Although dating back much further, music videos first became prominent in the 1980's when they first came into use by MTV. Before then, music videos were referred to as an 'illustrated song', 'filmed insert', 'promotional (promo) film', 'promotional clip' or 'film clip'.
Development of the music video:-
- In 1930's animation artists first made series' of sing-along cartoon shorts, inviting audience's to sing-along, 'following the bouncing ball' some of the most popular were Walt Disney's 'Silly Symphonies' and Fantasia, as well as the Warner Brother's 'Merry Melodies'
- Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared in a two-reel short film called St. Louis Blues (1929) featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Many other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this time. In the 1940s, musician Louis Jordan made short films for his songs, some of which were spliced together into a feature film 'Lookout Sister'. These films were, according to music historian Donald Clarke, the "ancestors" of the music video
- Musical films were another important precursor to music video, and several well-known music videos have imitated the style of classic Hollywood musicals from the 1930s to the 1950s. One of the best-known examples is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" which was closely modelled on "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Several of Michael Jackson's videos show the influence of the dance sequences in classic Hollywood musicals, including the landmark "Thriller" and "Bad" which was influenced by the stylised dance "fights" in the film version of West Side Story.
- 1967 - 1973 Promotional clips grow in importance, many of these 'filmed inserts' were used when the band themselves were unable to perform live. Examples of some of the first groups to make such 'promotional clips' were Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. The Kinks were the first band to make a 'plot' promo clip for their single "Dead End Street" (1966) a miniature comic movie was made. The Who also featured in many promotional clips.
- 1974-1980 Mulcahy, originally from Australia relocated to the UK and became a full time music video director, one of his biggest landmarks being The Buggles 'Video killed the radio star' as it was the first video to be shown on MTV in the 1980's
- The long running British TV show Top of the pops began showing music videos in the 1970's, although the BBC gave strict limits on what videos could be shown
- Illustrated song: In 1984 George Thomas was hired to promote the song 'The Little Lost Child'. He projected a series of still images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a popular form of entertainment known as the 'illustrated song', the first step toward a music video
- 1981-1991 music videos go mainstream. Many artists gained success through their portrayal in their music videos including Madonna and Duran Duran. During this time, music videos began to change, from simply promoting the artist to telling a story or narrative, sometimes with the artist themselves not even being present in the video. Some of these earliest videos include, Queen's Under Pressure and George Michael's Freedom 90 where he refused to appear in his video
- 1983 the most successful and influential music video was released. Michael Jackson's Thriller at nearly 14 minutes long.
Another important stage in the development of music videos was The Chart Show, introduced on Channel 4 in 1986 which consisted entirely of music videos with no presenters, instead the videos were connected through computer graphics.
In 1986 the first music video making use of special effects and animation techniques by Aarman animation was Peter Gabriel's sledgehammer, which would go on to receive 9 MTV video music awards
In 2005 was the launch of YouTube, making music videos much more Internet friendly, and making videos much more accessible and easier to view. Many artists became well known and evidently reached fame through music videos which had been viewed almost entirely online, a main example being Soulja Boy and the band OK GO receiving 15 million views for their song 'this too shall pass' on YouTube alone.
Saturday, 13 November 2010
CD cover analysis
CD cover analysis
Band - Sum 41
Album - Does this look infected?
Camera Work
- The angle is slightly lower than an eye level shot, but the character's face is not looking directly at the camera, instead he is looking off diagonally as if the character is talking to someone else not being viewed.
- The shot is a close up of the man's face, making the image appear even more frightening and disturbing, as if the person is right there in front of your eyes.
Editing
- This CD cover uses a combination of photography and animation, the man shown in the centre of the image is a photograph, having been photo shopped to portray the blood and gore more clearly, however there is a cartoon image of a woman in the bottom left corner, showing a particularly shocked face, this makes the image seems slightly more comic, as opposed to grim and frightening.
Mise en scene
- The background colour of the image is bright green, this has links to cartoon animation and also adds to the humorous effect the image may present, as it is not a natural colour, so this could relate to the picture not being a natural image.
