identity of the artist, like in this music video Gabriel is saying that he is 'artistic and groundbreaking'.
Again with this music video it reiterates the fact that a music video was there to be enjoyed by the audience and became more important than the song itself;people where not only talking about the artiste but about the music video as well creating a whole new era for music.
These three music videos paved the way for the future of the medium.
In 1983 Michael Jackson released a thirteen minute music video, directed by John Landis, for his song 'Thriller'.
The video has been voted the most influential music video of all time and was named "A watershed moment for the music industry".
Costing almost $1m dollars to make, it took the idea behind the music videos to a whole new level. Thriller had Hollywood movie narrative conventions, more specifically into the horror genre. It made the video more of a short film and a chance for new directors to get into the business. It had become more of a form of entertainment making it more of a promotional weapon when it came to selling the tracks.
Along with making this music video Michael Jackson created iconic imagery. The red jacket, the zombies and the dance routine have become world famous and can be instantly recognised.
Vogue - Madonna
Along with 'Thriller' creating iconic imagery, Madonna created her own with the music video for her song 'Vogue'. The music video then became more important than song. The music video created reference to values of 1940's upper class civilisation and especially the fashion magazine under the same name as the song.
'Vogue' also now started to look more into the performance of an artist, with the music and the dance becoming very iconic in clubs around the world. The famous line 'Strike a pose' is a worldwide phenomenon the hand actions are easily recognisable.
The two music videos have become very influential in modern performance based videos.
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel
With the music video for Sledgehammer Peter Gabriel created a groundbreaking product. No video had ever been made like it before and he is pushing the boundaries on what can actually be done. He creates an artistic vision using techniques such as stop frame animation. This then in turn creates a whole new meaning for the future of music videos, they can be done to show the true identity of the artist, like in this music video Gabriel is saying that he is 'artistic and groundbreaking'.
Again with this music video it reiterates the fact that a music video was there to be enjoyed by the audience and became more important than the song itself;people where not only talking about the artiste but about the music video as well creating a whole new era for music.
These three music videos paved the way for the future of the medium.
Wednesday 22 October 2014
Music Videos in History - MTV
Early music videos were called promotional videos, as I have explored with The Beatles. They were films of gigs but back in 1981 a new TV channel aired for the first time. This channel was MTV and it would go on to become one of the most viewed music channels in television history.
The first Music video to air on MTV was the 'Buggles' track 'Video Killed the Radio Star followed by the Pat Benatar tune "You Better Run".
Originally the music videos centred on helping artistes gain exposure. The videos where introduced by the young Video Jockeys (VJs). Since it first aired the channel has helped audiences connect to music on a completely new level compared to the feature films back in the 60's The Beatles produced.
BBC's Top of The Pops began playing music videos in the late 70's but was limited on how many they could show. Instead they had the band play live in the studio.
Early on MTV concentrated on rock music and played artists such as Journey and The Police. Other 80's rock acts like Van Halen and Eurythmics found fame promoting their videos on the channel.
The first Music video to air on MTV was the 'Buggles' track 'Video Killed the Radio Star followed by the Pat Benatar tune "You Better Run".
Originally the music videos centred on helping artistes gain exposure. The videos where introduced by the young Video Jockeys (VJs). Since it first aired the channel has helped audiences connect to music on a completely new level compared to the feature films back in the 60's The Beatles produced.
BBC's Top of The Pops began playing music videos in the late 70's but was limited on how many they could show. Instead they had the band play live in the studio.
Early on MTV concentrated on rock music and played artists such as Journey and The Police. Other 80's rock acts like Van Halen and Eurythmics found fame promoting their videos on the channel.
Wednesday 15 October 2014
Genre Research - Electropop
Electropop is a style of music characterised by the use of electronically created sounds, with a synthesizer as the primary instrument.
Synthesizer:
The synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals wich can be converted to sound through loudspeakers or headphones. Synthesizers can generate new timbres and imitate other instruments, they can be controlled by by a variety of different devices.
In 1959-1960 Harold Bode developed a modular synthesiser and sound processor, and in 1961 developed a paper exploring the concept of self-contained portable modular synthesizer. His ideas were adopted by Donald Buchla and Robert Moog.
ELECTROPOP
Electropop first became prominent in the 1980's. It had prefigured in the 60's and 70's by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, dico and particularly the 'Krautrock' of bands like Kraftwerk. The genre arose in Japan and the UK in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 70's to the mid 80's.
The early pioneers included the Japanese group Yellow Orchestra and the British bands Ultravox and The Human League.
In the late 80's the Pet Shop Boys adopted a sound that was very successful in the US Dance Charts, but by the end of the decade the genre had largely been abandoned,
By the end of the 00's new music and sounds had been created in the electropop genre by artistes such as Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Owl City and La Roux.
