History of music Videos

 History of Music Videos

1960's

In the 1960's the "Music Video" was starting to be brought in with music because of TV and people where staring to get TV (Mostly the Upper and Middle Classes) and for the Music to be showed on TV there needed to be visuals to go along with it meaning the music video was born. Although music videos of today are totally different to the early music videos of the 1960's they share some realities. Most music videos of the 1960's just pictured the band or artist playing and singing. Where as music videos of today have a narrative to them but they still do have the artist or band playing.

This is The Beatles music video for a Hard Days Night was completely different for the videos of the 1960's as it didn't feature the band playing at all and it was just narrative. people argue that the video for this song is actually the start of a film called the Hard Days Night. This was the first ever proper music Video as well.

1970's

In the 1970's Music Videos started to become more popular as more people started to get TV's at home. Even the working class were getting them and this meant that music videos were more accessible to people so bands decided to start making more music videos even though these where still in the early days. Due to the fact that TV had started to gain popularity more bands started to do music videos for their song. some bands did but not many because TV was gaining popularity it still wasn't as popular as the radio and it was more cost effective for bands to not do videos for there songs.

The Purpose of the Music Video in the 1970's was to help sell the song. Lots of the songs that had music video wouldn't have been very memorable if it wasn't for the music video. This was why a few bands did it because it meant that there was another way they could promote their music. All of the main part of the music video was in the first 90 seconds because that was all that was shown on TV the rest of the video was either repeated or filler.

ABBA were big in the 1970's and they released some music video for some of there songs. Mamma Mia was one of the more well known songs that got a music video. The video was just the group singing ad playing instruments and this was because not many people explored narrative because it was expensive and not worth doing due to the fact that there wasn't many places that they could be shown.

1975 saw Queen release Bohemian rhapsody. The video for it was one of the first videos that started to experiment a little bit because although the basic premise of the video was that the band were either singing or playing. They did some lighting Tricks and stuff with mirrors to add effects that hadn't really been used in music videos before.

1980's

Michael Jackson's Thriller was and still is the biggest selling album of all time. It was a very influential music video because it was more like a short film. It had a very strong but cliche narrative. It was a massive production that cost $1,000,000 to make. The Music Video had a run time of 14 minutes and was more like a short film rather than a music video. The production was directed by John Landis who at the time of directing Thriller had just finished directing 'An American Werewolf In London'. This was a feature length Horror film and this put him in a very good position to make 'Thriller' as he was more well known for his Horror films. Thriller was released on December 1st 1983. It was first shown in cinemas just before films because of the narrative and how it was made. It was Released on TV after it was released in the cinemas.

On August 1st 1981 MTV showed their first music video which was a song by The Buggles called TV killed the Radio Star. This song was made for this because TV and the music video was becoming more popular than the Radio. This meant that bands produced more music videos to promote them selves. Some of the more experimental ones like Thriller had a narrative to them but most of them were just band shots and the effects where all in the first 90 seconds because that was all that was shown on MTV.

Director - Megaforce

This is a modern and up to date music video and it is very explicit as it has lots of violence, drugs, murder and torture in it. This has become acceptable with the modern generation and is more and more common in today's videos. This is a bad thing because it promotes this type of stuff and it is not acceptable unless it is on a video. my generation is more accepting and is used to that sort of content because it is everywhere, on the news, in music videos and in games that most people play. This means that young people are exposed to this sort of content and then they are more likely to want to try that sort of stuff.

Music videos now are done more as a publicity stunt as they want to make then full of things that people in the media will has to cause controversy and this means they get loads of press coverage on it and the video goes viral. This is the modern way of marketing because it will go viral online and it means that loads people will see it and listen to the song. Right-wing news are the ones that are targeted because they see all of this explicit content as bad and negative and they give it lots of news coverage to get out there that it is a bad video but this works in the favor for the artist as that is what they intended all along because the video then goes viral. The weapons in the video Americans don't mind but the video has a lot of nudity in it and Americans don't like that. this video is aimed at an American audience because it is an American artist and this means that the content in it is put in the to create controversy in America. To Create further controversy there is a female back woman kidnapping an upper class female white woman and then she tortures her. This has lots of problems in an American society. Daily Mail - Rihanna News Artical - This is a news article from a right-wing news company about the video and how bad it is and how it should be band.