- Other bright colours that are used to increase this particular cover's link to for example comic strips/pop art, is the yellow of the woman at the bottom of the picture which strongly resembles that of pop art, as well as the bold blue in which the name of the band is written.
- The facial expression of the man in the main image seems to be of a slight smirk, that he is amused, which gives an air of uncertainty, as to who he is looking at and what is wrong with him.
- The make up is used to make the blood and gore on his face extremely obvious, so that it is clear that this is the main image, and the title of the album links directly to the image itself.
This CD cover, slightly influenced our own cover because we also used bright colours and had a close up of our band as the main image. The photo of our band is slightly jokey, making them seem more fun, which links to this image slightly as it is also supposed to be funny in a way.
However this picture uses an actor as their main image, as does our music video and two of our inserts, as opposed to the band, making this CD cover again similar to our project.
Band - Sum 41
Album - Does this look infected?
Camera Work
- The angle is slightly lower than an eye level shot, but the character's face is not looking directly at the camera, instead he is looking off diagonally as if the character is talking to someone else not being viewed.
- The shot is a close up of the man's face, making the image appear even more frightening and disturbing, as if the person is right there in front of your eyes.
Editing
- This CD cover uses a combination of photography and animation, the man shown in the centre of the image is a photograph, having been photo shopped to portray the blood and gore more clearly, however there is a cartoon image of a woman in the bottom left corner, showing a particularly shocked face, this makes the image seems slightly more comic, as opposed to grim and frightening.
Mise en scene
- The background colour of the image is bright green, this has links to cartoon animation and also adds to the humorous effect the image may present, as it is not a natural colour, so this could relate to the picture not being a natural image.
- Other bright colours that are used to increase this particular cover's link to for example comic strips/pop art, is the yellow of the woman at the bottom of the picture which strongly resembles that of pop art, as well as the bold blue in which the name of the band is written.
- The facial expression of the man in the main image seems to be of a slight smirk, that he is amused, which gives an air of uncertainty, as to who he is looking at and what is wrong with him.
- The make up is used to make the blood and gore on his face extremely obvious, so that it is clear that this is the main image, and the title of the album links directly to the image itself.
This CD cover, slightly influenced our own cover because we also used bright colours and had a close up of our band as the main image. The photo of our band is slightly jokey, making them seem more fun, which links to this image slightly as it is also supposed to be funny in a way.
However this picture uses an actor as their main image, as does our music video and two of our inserts, as opposed to the band, making this CD cover again similar to our project.
Friday, 12 November 2010
Editing :)
These are some of the techniques we used whilst editing our project using imovie.
To begin with we uploaded all of the footage we had filmed, from our camera onto the mac. After this we cut and deleted our footage, depending on what was usable and what wasn't. We superimposed our song onto the timeline on imovie, so that the song would play alongside our footage. This way we were able to edit our footage and to sync the action with the song.
The layout of our music video would switch from , narrative to non-narrative action, which meant that we had to cut our clips and use jump shots and other transitions to move between the two forms of action.
We also changed the contrast on each of our clips, so that the lighting would appear the same in each clip, giving our overall video a more professional look.
We also used particular tools on imovie to create different effects, for example speeding up one of our clips.
We have many different shots which we filmed to match the lyrics of our song, by including as many of these clips as we can, our video has become fast paced, which gives it a high energy, which is stereotypical to our chosen music genre.
To begin with we uploaded all of the footage we had filmed, from our camera onto the mac. After this we cut and deleted our footage, depending on what was usable and what wasn't. We superimposed our song onto the timeline on imovie, so that the song would play alongside our footage. This way we were able to edit our footage and to sync the action with the song.
The layout of our music video would switch from , narrative to non-narrative action, which meant that we had to cut our clips and use jump shots and other transitions to move between the two forms of action.
We also changed the contrast on each of our clips, so that the lighting would appear the same in each clip, giving our overall video a more professional look.
We also used particular tools on imovie to create different effects, for example speeding up one of our clips.
We have many different shots which we filmed to match the lyrics of our song, by including as many of these clips as we can, our video has become fast paced, which gives it a high energy, which is stereotypical to our chosen music genre.
