History of the music video

Flowchart of the history of the music video 

Music videos today....

The MTV logo was designed in 1981 by Manhattan Design.Throughout MTV's early days, the channel's main logo was a large yellow "M" with red letters "TV," but unlike most networks' logos, the MTV logo constantly morphed and adapted with different colors, patterns and images filling in the large block letter. The very first moments of MTV featured an adaptation of the first landing on the moon, directly from NASA still images.

In 1981, when MTV was first invented, it consisted only of 1 channel which would play music videos on loop, but at this time it stubbled to find more than 200 videos to air. Now, MTV has a music channel, a news channel, a channel for shows, a website, competitions and its own chart show. 

The most expensive music video is still ‘SCREAM’ by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson, in response to allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson in 1993, the “Prince of Pop’ composed “Scream” that bewailed the sensationalist journalism practiced by the tabloid press. He sang it with his sister Janet. The video was directed by Mark Romanek, it lasted 4 minutes and 16 seconds and cost $7Million. It was an angry video that featured the siblings flashing the middle finger and Janet grabbing at her breasts and simulating male urination. Japanese anime clips were shown in the background. The video won several awards from the MTV Music Video Awards, the Billboard Music Awards and the Grammy Awards.

                                      

The 10 most memorable music videos are...

1. Hurt - Johnny Cash

2. Thriller - Michael Jackson

3. Buddy Holly - Weezer

4. Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim

5. Everybody Hurts - REM

6. Just - Radiohead

7. Ray of Light - Madonna

 8. It's Oh So Quiet - Bjork

9. Sabotage - Beastie Boys

10. Take On Me - A-Ha

2 recent controversial videos are Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and Justin Timberlake's "Tunnel Vision".

Robin Thicke's latest singles ‘blurred lines’ is one of the songs of the summer, but the music video was originally banned by YouTube for featuring three naked female models. The ban has since been lifted.

 Like Robin Thicke, Justin Timberlakes’s tunnel vision s was originally banned by YouTube. A representative for YouTube explained in a statement that the ban was revoked because they 'make exceptions when nudity is presented in an educational, documentary or artistic context.

Questionnaire

What age catergory do you fall into?
 
13-15years  16-18years  19- 21years  22-26years  27-30years

Which gender are you?

Male  Female

Do you watch music videos?

Yes  No

How long approximately do you spend watching music videos?

3-10mins  10-30mins  30mins-1hr  1hr+

Do you prefer concept based or narrative based videos?

Concept based  Narrative based  Both

Do you enjoy music videos with dance routines included?

Yes  No  Occasionally

Which genres would you expect to see dance routines?

Dance  Pop  Hip-Hop  R'n'B  Rock  Classical  Rap

What expectations would you have in a video created by Lana Del Ray?

_____________________________________(please specify)

Would seeing a good music video persuade you to buy a song?

Yes  No  It doesn't matter to me

What will help me?

In order to gain some research and keep up to date with what's currently occurring in the industry, I will be looking at various sites for instance mtv.co.uk or mtv.com because that is the US site and you find that US have much more to offer and they also are ahead of UK in terms of keeping up with new artist and the like, I also feel that watching music channels such as 4Music, VIVA, MTV and many more. This will give me an idea of what music videos are out there in order to incorporate that intel I gained into my coursework. I have a gut feeling that I will do a dance/pop song because they are upbeat and cheerful alongside being a personal interest of mine.

Textual Analysis (Katy Perry)

Roar

The video I will be analysing is Katy Perry's 'Roar', directed by Grady Hall and Mark Kudski. This video fits into many conventions of the pop genre such as the bright colours, as it includes many bright colours such as green and blue as she is in the jungle. The video also starts as cartoon but goes into real life to then finish as a cartoon, almost like a story. Katy Perry is known to be an iconic gig figure and known to be sexy as 'males want to be with her, females want to be her'. Following the pop convention, her clothes are rather seductive and very minimal to show off her figure and many of the shots are close up to show particular parts of her body and female assets. She is also very happy in the video, even though she's alone, she is having fun with all the jungle animals and the lyrics show it is a love/relationship song and is very upbeat, like most pop songs. The song follows a verse-chorus-verse structure, like most pop songs so it has a rhythm and is easy to sing along with, and the video tracks this as when it reaches the chorus, she becomes superior in the video. In this video, there is an intertextual reference to 'Tarzan' as she is lost in the jungle and being scared to becoming friends with the animals and being 'queen of the jungle' like she is 'queen of pop'.