The video is of a very high production value and this is become more common with music videos as it makes people want to watch it. It also means it can be more graphical that brings up the controversy factor again because if it is more graphical it means its more life like and not cartoony and this means that it brings up a lot of problems again. The video has lots of violence, drugs and nudity in it and this is the driving force behind the video getting out there because it appeals to a male and female audience because there is the nudity for the male audience which is the male gaze but the female audience is because the video empowers women. It does this by making the female the stronger character in the video even though the victim is a woman the stronger character is as well. This also create conflict between the two characters and this creates even more controversy.

Romain Gavras

This is one of Romain Gavras's music videos and a brief synopsis of this video is that there is American police that go through a set of flats and they are beating anyone they see up. Then they get to one room and there is a person with ginger hair in that room and they take him and lock him in the back of a bus with other ginger people. The bus pulls up in a desert and they push the people out of the van and they tell them to line up. One of the police people shoots one of the younger ginger people in the head and kills him. The others start running and are running through a mine field and keep getting blown up. One of the The ginger person that they capture at the start of the video runs off in a different direction and they chase him down and beat him to death.

Modern Music Videos

This is what music have become all in the last 5 or 6 years. they have been made either very shocking with lots of nudity and not censored. Or they have been made into political statements about what is going on in the world or the artists views. These are made as more click bate meaning that they entice you to click on it so that the artist gets money because everything is online nower day. Music videos are promoted though adverts or on social media and this is why they go viral because if they are made to be shocking or a political view people will share it and either agree or disagree with what the video is making and this creates controversy and the video then goes viral. The Purpose of the music video is to go viral and get the artist publicity, be that good or bad but it gets the song played. 

Take the Rihanna video that i mentioned earlier as an example of this. The video is about murder, torture and drug taking which shocked most people because they believed it should be censored. But to try and get this censored people will share it on their social media saying that it should be censored but in sharing it, it works in the favour of the artist because they get more money the more views it gets. The more people that share it the more videos it gets. The video goes viral and this is the modern day way of marketing.

Most of the music videos now have a lot of product placement in them for different products. Mostly it is either Monster Energy Drinks or Beats products. But there is many other such as Vodka or Mobile Phones. Companies will pay for their products to appear in the videos as they know the video will go viral and be seen by a lot of people and this is a way to get the product advertised. so it doesn't just advertise the artist but a particular product as well.

The music video is now used as a calling card for directors. Most of the well known directors now have used Music Videos as a way to get better known and the more shocking the video is the more publicity the video will get and the more known the director gets.

I mostly watch music videos online through YouTube and other online video streaming websites along with most other people in the world. This is why all artists now promote their songs on YouTube.  

October feedback

You are an enthusiastic and creative student who is enjoying the subject, particularly the creative parts.

You need to ensure that the written work presented on the web-log reflects the work covered in the class. You can do this by completing extended learning activities.  The web-log needs to be more thorough to gain merit and distinctions.

You need to identify the principles of video editing and explain how you have demonstrated understanding of these in his own short films.

Task 1 - The History of Video Editing

History of Video Editing

Thomas Edison (1888)

Thomas Edison made the Kinetoscope in 1888. this was the first time that a moving image had ever been seen. The films where view 1 at a time because you had to look through a peep-hole and the film which was on a reel and this reel goes past the peep-hole at 24 frames per second. This means that it look like it was not just images scrolling around. 24 frames a second is just faster that the eye can see and this mean that it looks like one motion. This was the first real time that editing was used because the film had to be cut and spliced together to be able to have the loop of the film round.

