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The origins of music videos
In 1926, 'talkies' were created which resulted in many musical short films being produced. 'Talkies' were motion pictures with synchronised sound. There were also Vitaphone shorts which featured band, singers and dancers. Vitaphone was a sound film system mused for feature films. Animation artist Max Fleischer made a series of sing-along short cartoons which invited audiences to sing along to popular song. -
The origins of music videos
In the early 1930's cartoons features popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. The early animated films by Walt Disney, such as the Silly Symphonies shorts and especially Fantasia, which featured several interpretations of classical pieces, were built around music. -
Earliest music videos
Tony Bennett clams to have created the first music video when he was filmed walking along the Serpentine in Hyde Park, London in 1956, with the resulting clip being set to his recording of the song "Stranger in Paradise". The clip was sent to UK and US television stations and aired on shows including Dick Clark's American Bandstand. -
The Jackson 5 - ABC
The music video for "ABC" by The Jackson 5 is a typical example of how music videos used to be based around performances, rather than extravagant settings and narrative based videos. In this example, the band just perform on stage and there is just one location throughout. The aim was not to just entertain but to advertise the artist performing, which is why they are just on stage. -
Beginning of music television
The Australian TV shows Countdown and Sounds, which premiered in 1974, were significant in developing and popularizing the music video genre in Australia and other countries, and in establishing the importance of music video clips as a means of promoting both emerging acts and new releases by established acts. -
Music videos start to go popular
In 1981, MTV launched, which began an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television. "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club was the first music video to be aired. This platform for music on television led to music videos becoming a central part in the marketing of music. -
Michael Jackson - Thriller
In 1983, the music video for Michael Jackson's song "Thriller" was released. It is considered one of the most popular, successful and iconic music videos of all time. It was directed by John Landis and is over 14 minutes long. It's also such a significant music video because it was instrumental in getting in getting music videos by African American artists played on MTV. Furthermore, it cost 800,000 US dollars to make, setting new standards for music video production. -
Features of modern music videos
I have noticed that modern music videos are usually very fast paced, with short and quick cuts. This helps the video flow and avoid boredom. Furthermore, they usually have a vide range of shot variety compared to old videos which were simple and have very few. -
Youtube
Youtube was released in 2005, and allowed for music videos to be easily uploaded and viewed by a large audience. It is a key marketing tool for many artists to broadcast their music and they could become successful from just their music videos being seen online. Youtube is a much faster way to watch videos which makes it more popular than watching them on TV channels, and have made music videos a massive part of the music industry. -
Ed Sheeran - Galway Girl
This is an example of how modern music videos are usually centred around a narrative, rather than performance based. The video is from the point of view of Ed Sheeran who goes to a bar in Galway, Ireland and meets a girl who he spends the rest of the night with. The video shows what occurs on the night out for Sheeran and follows this narrative throughout. Modern videos often contain a lot of crops cutting between scenes, which add to the narrative and avoid boredom for the audience.
