Conclusion of Development of Music Videos- Comparison

To conclude, I will compare the styles and elements of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' from 1981 to 'Wide Awake' from 2012.



 

 

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody music video is classed by many as the first official music video because it was the first successful one to be aired on MTV. It is therefore relatively basic because they didn't have the sufficient technology in that is needed nowadays to produce a successful music video. The video shows the 4 band members performing throughout the whole duration, because narrative based elements is more of a contemporary idea. Freddy Mercury is focused on a lot, being the main singer, and very simple effects are used, such as fading into different images. It is a very dark video with a depressing tone, with their 'floating' heads being lit with a spotlight and them performing on stage in some parts. In contrast to this, in Wide Awake the themes and images are very bright and colourful, with a pastiche to a fairytale reference with the prince charming and 'princess' style of it. The inter textual references in this to particular fairy tales and Katy Perry's other songs such as  'California Girls' and 'Teenage Dream' are more of a modern idea also, because it is a more evolved strategy that can capture the audiences attention more. When Bohemian Rhapsody was being produced, they were in an era of experimentation when it came to music videos because they were a relatively new concept. Therefore, they were completely focused on the video itself, instead of underlying references and methods to spark interest amongst the target audience. The effects are understandably much more advanced in Wide Awake, and though it is similar to Bohemian Rhapsody in the way that there is a slightly sinister feel to it at the beginning, it is a mix of performance and narrative. Unlike Queen's music video, Katy Perry is acting out a story with a solid theme, and uses a little girl and a man as extras to help the story line. Therefore, the main difference between these music videos of two different time periods is not only the technical aspects, but the idea of creating a mini story within it, instead of it being completely based on the performance of the song. This is how the music video has developed over time and is likely to continue to develop in the future.

Flow Diagram: The Development of the Music Video

Below is a flow diagram detailing the development of styles in music videos, starting in the 1920's until modern day videos.

The 1920’s were really the years when music video ideas came into practise, when  performers would project images onto a screen during their live performances which would link to the themes of the song, much like modern music videos.

Throughout the 1930’s and the years following, music videos were mainly these simple screen projections and perhaps short clips of the performers singing. This is because they didn’t have the necessary technology like we have today. The music video was a relatively new concept.

Artists and bands started to experiment with promotional videos but these were more of an art style.

Subterranean Homesick Blues by Bob Dylan in 1965 is still considered by many to be the first music video. This is a subject of debate however.  

In 1965 The Beatles made  a music video for ‘Ticket To Ride’ which was both performance and narrative based. This is when video producers started to consider the different elements they could include, instead of just the basics. The music video therefore evolved at this point in time.

At the end of the 1960’s and start of the 1970’s, the music industry was developing further through the graduation of film makers frim art schools. Producers and performers then started to experiment further with the music videos.

In the year 1975, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is thought also to be the first real music video because it was the first popular one to be aired on MTV. This sparked the rapid increase of the change in styles and originality of following music videos. 

Britney Spears sawed to popularity with ‘Hit Me Baby One More Time’ in 1999, in which she incorporated dance routines and costume changes, as well as performance and narrative, and main theme of being at school. This is how most celebrities promoted themselves and made their fame, through memorable traits in their videos. 

MC Hammers ‘U Can’t Touch This’ music video was launched in 2005 and is completely based on dance routines. This shows how over the period of over 80 years, music videos have established different elements depending on the song an artist.

The famous ‘Crazy Frog’, also in 2005 is another example of how these modern videos can differ, with this being an animation of a frog and the artist being shown as the frog. Contemporary music videos have been and will continue to develop into original ideas in order to capture the appeal of target audiences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Textual Analysis: Still from a Music Video

I will be taking a still shot from One Direction's music video 'Live While We're Young' to analyse in order to show how the appearance of a shot from a particular video can impact its appeal to the target audience and represent/promote the artist or band.