Lumiere Brothers (1895)

The Lumiere Brothers made the first real short film and this was called Arrival of a Train. this was the first proper short film. This is only 50 seconds long and it features a train pulling up at a station, that's all it is and it was the first real time a camera had every been used to film something and this surprised a lot of people because it opened a lot of doors for people to experiment with if they had the money to have the camera its self. In camera editing was used for most of the Lumiere Brothers films. In camera editing is where they film just film what they need and then move the camera then start filming again. There is no post production work to be done when you film this way so it makes film making faster and easier. The Lumiere Brothers started the in-camera editing principal and this meant that the camera would just be placed in one location filmed for a little bit then moved to another location and filmed some more. There was no Post Production with this because there was no way of doing that back then.

George Melies (1903)

George Melies Made the first real 'film' as in the A trip to the moon had cuts and some post editing. it was the first film that had a dissolve transition between 2 different clips. A trip to the moon was more of a play on the screen this was because it had actors that played characters but it was more like a play story line rather than a film. It was a pioneering film for the acting and set design aspects but also for the editing because it has a painted set and actors and for the editing it had the first dissolve. It was also the first film that had animation in it too. The camera was in different places rather than all in the same place as well. Continuity editing principal was followed here as there is a story being told through the film. If characters Leave on one side of the screen they will come back on same side they left. This is what continuity editing and it needs to be followed as it makes it less confusing for the audience if it followed.

Edwin Porter (1903)

Edwin Porter made a film called The Great Train Robbery. This was and editing film as well, It has a load of separate shots that are cut together to make the film. The shots are long takes to minimise the editing of the film because it was difficult to edit. The film involved some of the first dissolves and cross cuttings seen in film. Continuity editing was followed for this film. continuity editing is where the editing makes sense and follows a time scale. For Special Effects they had smoke explosions and Projections to add effect. It was a good quality film for the time period that had actors in it and it was story boarded to make sure that it was as good as it could have been for the time period. Some of the frames have colour on them and this was done by hand colouring each frame in to make sure that it was in colour. This was the first real film that the Principle of editing of the 180 degree rule was used and this made it easier for the viewer as it means that the 4th wall isn't broke to the audience. The 180 degree rule means that there is an imaginary line through the center of the characters body and this line can not be crossed because it means that if the character was walking and the line was crossed it would look like the character was walking the opposite direction, making the audience very confused from shot to shot.

DW Griffith (1915)

DW Griffith's film birth of a nation was made during WW1 and it was about the birth of the new america. It was a land mark film for a few reasons. It was the first feature length film that was made and this mean that it was above 90 minutes long. It was one of the first films that had a narrative and it set the rules for narrative film making as well. It started the genre Western and Gangster films for what we know then today. It terms of editing, this film is a ground breaking film as continuation editing has been followed throughout the film. There is also lots of cuts and dissolves throughout the film as well. Lots of different camera angles where edited together to produce the film. This set the stage for lots of other films to start using different camera angles and editing styles to product feature length films.

Sergei Eisenstein (1925)

Eisenstein was the first real film maker that has done a montage, some would say he was a pioneer because of this. The montage is a series of images placed next to each other to create a meaning. This first really appeared in the film 'Strike' in 1925. this was a series of fast edits that shows the audience whats going on in a short about of time and then montage has been adapted and used all over the media industry. Even to this day the montage makes appearances in lots of films. Hot fuzz is a film that this happens in and Edger Wright is the director now that does a lot of montages. one of the most popular montages is the Odessa Steps montage from Sergei Eisenstein's Film 'Battleship potemkin'. The Odessa Steps montage has been adapted over and over again in different films over the years and has also made appearances in The Simpsons. The Odessa Step Montage is an influential scene out of the film because it is a load of civilians running down the stairs away from the soldiers and the soldiers were opening fire on them. The most iconic part is when the push chair with the baby in it is falling down the stairs on its own.

This was my montage edit that I did. I had done this as a comedy style montage more than a serious montage like the Odessa Steps sequence. I have made this to show that i understand the principle of montage editing and telling a story without dialogue just visuals and fast cuts. montage editing is juxtaposition because it is a series of images edited together to make a wide narrative.

 

Edgar Wright

Edgar Wright does montages in modern films like Scott Pilgrim and Hot Fuzz, His Montages are normally full of close ups and zoom shots to show the story. Edgar Wrights montages are normally done for comedy effect though as they are funny in what they show because he takes boring and mundane actions and makes a montage out of them and this is funny to an audience.

