Thursday, 3 November 2011

The Internet

The Internet

·       The internet was extremely helpful for music videos as there are social networking sites such as YouTube which is where music videos are distributed and are free to watch all over the World. It is free marketing for bands
·       But before YouTube there was a website called Napster – this was a site where people could share video files

Napster logo, the original music downloader

YouTube



Music television

Music television

·       Australia – they had a weekend music show aimed at teenagers which was called Sydney’s ATN-7
·      New Zealand – had a music television show called radio with pictures
·       United Kingdom – they had the television show called Top Of The Pops and was one of the longest running music show. There was also a rock television show called: The Old Grey Whistle test
·       The USA – Was the television show MTV - MTV is still a well known music channell today


MTV logo

Top Of The Pops



Music video timeline


Music video timeline


·       The late 1920’s and early 1930’s animation artist Max Fleischer made screen songs which were short sing a long cartoons
·       Promotional clips were made in the 1940’s and these were one song films. They were musical selections and they showed the band on a movie set bandstand
·       Between the 1930’s and the 1950’s musicals heavily influenced music videos. A classic example of this was Material Girl by Madonna and was based on Gentleman prefer blondes.
·       In France in the late 1950’s a visual jukebox was invented and was used by many people to accompany their songs.
·       Ozzie Nelson edited and directed the video ‘Travelin Man’ in 1961. It showed many different images of the World which were described in the song. Then in 1964 Scorpio Rising was a short film by Kenneth Anger and it used popular songs
·       In 1963 Surf City was one of the earliest music videos along with The Animals, House of the rising sun, which showed the band performing in a studio built set where they were lip synching
·       Between the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s promotional clips were growing in importance and a few examples of these were:

§  The Rolling stones
§  The Kinks – who made the first plot in their promotional videos for their song which was called the ‘Dead End Street’
§  The Who – Happy Jack – 1965 – Used a narrative
§  1972 – David Bowie – Jean Genie


Gentlemen prefer Blondes

Madonna doing her own version of the Marilyn Monroe scene in her music video

How are music videos filmed

How are music videos filmed?


·       Music videos are filmed in a different ways to any other forms of entertainment. For example music videos are filmed in a different way to how films are filmed. Music videos are filmed using tracks so that you can see performers performing. Also, music videos include a narrative and a performance. They are not always telling a story, they usually show the band/performer as well.




The tracks and dolly used to film modern day music videos



Music Video Technology

Music video technology

·       The first piece of technology that was used was called a stereopticon that would show a series of hand coloured slide images whilst the music was being performed in the first example of an illustrated song.
·       Now music videos are filmed with the latest technology. HD cameras are used so they are the best quality images. Also, tracks are used to film music videos so that good quality shots can be made


This is the Stereopticon


Music video origin

Music Video Origin



Above is the first ever recorded music video. In 1894, Joe Stern and Edward B. Marks hired a man called George Thomas who was an electrician to promote sales of their song "The Little Lost Child". Using a ‘magic lantern, they were able to project a series of still images onto the screen. This was known as the illustrated song. It was a sensation.



The Little Lost Child Promotional poster


Music Video definition

What is a music video?
  • A music video is a short film that tells a narrative to the audience. There are many different filmmaking styles that can be used when making music videos and they are animation, live action filming, documentaries and abstract films. Music videos are now made to use as a marketing technique when promoting a band or artists song
  • Below is an example of a music video. It is by the band Ok Go and is called This Too Shall Pass