The song ‘Roar’ is based on love and relationships and how she felt held back in her relationship but once they broke up she got back on her feet and felt stronger than ever. In the video they portray this like she is being held back in the jungle after the crash as she is scared and forced to carry all the bags for her and the man, we assume is her boyfriend, but when he gets eaten by a lion she becomes stronger and is friends with the animals and becomes queen of the jungle and no longer sacred of being alone.  For example, her main line of the chorus is “You’re gunna hear me roar” and when this is first sung, a Lion is created out of fireflies and roars. This shows how something so small can be created into something powerful, it also shows a lion, the animal who roars. “I went from zero, to my own hero” in this part of the song she looks lost and scared but then builds herself up to be  superior in the jungle, going from nothing to something. In the line “Already brushing off the dust” she has just got confident again, and is cleaning herself with an elephant and a crocodile, showing she is cleaning and literally brushing off all the dirt she got from being down.  “Scared to rock the boat and make a mess, so I sat quietly, agreed politely” these lines are in the opening verse to the song, and in the video they just come from a plane crash, she looks scared and is forced to hold the bags whilst the man is having a fun time, she is scared to stand up to him.

At the beginning of the song, the video is setting the story so the scenes don’t flow with the beat. However, when we hear the chorus for the first time, it starts to change with the beat, to show the contrast between how she is feeling. As the song starts quite slowly and low tempo, the video is slow for example she is walking slowly, very cautious of wear she walks, but as the chorus kicks in, the video becomes livelier as you can see her doing things such as swinging from trees. The song doesn’t really include any solo instruments, only parts where is continuously holding a note and whilst she is she is doing something confident such as standing on the tallest rock as the note is from the word ‘roar’ and it portrays she is ‘roaring’.

This video does include many close ups of Katy Perry. Throughout the video, she seems to lose more and more clothes due to being outside and clothes ripping, and many close ups include her face whilst singing, her female assets when she is wearing only a short skirt and crop to. There is also close ups of important features for example at the beginning when she is scared there is a close up of her putting her hand in the water and almost touching a crocodile. The record company make this video appealing to both men and women as young girls will like the pop song, and are fans of Katy Perry so will be interested in her new videos, and boys find Katy Perry and Iconic female figure and very attractive, so by showing off her best assets will attract the men to watch the video, they do this in a way that is classy but also provocative. This video is very similar to Katy Perry’s ‘Last Friday night’ (T.G.I.F) as in the video she starts off as a loser and not many friends but once she has a party and changes her appearance, everyone notices her and is finally liked.  It also similar to her famous song ‘Hot N Cold’ in the way that she managers to be wearing a wedding dress at the beginning of the song looking glamorous, but by the end is in shorts and a crop top as she is recognised for having a nice figure and showing it off.  The similarity is all of her songs have a tendency to be about love and relationships. There are a couple of references to the notion of looking throughout the video. First we see a phone in which the boyfriend is taking photos and we are made to look at the phone to see the picture. The phone is then used again about half way through the video and we see the photo yet again, in which she is posing. Lastly, throughout the video in a scene before the first chorus, we see eyes in a bush which are made to look as if they are looking at Katy Perry even though they are insects. These two visuals show how she is empowered as female. The beginning and ending to the video also act as a slight notion of looking as it opens as a cartoon and turns to real then at the end goes back into a film, which encourages us to look at the video as a film, so she knows she is being watched.

The video is mainly narrative based as it is telling a story of her feeling low and lost in a forest, but then picks herself up to be strong and make the best out of a bad situation. It is also considered a performance as she does lip sync along with the song and represents that she is the singer, and she is also singing to the animals, how strong she now is.

Overall, this pop song does follow many conventions of an ordinary pop song however there isn’t a dance routine and has a bit more story to the song. Although there is bits, where she is showing off her womanly assets, the main point is not about that but too show how she is empowered as a female and trying to give off that response and also follows her own conventions of being about love and being strong in herself where other girl pop videos might show how they need a boyfriend, Katy Perry in her videos shows how after a break up she comes back bigger and stronger rather than is weak and upset about it.

"Roar"

I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready 'cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
'Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar

Now I’m floating like a butterfly
Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes
I went from zero, to my own hero

You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Already brushing off the dust
You hear my voice, you hear that sound
Like thunder gonna shake the ground
You held me down, but I got up (HEY!)
Get ready ’cause I’ve had enough
I see it all, I see it now

[Chorus]
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar...

Ro-oar, ro-oar, ro-oar, ro-oar, ro-oar

I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Louder, louder than a lion
‘Cause I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You’re gonna hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll hear me roar
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You're gonna hear me roar...

Textual analysis (Lady GaGa)

Lady Gaga's real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta born on the March 28, 1986.

During 2005, Lady Gaga was signed by Def Jam Records for a short time, but was dropped just months later. Being dropped by the label forced the singer to find venues and perform on her own in clubs and venues in New York City. There, she collaborated with several rock bands, and began her experimentation with fashion.