Tuesday, 9 November 2010
More postmodernism
As we have been filming and editing, we have found more ways to make our video postmodern and other references that we have been able to put in. Here are the other postmodern elements (aside from the ones I have already mentioned in previous posts)
When we filmed the band, one of the members was wearing a Pour Habit t-shirt, we decided to keep this in our video as it shows influence's, Splutter (our chosen band) have had, and what band's they have gained inspiration from.
A final postmodern element we have managed to put into our music video is from the film Rocky, where the main character has a particularly well known action, which is the same one that our main character does in our video.
When we filmed the band, one of the members was wearing a Pour Habit t-shirt, we decided to keep this in our video as it shows influence's, Splutter (our chosen band) have had, and what band's they have gained inspiration from.
A different postmodern element we've included in our music video is a reference to Kick Ass the film, where the teenager is seen throwing tissues into the bin, an act that we have tried to mirror in our music video. We did this because Kick Ass is a very well-known and popular film for people within our target audience, so the reference should be easily recognised.
Another postmodern reference we have included is Red Bull the energy drink, our main character drinks this whilst running and suddenly speeds up rapidly. This is also a reference to Popeye the cartoon sailor on whom spinach the vegetable had the same effect.
A final postmodern element we have managed to put into our music video is from the film Rocky, where the main character has a particularly well known action, which is the same one that our main character does in our video.
Filming all up to date
Since I wrote about the last time we filmed, we have done some more filming since then. After filming the band, we filmed the stereotypical 'nerd' for our music video. We filmed him being 'maced' to match our song lyrics, we also filmed him eating on his own, to indicate how lonesome the teenager is.
A week after, our group met up to film the 'nerd' playing on a computer game similar to 'call of duty' which is also referenced in our song lyrics, we also filmed the 'nerd' running in his PE kit, to fit in with the line from our lyrics 'how dare you call me unsporty'.
Finally, our last piece of filming was completed when we filmed the nerd in his bedroom, making a clear comparison with what he is like when out and about, and what he is like when he is at home.
Now our filming has all been completely finished, we have moved onto the editing stages, putting our different pieces of footage, and clips together with the music to create our video, as well as using different effects and techniques on imovie to improve it as much as we can along the way.
A week after, our group met up to film the 'nerd' playing on a computer game similar to 'call of duty' which is also referenced in our song lyrics, we also filmed the 'nerd' running in his PE kit, to fit in with the line from our lyrics 'how dare you call me unsporty'.
Finally, our last piece of filming was completed when we filmed the nerd in his bedroom, making a clear comparison with what he is like when out and about, and what he is like when he is at home.
Now our filming has all been completely finished, we have moved onto the editing stages, putting our different pieces of footage, and clips together with the music to create our video, as well as using different effects and techniques on imovie to improve it as much as we can along the way.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Questionnaire results
Our group has put together a pie chart for each of the questions we asked so the results can be displayed in an easily understandable way, and we can gain an overall idea of what is most popular among our target audience.
Here we gave the audience the name of the song we are using for our video and asked what the name automatically brings to their mind, this gave us an idea of what people would expect to see, and what we could do with these things.
We asked our target audience what their favourite form of advertising is for a band, so then we can incorporate it in some way to our advert for our band. The two most popular answers were posters and the Internet, so we could combine the two by putting website links on our posters if that is what our audience prefer.
This question was to establish where our audience members see most adverts for bands within our music genre, so we could make links with the setting on our advert. Since the most popular answer was magazines, we could use the names of certain magazines for example Kerrang or NME on our advert.
This question was about our target audience's favourite band within the same music genre as our band, they also chose a specific music video, so that we could find a similar theme between them all, which we could then apply to our video. The most popular video was Blink 182 all the small things and rock show, this gave us the idea to include shots of the band playing in our video to make it seem more real, and about the music and the band itself, rather than just an actor.
Our second question was about our target audience's least favourite band or music video from within our music genre. This would give us an idea of what is least popular among our target audience, and what they don't like.
This question was to determine what theme of a punk/rock/ska video is most popular or most expected.
This is to make sure that our video fits what is expected from the target audience for a video of this genre. Comedy and energy are the two most important themes according to these results, so these are two key factors that will contribute to our final project.