One Direction- Live While We're Young

One direction are obviously extremely popular with young teenage girls who are their target audience and it seems that their record label, Syco have used this to their advantage when filming the boy bands most recent music video for Live While We're Young. Just in this single shot, we see all 5 band members doing a dance which is very light hearted and humorous. It represents them as acting youthful and fun. The triviality is also presented in the title of the song, because the video directly links to it as they are simply having fun, being young. The fact that the genre of the song is mainstream pop links to the message they are portraying to the target audience.The medium-long shot enables the audience to see the artists as the central focus, but also the extras in the background who are joining in with the dance routine. They all look like they're having a good time through their facial expressions. This shows how One Direction are happy to interact with fans for instance. The shot is also high angled soit shows that the band are the main stars of the video. This however also gives the opportunity to show off their wardrobe, which is fairly casual, typical to boy band styles. The fact that some members of the band and the extras are wearing shorts indicated that it is the summer season, adding to the effect of a party style. The lighting shows that it's night time, giving it a party-like atmosphere. There are coloured lights reflecting off the trees which again just gives the shot more of a sense of fun and youthfulness.

Final Comparisons of 3 different Music Videos:

After analysing the content of As Long As You Love Me, Fifteen and Mr. Brightside, I will now discuss the comparisons and contrasts of each one. It is clear that As Long As You Love Me is a hit music video because of Justin Bieber being the artist behind it. Due to his massive fan base, his record label, Island Records having a healthy flow of revenue coming in so can therefore afford to spend a substantial amount of money on his music video by making it nearly 6 minutes long by adding acting scenes which give it a film style. There is a fair bit of performance in the video, which shows off Justin's talent with his dance moves, selling himself further to his audience. This is similar to Taylor Swift as she is known in the industry for her guitar playing in performance. A large section of her Fifteen music video is her in a performance style, singing and playing the guitar. This, just like Justin Bieber is a personal trait that adds to their image which is incorporated in the majority of their music videos. He also plays the guitar in some music videos, which makes the styles more similar. Because Justin and Taylor are both teenage artists, they appeal to roughly the same audience, which is young people, mainly females. In contrast to this, The Killers music video for Mr. Brightside appeals to a much more mature target market. which is shown through the music video. It is a lot more performance based and has darker imagery and a more sinister. This therefore differentiates this particular music video from the other two, mainly due to the market they are targeting. There are inter-textual references shown in As Long As You Love Me because it has a Romeo and Juliet styled theme, which is very recognisable amongst the target audience. The style of Mr.Brightside is quite renaissance themed so is a pastiche due to the clear links through the visuals, e.g. costumes and makeup. It is fair to say that all three videos show a sense of hyper-consciousness, but in particular Taylor Swift in Fifteen, because she is singing about the struggles of being a teenage girl, and the awareness of her image comes through in this.

A2: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS- 3 MUSIC VIDEOS

Mr Brightside - The Killers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGdGFtwCNBE

The Killers are targetting a completley different audience compared to Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift because as their video for Mr Brightside is much more syled to fit the interests of older people. The genre is Rock and it appears that the majority of people that Rock music appeals to is older people, unlike the teenageers who are interested in Justin Bieber's pop songs and Taylor Swift's mainstream spin on country. This particular video is majorly performanced based with some narrative and dance numbers. In contrast to music videos targetted at youngeer people, the performance style is more age appropriate for the audience, aswell as the style of the video as a whole and aspects such as wardrobe, hair and makeup. The theme of it seems to be a renaissance style with big hair and a lot of makeup for the girls. The killers are all dressed unusally, especially the main singeer as he is wearing eyeliner and dark clothes, making the tone more sinsister. The dancing that some of the females do, and then the main girl and a male also emphasises the difference of this music video to the ones I have previously analysed. The music is also of a very Rock genre with the backing track and the singers voices influencing the style. The music is also relativley fast paced, but speeds up further and becomes louder in the chorus, which is not uncommon for all types of songs.

