Music Video timeline

1964

The Beatles 'A Hard Days Night' - it was the first motion picture and shows now what we expect in a music promo. It includes shots of band playing and fans screaming. Includes close-ups and mid shots as well as a narrative.

'Top of the Pops' Music Channel - this programme displayed chart music in front of a large audience. They would play music promos and get the bands to perform live. Include lots of shots of the band and audiences.

1965

Bob Dylan 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' - this music promo broke the original conventions of a video and used cards to shows certain words. There was no editing needed within it as it was done in one take and is done in an urban setting. Both conventions are know used within many music promos.

1967

The Beatles 'Strawberry Fields Forever' - this was the first music promo to show the song in an artful way and included loads of special effects. It was the first video to not really include a performance and focused more on the video. Also at its time the special effects where very different and never before seen.

The Monkees 'A little Bit Me, A Little Bit You' - this was a band that was formed through a TV show and was the American version of The Beatles. It introduced jump cuts, wacky things & surrealism. It also had no performance and was a video within a video.

1975

Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - this was the first ever pop promo and was given out for free. It was written by Freddie Mercury only and is considered the best song ever. The video includes a performance but no narrative and uses many special effects such as cross fade etc.

1976

The Runaways 'Cherry Bomb' - although not being a successful song in the UK, the video was important as it broke conventions and also established them. The video was of the band performing live and was very controversial. It included more sexual themes which is very common in music promos today.

1980

David Bowie 'Ashes to Ashes' - this was one of the most expensive videos at its time costing £250,000 and included the 'new romantic' which was popular during this era. It includes SFX, costumes and shots within shots. At the time it was very advanced and visually appealing.

Devo 'Whip It' - the video is very bizarre and has no real narrative. It includes many themes such as cowboys and the future. It was important as it set the theme for many videos that are very weird and make no sense.

1981

'MTV' Music Channel - first channel to include 24 hours of music videos and was very cheap TV. This led on to more music channels such as 4Music, Viva etc. It gave more publicity to artists & helped make the more successful.

1983

Duran Duran 'Rio' - this video was more liberal and showed of wealth . It included more sexual imagery and more post production effects. This promo had no narrative.

Micheal Jackson 'Thriller' - this video is regarded as the best ever and was almost a short film. It included costumes and big dance routines. It was the first video to appear on MTV which featured a black singer/musician and broke many conventions.

1986

Aerosmith/Run DMC 'Walk This Way' -  this song features both a well known band and a rap group. This was the first song on MTV to include rap and helped stopped the white dominance on MTV. This song made rap popular.

Peter Gabriel 'Sledgehammer' - this music video used stop-motion animation and claymation within the video making it very visually appealing. It was very animated and this started to make more videos animated etc.

1989

Madonna 'Like a Prayer' - this music video included very serious topics such as race and religion. It also included sexual overtones and made it very controversial. The lyrics were portrayed in video and this enhances it e.g. 'feels like I'm flying' - shot of her flying. It also helps change the songs meaning.

1991

Nirvana 'Smell like Teen Spirit' - this music video came out during the 90's when grunge was the new craze. This video includes cheerleaders and pep rallies but with a dark twist. This brought about a lot of videos with dark undertones.

1995

Micheal & Janet Jackson 'Scream' - this video is said to have cost millions. It includes black and white filters and is set in outer space. This video is important as it was edgy and included elaborate dance scenes.

1997

Jamiroquai 'Virtual Insanity' - it was done in one-shot and features a moving floor/wall grey room. This also was very edgy and futuristic.

1999

Eminem 'My Name Is' - this video was an imitation filled song including copies of Bill Clinton, Marylin Manson etc. This video was the formula that Eminem used for a lot of his videos. This broke conventions as it was shocking & created serious controversy.

Fatboy Slim 'Right Here, Right Now' - this video is evolution condensed into 3 1/2 minutes. It is very sarcastic similar to Eminem and done in one motion.

2000

Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Califronication' - Grand Theft Auto and Tony Hawk were the themes used in this videos. The whole video is set as a game and includes 3D graphics.

2004

Britney Spears 'Toxic' - this video includes futuristic stewardess, fiery "Alias"-esque agent, and brunette super-heroine. It also includes a lot of costumes and a narrative. This set a way for many young pop singers to do.

2006

Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Dani California' - this video is a sum up of the previous music generations/eras. It goes from Elvis to Prince to Nirvana. It makes it very visually appealing to watch.

2008

Beyonce 'Single Ladies' - the video is done in one take and is in black and white. It also includes a big dance routine and is very clever. It includes Beyonce and 2 other dancers dancing in sync.

2009

Lady Gaga 'Bad Romance' - this video was the beginning of many arty videos (similar to The Beatles) and includes a narrative that is told through art. It includes more futuristic costumes and is very edgy. This set a president for many other videos through the years.

Music Video analysis

Conventions of a music promo

My video is the pop genre. The whole video is about being strong after a break up. Within it you will find:

•          Urban locations

•          Dancing

•          Fairly straight forward narrative

•          Anti-establishment activity

•          Destroyed environments

•          Mean and moody men

•          Deserted locations

•          Singing whilst acting

•          Trying to portray a certain image

•          Self-appreciation

Katy Perry – Part of Me

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuwfgXD8qV8

The typical camera work used is very much close-ups so you can see them singing or mid shots. They tend to be from the angle of someone looking at them or an over shoulder shot. This makes it look like the viewer is looking on while the video is happening (like they are a part of the video). In the Part of Me video we see a lot of P.O.V shots and over the shoulder, this makes you think as though you are the main character in the video (as you can see in the picture below).  Also in music videos there are a lot of establishing shots to show where its set or the location e.g. in Katy Perry’s they include a lot of shots of the marine camp. This adds to the narrative of the video and shows what is happening.

The lighting in the whole video is very bright and shows the main character (Katy) clearly. This is the same in most pop music videos.  The lighting in the video is very natural almost like sunlight.  The location/ setting are in a marine training camp - this creates a sort of tough meaning to the video which is reinforced by the lyrics. The costumes used are mainly marine uniform as seen here. At the beginning of the video we see Katy as a more girly dressed person whereas towards the end she becomes more of a strong dressed person. There are many props used such as scissors which are used to cut her hair creates the meaning that she’s letting go of her past.

Another prop used is the gun in which its cuts to a flashback of her playing with a toy one then transitioning to a real one showing her character develop. This also helps with the narrative of the video. The storyline of the video is Katy witnessing her boyfriend cheat and running away to the marines. This is reinforces with the lyrics as she says ‘This is the part of me that you’re never going to ever take away from me’ – this suggest that she is strong which is shown within the video and montage of her at the training camp.  The performance itself takes place at the training camp. The way she is performing is singing while doing certain tasks but the video doesn’t show her always singing which is typical in a pop music video.

Music Promo

A music promo is an album that is used for promotional purposes. They are sent out to radio stations and the press so they can get radio play and reviews. A promo is basically the main part of the promo package (adverts, album cover etc) and is used to get attention from press and record labels. Music promos can be viewed on many places such as YouTube, MTV and 4music (music TV channels). Although throughout the years people tend to view them on YouTube more than on the television. This is due to the increase in technology/computers which has also changed the consumption and exhibition of music promo. Music promo are consumed through app stores now (Windows store, App store, Amazon apps) and are also exhibited through pre-orders etc.