Yellow Orchestra - Fire Cracker (1980)
Pet Shop Boys - It's a Sin
La Roux - Bulletproof
Owl City - Fireflies
TOP 10 HOT DANCE/ELECTRONIC SONGS (15th October 2014)
Synthesizer:
The synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals wich can be converted to sound through loudspeakers or headphones. Synthesizers can generate new timbres and imitate other instruments, they can be controlled by by a variety of different devices.
In 1959-1960 Harold Bode developed a modular synthesiser and sound processor, and in 1961 developed a paper exploring the concept of self-contained portable modular synthesizer. His ideas were adopted by Donald Buchla and Robert Moog.
ELECTROPOP
Electropop first became prominent in the 1980's. It had prefigured in the 60's and 70's by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, dico and particularly the 'Krautrock' of bands like Kraftwerk. The genre arose in Japan and the UK in the post-punk era as part of the new wave movement of the late 70's to the mid 80's.
The early pioneers included the Japanese group Yellow Orchestra and the British bands Ultravox and The Human League.
In the late 80's the Pet Shop Boys adopted a sound that was very successful in the US Dance Charts, but by the end of the decade the genre had largely been abandoned,
By the end of the 00's new music and sounds had been created in the electropop genre by artistes such as Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, Owl City and La Roux.
Yellow Orchestra - Fire Cracker (1980)
Pet Shop Boys - It's a Sin
La Roux - Bulletproof
Owl City - Fireflies
TOP 10 HOT DANCE/ELECTRONIC SONGS (15th October 2014)
- Break Free - Ariana Grande ft. Zedd
- Rather Be - Clean Bandit
- A Sky Fyll of Stars - ColdPlay
- Blame - Calvin Harris ft. Jon Newman
- Waves - Mr. Probz
- Turn Down For What - DJ Snake & Lil Jon
- Summer - Calvin Harris
- Hideaway - Kiesza
- Heroes (We Could Be) - Alesso ft. Tove Lo
- Bend Ova - Lil Jon ft. Tyga
Skills Development Essay
Before I started my media course at college, I studied media
at secondary school, achieving an A. The coursework practical this year is
rather similar to what I did back at my secondary school, the aim was to create
a front page, contents page and a double page spread for a magazine. I believe
that the resources that are available to college compare to those at school
have helped me to develop my skills in media.
The digital technology that I have used over the past two
years has significantly improved with every task that I have completed. Back in
secondary school I was limited to a 10 mp camera that didn't really give the best
quality photo, which then had to be edited onto a very outdated version of Photoshop
or publisher, that compared to the technology and the knowledge of the
technologies that I have gained this last year, wasn't the best situation to be
in. When I moved to college the digital technology had improved, especially the
camera. The college magazine main image was shot from a 12 mp camera rather
than a 10 mp one; this allowed me to get a better quality picture; which I then
edited on n iMac. Prior to coming to college I had never used an iMac in my
life. My understanding was that they worked exactly like a normal PC. But it
was to be a lot trickier than that. It did take me a while to get used to the
equipment but I feel as though I adapted pretty quickly in order to finish my
college magazine. Another technology that was introduced to me was blogger, I
had heard f blogs but had never used them, but I believe that it is a rather
easy way of storing work and sharing it to the public. This was another
technology that I had to adapt to; it was a struggle at first to get used to
all the different buttons like the difference between new post and new blog and
how to re-design the page. After making the college magazine it was time to get
on with the real coursework and create a music magazine front cover, contents
page and double page spread. Again the camera quality had improved again and this
time I had bought my own camera that had a quality of 16mp, this allowed me to
capture a high quality photograph and focus on the mise-en-scene such as the makeup
and the costume. Along with the improved quality of the camera, my Photoshop
skills also improved from the college magazine. I now could use tool efficiently
like the cut tool and the blur tool. Cutting the image and blending the model’s
hair better than the college magazine was a target of mine when I started the
music magazine and I believe that I improved and I’m satisfied on how the image
looked.
Another area of practice that I feel I have improved is my
creativity. Back in secondary school the magazine that I created was not only
limited by the technology but was also bland in terms of creativity. But I
believe that moving to college and studying other subjects such as drama and
film when you have to create high quality products has helped me to improve my
creativity. Looking back from my college magazine I feel as though even though
the conventions are the same, I have used them in a more creative way and
fitted them to the genre of the magazine, which was rock. This leads to the
research and planning, back in GCSE media there wasn’t much planning and
research to be done and the product was constructed based on what looked well
and what didn’t. Stepping up to A level proved a big stepping stone on the
planning front. Every single detail had to be uploaded to the blog and I admit
that in the college magazine I didn’t do enough research and planning and the
magazine was constructed over the period of two days, which was not enough time
to produce a good quality product. However during the process of the
construction of the music magazine I believe that I improved quite a lot for
the research. Researching existing magazines and the genre of the magazine
allowed me to develop a better understanding of the medium and what is expected
from me. Overall my blog is dominated with the planning and research which
includes existing magazines, different font styles, the history of the
magazine, the history of the chosen genre, the iconography of the genre and the codes and conventions that make up a
front cover. I am now hoping that I can continue the appropriate research and
planning that is needed to develop my A2 product.
