HISTORY TYPES FEATURES Music Videos

“Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung” (Voltaire, 1812) The ridiculous, the shocking and the bizarre are normal in video clips such as brides turning into monsters and one thousand wine glasses shattering in slow motion.

Music Videos A music video is a film clip produced to go with a song (Stewart & Kowaltzke, 2008). Usually a pop or rock song. Used as short promotional films to sell downloadable songs. 3-5 minutes Not a traditional narrative structure. Rely on rhythm, pace and lyrical imagery for their effect. Combines images and sounds together inseparably.

History Prehistory – Hollywood musicals – American Bandstand 1962 – Top of the Pops (UK) 1964 – A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles feature film, UK) – The Monkees (Tv program, US) 1969 – Woodstock festival 1975 – Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody’ (turning point in music industry; promotional videos now mandatory, UK) 1979 – Buggles ‘Video killed the radio star’ (first song broadcast on MTV, US) 1984 – Michael Jackson ‘Thriller’ (short film with narrative structure, US) 1991 – Nirvana ‘Smells like teen spirit’ (begins grunge influence on MTV, US) 2003 – MySpace founded on internet; Apple opens iTunes store in US 2005 – Arctic Monkeys first band to gain fame from file-sharing and video downloads. Youtube allows users to place music videos online.

Purpose of Music Videos Advertising Entertainment Short artistic films What do you think the purpose of music videos is?

Types of Music Videos Conceptual clips Based on a central theme and often have a narrative but sometimes they are made up of jumbled images. Two types of conceptual clips: Narrative: Simple narratives provide a basic situation for a fantasy but lapses into jumbled imagery in between. This allows the audience to create their own meaning. Complex narratives often use know genre conventions eg. Horror. These tend to lean towards the ballad. Non-narrative: Dreamlike reality including hundreds of scenes relating to different topics/ themes. The theme is approached from many angles in a short space of time. Symbolism is used frequently.

Types of Music Videos Performance clips Concentrate on the actual stage performance of the musicians (instruments, lighting, live concert). This might appear old-fashioned to modern generations as it was popular in the 1960s and 1970s. It is rare for the performers NOT to be shown in a music video. They often look directly at the camera to engage with the audience and follows the conventions of a stage performance.

Features Poetic images: builds ideas and emotions in the minds of the audience and grabs attention. Symbolic images: flashes of easily understood images are used to create an associated idea/theme for the audience such as famous art works, film references, images of romance. Rapid shot changes: Ideas-per-minute (IPM) needs to be high therefore rapid shot changes are required. A 3 minute video may contain 100s of shots. Shots should be approx. 2 seconds in length.

Audience Some research has shown that young people watch music videos up to 70% more intently than ordinary television programming. Music videos are extremely popular with youth audiences suggesting that for them entertainment value comes first. (Stewart & Kowlatzke, 2008)

Giving youth an identity Many studies have shown how young people use music videos to develop their own personalities. Self expression Peer groups Separation from parents and/or school

Communication and Youth Music gives the impression of communicating on a one-to-one basis. The message becomes personalised for the audience. Gives young people a way of feeling knowledgeable and successful.

Representations - extremes Natural landscape: hot, red deserts; stormy oceans and deep forests. Colour and mood are important. Males images: extreme examples of masculinity eg. Gangstas, musclemen, soldiers and construction workers. Female images: restricted to goddesses or temptresses.

Representations - extremes Androgyny: common use of images where gender is irrelevant. Authority figures: parents, teachers, police and judges are portrayed as spoil sports at best and cruel oppressors at worst. Nostalgia: common use of scenes referring to the “good old days”. Hollywood fairytale story lines

Task Watch the following music videos and categorise them into either: conceptual or performance. Describe how male and females are represented in each music video.

How video works with music Illustration: Cry me a river Images tell the story of the LYRICS. Images tell the story of the MUSIC (cuts on the beat) Images illustrate the SINGER/S or BAND Amplifying: I write sins not tragedies Adds new layers of meaning to the music or lyrics. Close ups amplify singer/band performance. Disjointed: Ray of light Images contrast the lyrics and music to create new meaning.

Characteristics of Music Videos Relationship between the lyrics and the visuals. Relationship between the music and the visuals. Some music genres may have a style and iconography (eg. live stage performance in heavy rock). Record company demands lots of close-ups of the main artist/vocalist. Artist may develop their own star iconography, in and out of their videos, which, over time, becomes part of their star image. There is likely to be reference to voyeurism, particularly in the treatment of women, but also in terms of systems of looking (screens within screens, binoculars, cameras, etc). There are likely to be intertextual references, either to other music videos or to films.

Lyrics Help to establish a general feeling, or mood, or sense of subject matter rather than offering a coherent meaning. Key lines may play a part in the visuals associated with the song but rarely illustrate the whole song. Music A music video tends to make use of the tempo of the track to drive the editing and may emphasise particular sounds from the track by focusing on instruments such as a guitar, keyboard or drum solo. Genre While some music videos transcend genres, others can be more easily categorised. You will be able to identify a range of distinct features which characterise the videos of different genres. These features might be reflected in types of mise en scene, themes, performance, camera and editing styles.

Camerawork May accompany movement of performers (walking, dancing etc) but it may also be used to create a more dynamic feel to stage performance, for instance, by constantly circling the band as they perform on stage. Close up shot is most common: Size of screen/ create sense of intimacy with audience/ emphasise the artist and their voice for sale.

Recap Music videos appeal to young people for entertainment. Conceptual and performance are the two categories of music videos. Representations are in the extreme within music videos. Lyrics, music, genre, camerawork, record companies, star image and voyeurism play an important role in music videos.