In 2007, at the age of 20, Gaga began work at Interscope Records as a songwriter for other artists on the label, including Britney Spears, New Kids on the Block, and The Pussycat Dolls. R&B singer Akon discovered Gaga while she was performing a burlesque show that she created, called "Lady Gaga and the Starlight Revue." Impressed, Akon signed the performer to his label under the Interscope umbrella, Kon Live. Through 2007 and 2008, Gaga wrote and recorded her debut album, The Fame. The record had positive reviews and popular success in the United States. With the help of her own creative team, "Haus of Gaga," the performer also began to make a name for herself internationally. Now Lady Gaga is known for her eccentric fashion and over the top set for her performances, overall it is clear to say that Lady Gaga follows her own path in terms of music and fashion although this hasn't always been the case, she used to be compared to Madonna a lot when she was fresh on the scene.
Lady Gaga's debut single, "Just Dance," was released to radio in early 2008, and received both popular and commercial acclaim. The song was then nominated for a Grammy Award (for best dance recording) in 2008. The song lost to Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," but this didn't keep Gaga from reaching No. 1 on the mainstream pop charts in January 2009. The second single off of The Fame, "Poker Face," earned Gaga even more success.

The video that I will be analysing is Lady Gaga 'Applause' which has been directed by Inez and Vinoodh. This video in particular strays away from the typical convention that you would normally find in a pop video, but then again that is expected from Lady Gaga, bearing this in mind it does stick to genre in terms of containing dance routines, body exposure as well as close ups of her face, pelvis and mouth (especially her tongue). By having all that I have listed hints to the audience that this song in particular is within the Pop genre.

Throughout the video I feel that there is a strong relationship between the visuals and lyrics. Firstly there is a scene where Gaga is a 'showgirl' which coralates to the song as there is an audience watching her routine, there are elements where the visuals does contradict itself when Gaga is positioned as though she's a work of art this may imply to the audience that in order to 'applaud' something it doesn't necessary have to be a show in order to appreciate it. Through the music video in general there is clear evidence of various interpretations of what an audience sees, what makes this video stand out is that the video exaggerates such scenarios in order to make them comprehendible to the viewer in the few minutes that the song is playing for.

Throughout the video Lady Gaga usually keeps her clothes to a minimum. It could be argued that she doesn't need to do that since she is a well-established artist who can afford to be fully clothed but on the other hand it is not like Gaga to be conservative.

The video is cut to the beat of the music with the added effects of lights which also flicker to the beat. Even when the beat gets faster the videos keeps in time with cutting to the various characters that Lady Gaga portrays during the music video.

This is being sold through Gaga’s looks as well her being well known for her extravagance as she’s known for doing things over the top or doing something one step further. She has kept in with the genre conventions with the dance routines and close ups. She is also very consistent with her videos so they tend to be anticipated upon release.

The video can be perceived to be assume that there are elements of sexuality in it as there is a scene that she only shells covering her modesty which could be mis-understood for exploitation as this is what she feels she has to do in order to sell records. Since the artist is on stage it suggest that we are looking since the audience would the ‘fourth wall’ which is not there since we are occupying it by watching. Sexuality is again represented by mis-en-scene when she wears rather tight fitting clothes.

There are some inter-textual references for example there is a correlation between the video and Madonna when she was going through her ‘sex phase’, Gaga’s interpretation of Marylyn Monroe although in a scary way, strobe lighting implies that she is being watched by an audience following my point being that we are made to believe that we are the audience watching her, the sounds and video have a strong link between each other which is very evident in the way that she takes on all these ‘show characters’.

The video itself is both performance and concept based because there are wider ideas that the audience has to think about in order to search for the deeper meaning that Gaga is trying to let us in on. Gaga is already known for being rather odd in the sense other artists wouldn’t do that e.g. The Saturdays.

The video isn’t too controversial meaning that it’s not the type of video that would have to be shown late at night in order for the public to see, even if that was the case Gaga has enough recognition that it would almost be certain that her fans would try access her videos online which are widely available to the public. Even though the genre that she is in is POP she has her own unique touch to it making her music stand out from all the other POP artists within her genre.

Features of a music video

Andrew Goodwin has identified the following features of music videos...

1/ Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics e.g. stage performance in metal video
                                                                                     dance routine for boy/girl band 

2/ There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals, either illustrative, amplifying,      contradicting.

3/ There is a relationship between music and visuals, either illustrative, amplifying, contradicting.

4/ The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work - a visual style. 

5/ There is a frequently reference to the notion of looking and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. 

6/ There is often intertextual reference e.g. Films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.