This question helped us with both the postmodernism we could use in our video, and also with themes we could include that would make our video more interesting and enjoyable. By asking this question it showed what films our target audience watch, and evidently what they enjoy to watch, which we can hopefully reflect in our music video.
Here we gave the audience the name of the song we are using for our video and asked what the name automatically brings to their mind, this gave us an idea of what people would expect to see, and what we could do with these things.
Now in our questionnaire we moved on from our video, to the album cover we will design. We asked what band's the audience thought had a good CD cover design, so that we could take some ideas from the albums they mention. The favourite was Sum 41, whose album covers often involve a mixture of animation and photography, they also take quite gruesome images and make them more comic.
We asked our target audience what their favourite form of advertising is for a band, so then we can incorporate it in some way to our advert for our band. The two most popular answers were posters and the Internet, so we could combine the two by putting website links on our posters if that is what our audience prefer.
This question was to establish where our audience members see most adverts for bands within our music genre, so we could make links with the setting on our advert. Since the most popular answer was magazines, we could use the names of certain magazines for example Kerrang or NME on our advert.
Thursday, 4 November 2010
Media advert analysis
Band: Them crooked VulturesCamera work
The shot used for this advert is a medium shot as it shows the character from the waist up, this makes the character seem large and imposing, as if the audience is viewing it from a distance.
It is an eye level shot, which gives the impression that it is staring right at the viewer, making the image seem more frightening. This also means that the character connects with the audience, making it seem more personal.
Editing
This advert is entirely animated, the main focus is a cartoon, which although makes it seem less real, it still provides an unsettling concept because the audience would be unsure of what it is, and what is symbolizes. This leaves much to be considered by the imagination about the band, and what they stand for, as very little information is given.
The image itself is of a human body with a vulture's head, a shocking and unfamiliar image, perhaps relating to the band also as shocking and unfamiliar. Using this kind of image would get the band noticed, and draw attention to themselves, this gives the impression that the band are not well known, so they have to take significant action to be noticed.
In the bottom right corner a reference to play.com is made, making it clear that this is where the CD can be found. This shows that the band are not extremely popular, as no other shop names are given, so to find this CD, a buyer would have to be a dedicated fan, and not just pick it up lightly.
In the bottom right corner there is also a website given for the band, so that more information can be retrieved if necessary. Again, this shows the advert providing ways for the viewer to go out of their way to find information on the band, rather than having it placed right in front of them. This could show that the band are not mainstream, they do not give a lot of information on a first glance, they expect fans to go to them, and remain loyal when they do. Having a website also indicates that there are a band that is serious about their music. That they do have a purpose, and that they are not just putting up posters that mean very little. Having a website creates an idea of professionalism.
The release date for the CD is given as a clear indicator for when the CD comes out, a key factor that all music adverts should contain, this particular advert contains only the extremely vital information needed, all other information is left out to be researched by the fans.
Mise en scene
The key background colour is blood red, again providing fearful connotations, such as danger, warning and blood. These connotations would link to the particular music genre of the band i.e. rock, as the kind of music found in this genre is powerful and portrays a strong opinion or message. This would mean that the audience would be limited to those who share the same opinions as the band.
The picture in the middle is black and white, making it stand out on the red background, providing a direct contrast between the two colour schemes. This could be a way of portraying the band as controversial, and unpredictable.
The body language of the figure in the centre of the advert is hunched over and slightly menacing, this gives a powerful message, that the band are strong minded and not to be 'messed with'. This kind of figure makes viewers think twice about the band, that they should be taken seriously and that they would not be liked by all, their image may cause controversy.
The name of the band 'them crooked vultures' seems slightly rebellious in the sense that the grammar is incorrect, but of course this does not bother them. This gives the impression that the band have more to focus on than whether their name is grammatically correct, this once again means that they expect to be taken seriously and that they have a point to prove and that they answer to no one.
This particular advert is very mysterious, as no image of the band is given at all, so a lot is left to the imagination. However, the image that is given is quite powerful and shocking, meaning that the band is one that would not be taken to lightly, and could be known to offend certain social groups perhaps, on the basis of this particular advert.
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