Walter Murch

This is the introducing scene to Apocalypse Now and this is the principle of manipulating diagetic time and space. Walter Murch was an editor in the 70's and 80's. He was a analogue editor so he edited using the reels of film and overlapping them to create cross fades and it is every evident in this Opening scene to Apocalypse Now. Manipulation of Diagetic Time and Space is either a dream sequence or a flash back. In this opening he does a flash back because the main character is lying on a bed remembering Destroying a forest in Vietnam. There is a 'Trigger' for this and that is the ceiling fan in the room that he is in. The main character thinks it is the helicopter blades from the war and this is shown by overlapping the videos so you see the ceiling fan and helicopters in the same shot.

 

This is my version of the principle of editing of manipulating diagetic time and space. I decided to do a dream sequence of a person falling asleep that is revising for an exam and he dreams about being late for the exam and when he gets to the room he sees himself asleep at the desk. I did this in a similar way to Walter Murch and Cross faded the clips to make them seem there is two faint people in the same shot. This taught me a lot about this editing style because i got the to learn about continuity editing at the same time.

MTV Editing

The MTV style editing is a style that has started to be used now in the 21st century and this has been developed to accommodate for the attention span of the new age audiences that watch film. The MTV style involves a lot of shots very quickly edited together to make a scene. This makes the video look like a strobe light as the individual clips are edited together very fast.

City of God is a very good example of this as the opening scene uses lots of MTV style edited shots. This is because it is very quickly edited to show the speed of the life in the Favelas in Rio. In this scene there is almost 2 stories as you have the story of the gangstas that are chasing the chicken and you have the 2 teenagers that are taking pictures of things. You can pick these stories apart because the story of them chasing the chicken is full of close ups and tracking shots and it is very quickly edited. The other story is a lot slower than this and is filmed all in a wide shot. this is where you see the two different stories and then they come together towards the end of the scene and the editing is then fast for both of the stories.

Parallelism: here you can connect two seemingly unrelated scenes by cutting between them and focusing on parallel features. For example if you were shooting a documentary about fish stocks in the Atlantic, you could cut from a trawler being tossed about in the ocean to a family chomping down on some fish’n’chips – in both scenes drawing our attention to the fish: the object that connects them. It creates an association in the viewers’ mind.

Research Log

I have skimmed and scanned through three secondary sources to find out about the 180-degree rule. I have annotated the article and found out about the 180 degree rule and what effect it has on the audience when watching the film. The purpose of my research is so that I can find out more about the rule to make sure when I make my own media productions I cannot break this rule because it becomes confusing for the audience.

Secondary Research	Relevance to my research
DV Film making from start to finish – page 31 (Ian Anderson)	I have used this book page because it has some good information about what the 180-degree rule is and why you shouldn’t break it
http://daredreamermag.com/2010/11/03/the-two-180s-of-filmmaking-part-1-dont-cross-the-line/ (Ron Dawson)	This magazine post explains what happens when you break the 180-degree rule and this is good to use because it shows why you shouldn’t break the rule.
http://learnaboutfilm.com/film-language/sequence/180-degree-rule/	This explains how to film and not break the 180-degree rule, which will help with continuity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetoscope	This is the website that I found information about Thomas Edison and the kinetoscope.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Arriv%C3%A9e_d%27un_train_en_gare_de_La_Ciotat	This is where I found out about the Lumiere Brothers and what they did for editing through there film Arrival of a train
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Trip_to_the_Moon	This was there I found out the information about George Melies A trip to the moon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Train_Robbery_%281903_film%29	This website was where I got information for The great train robbery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation	I got the information for DW Griffith’s – Birth of a nation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_Potemkin	I got the information for montage editing and the Odessa Steps sequence from this website.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Murch	This is where I got the information for Walter Murch and his editing history include apocalypse now
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-classical_editing	This is the website I used to learn about MTV style editing and I used it for my Time line of the history of editing.