A2: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS- 3 MUSIC VIDEOS

Fifteen- Taylor Swift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-K2tXWK4w

Over the years, Taylor Swift has built up an image, much like Justin Bieber, which helps to sell her songs and videos to her target audience, due to her reputation as a young, innocent girl who writes songs about her own personal experiences with romance. Arguably, she does have more of a unique selling point than Justin Bieber and other solo artists of that age, because when you think of a Taylor Swift song you automatically think 'lighthearted' and 'romance'. This is why her video for Fifteen is very typical of her, and much like the style of her other videos. She plays a guitar in many of her videos which links to the genre of her songs- very country. She is very natural in the way she dresses and looks very young, which appeals to her target audience that are young teenage girls. The audience can relate to her videos in particular because she sings about very common things that happen in the lives of teenage girls, and this video in particular is effective. It is a mix between performance and narrative, with Taylor walking in through the door to a new school at the beginning of the video, and the lyrics are directly related to the story line because she is expressing how nervous she feels. There are a lot of close ups of her singing in the performance sections because she is selling her image partly on herself, similar to Justin Bieber. It again emphasises her youth and trivialises the video, because at times it hits some serious topics that need to be made more lighthearted. The pace of the song is relatively slow, which isn't uncommon for Taylor Swift, but some may say that it's perhaps more of a deep song and video than some of her others, because it really focuses on the life of teenage girls like herself, through the use of extras, props, hair, wardrobe, and even backdrops and colour schemes. The video makes it seem like almost a dream world she is in because it has illusions that blur into each other and pastel colours and tones that take it away from a realistic vibe. It basically sums up the journey that most teenage girls go through around that age, but puts a positive spin on it by giving the impression that Taylor Swift is giving her fans advice through her lyrics.

A2: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS- 3 MUSIC VIDEOS

As Long As You Love Me- Justin Bieber ft. Big Sean:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4em3LKQCAQ

Due to Justin Biebers rising population and massive fan base, his record label can afford to make his music videos into almost mini films with some acting at the start of the video. It is in the style of Romeo and Juliet so this is an indication that it is clearly going to be a love song. The Genre of the video is pop and very mainstream.The style of it is a mixture between performance and narrative but narrative is a big part of it so that the audience can follow the story line. Justin Bieber's fan base are mostly teenage girls so a love song with the idea of a parent not wanting it may relate to them. Justin's unique selling point is basically himself because he is so popular. However as he is growing up in the music industry he is starting to incorporate dance moves into his videos; slightly Micheal Jackson styled. This helps to further his young image to the audience who look for these traits in his music videos. Having already identified the target audience, we notice that the montage style of the video suits the fan base because they don't like long winded videos with not much happening; they enjoy a lot of action and the music video is an effective example of the syle they like. The Music is typical Justin Bieber, but perhaps much more slow than his other songs. However the style remains the same, as most of his songs are about a girl or has some sort of element of romance in them. The music is slow paced towards the start of the video but then it speeds up during the chorus and Big Seans rap. The video matches this by turning violent when the music speeds up and gets louder. This creates excitement and gives the video some form of climax. The video is obviously big budget due to it being over 5 minutes, having an acting section at the start, all the effects and just the general quality of it. The wardbrobe of Justin and the extras is casual but the makeup that makes him look as if he's been beaten up is effective and obviously of good quality.

Music Websites

Below are a few links to some useful music websites that I will be referring to throughout the duration of my coursework tasks:

NME- http://www.nme.com/radio

TUNE IN- http://tunein.com/

SPOTIFY- http://www.spotify.com/uk/desktop-splash/?utm_source=spotify&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=start

A2: I'M BACK!

Hello! I'm back for A2! This term I will be looking forward to chosing an artist or band and creating my own music video using my own ideas and cast. It will require a substantial amount of research and planning which I will highlight in my action plan :)  To start this years research I will be analysing the content of 3 music videos of all different genres which will enable be to identify the key contrasts and help me to chose an artist for my own music video.

The Three music videos are:

• As Long as You Love Me by Justin Bieber (Pop)
• Fifteen by Taylor Swift (Country)
• Mr Brightside by the Killers (Rock)