The next area of practice that I believe my skills have
developed in is using conventions from real media texts. This relates to the
planning and research tasks that I completed throughout the music magazine.
Again at GCSE there wasn’t much thought put into the conventions of the front
cover, the research put into them was very minimal compared to the thought process
and explanation that is needed for AS media. The conventions from real media
texts started again during the college magazine task, completing the L.I.I.A.R
analysis of existing front covers enabled me to understand what makes a
successful front cover and what is needed for creating the college magazine. Moving
up to the music magazine task I looked at existing music magazines that fitted
the genre of rock which included ‘Kerrang’, ‘Q’ and ‘Mojo’; because I had a
L.I.I.A.R analysis from the college magazine I could then develop a much more
detailed document of what should be included on my front cover, double page
spread and contents page. These conventions included such things as the
Masthead, which should be at the top of the page and should stand out to the
audience.
In conclusion I feel as though from GCSE to completing the
music magazine at AS level my skills have developed rather sufficiently and
they will continue to develop during the A2 music video task.
Tuesday 14 October 2014
Initial Idea 3
My third initial idea is probably the one that I like the most. The first section consists of a voice over of what art means to the performer. This will be done by collecting primary audience research along with quotes from the internet.
While the voice over is playing the performer wil be performing an interpretive dance around the lyrics.
After the dancing there will be some heavy breathing, then the music starts playing.
The actual music video again will be abstract but because of the beginning section, I feel that there will be a lot more meaning behind the video. It will show the 'creativeness' and what art actually means and is shown by the performer. I will include some hand motifs throughout the video and although some of the mise-en-scene may look simple it will be effective.
While the voice over is playing the performer wil be performing an interpretive dance around the lyrics.
After the dancing there will be some heavy breathing, then the music starts playing.
The actual music video again will be abstract but because of the beginning section, I feel that there will be a lot more meaning behind the video. It will show the 'creativeness' and what art actually means and is shown by the performer. I will include some hand motifs throughout the video and although some of the mise-en-scene may look simple it will be effective.
Initial Idea 2
The second initial ide that I have is the exploration and parody of popular music videos. This is similar to the Blink 182 music video to 'All The Small Things' where they parody other mainstream groups and artistes with their actions and mannerisms.
The idea would consist of a number of music videos such as 'Single Ladies', 'Vogue', 'Thriller' and 'Born This Way'.
Again there would be no narrative and would be rather abstract.
Looking back at this idea I feel that this would be very difficult to pull off as it would prove to be very expensive and time consuming getting all the costumes and make up.
The idea would consist of a number of music videos such as 'Single Ladies', 'Vogue', 'Thriller' and 'Born This Way'.
Again there would be no narrative and would be rather abstract.
Looking back at this idea I feel that this would be very difficult to pull off as it would prove to be very expensive and time consuming getting all the costumes and make up.
Monday 13 October 2014
Initial Idea 1
The exploration of modern Art
I will be exploring different paintings and the works of modern artists such as Andy Warhol and Piet Mondrian. There will be no narrative at all and will be consist of the performer dancing, becoming the art and creating symbolism that represents the art piece.
I feel that this fits the theme of the song I have chosen, as art is one of the more dominant themes in the song.
Saturday 11 October 2014
Thursday 9 October 2014
Colour Screens Test
I edited the colour screenshots together and added the music to test out what it might look like in my Music Video. This will enable me to get the timings right when it comes to editing the real product.
Wednesday 8 October 2014
Treatment (50 Words)
Song - Applause
In my music video I am looking for the theme of modern art. I believe that when looking through the lyrics art is a dominant theme and the song is very performance based and abstract rather than narrative. Included also will be the use of binary oppositions such as dark vs light and sanity vs insanity.
In my music video I am looking for the theme of modern art. I believe that when looking through the lyrics art is a dominant theme and the song is very performance based and abstract rather than narrative. Included also will be the use of binary oppositions such as dark vs light and sanity vs insanity.
Idea for Music Video
Looking at the 'Countdown Video' by Beyonce, I liked the idea of the changing colour screens and outfits. I have decided that I will be using something similar in my music video, but with the hair and the costume the same colour (black) and the face paint and the background changing colour:
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