Historical Research

Historical Research

what is a music video?

A music video is a short film that is played alongside a music video and links to the song itself. this is done for artistic and promotional reasons. These can be used to market an artist and help them gain a bigger reach and audience by, possibly, creating a unique music video that people would be drawn towards. Music videos make songs more than just a song, they help them come to life and can help strengthen the story the artist is trying to tell through their music, by using visuals.

what is the first ever music video and why was it so interesting?

There's a big discussion about who actually made the first ever music video as some earlier videos aren't considered to be music videos by many due to when it was broadcasted and how it was made. According to MTV, the first ever music video is"The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star". this video was played at 12:01 am on August 1, 1981 - the time when MTV first launched its channel and the video was the first ever song to be aired on MTV. This video had used a range of different camera angles like, for example, a close up of the lead singer, Trevor Horn, and a long shot of the whole music group singing. Also, they have tried to incorporate some sort of special effects, one called double exposure which is a very simple effect that doesn't require any editing software; it's more of a camera trick. This effect is essentially when layers of a translucent image are placed over another. This effect is still used to this date now but would've been very hard at the time the video was created.

However, some people would say that the first ever music video is "Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody" which was made in 1975 but wasn't aired until MTV as created. this video used an almost identical format to Video Killed The Radio Star as the also used similar shots like close-ups and long shots of the group. they also used double exposure as the Buggles did. The music video concept was created by Freddie Mercury and was shot by Photographer Mick Rock, who has worked alongside other rock legends like David Bowie and Lou Reed. what I found interesting about these videos are how they used a range of shot types and they were the first to do so. These same shots are used in music videos nowadays, so, they could be seen as the pioneers who paved the way of these shots being used in music videos. There was no editing software so the only things that they could do to create effects were lighting and camera tricks.

Because I want to focus on the rap genre, I want to research on what the first rap music video was and I found out that it's "The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight" which was made in 1979. In this music video, I can see the influence taken from Bohemian Rhapsody in its cinematography. they used a range of camera angles, similar to Queen, however, they incorporated panning shots and zooming shots and this was the first of its kind. They also used lots of extras who were dressed in disco themed outfits. this was probably done because discos were the current trend and they wanted to make the video be relatable to the era; The Swinging 70s. Music videos are a way of marketing and promoting an artist or group, and I feel that by incorporating current trends into your video is a very good idea so that you could attract a very large audience because they could relate to your video.

The early music videos all followed the same music video format; a performance style music video. There are 3 main types or music videos; Performance, Narrative and Conceptual. Performance music videos have the artist/s performing the song and they are recorded usually on a set or at a location and the director would use a range of camera angles and effects to make the video more interesting than normal performance. This type of music video was the first to ever be used, ever. These types of music videos are still made currently but, nowadays they would mesh either conceptual or narrative styles into the video to make the video more interesting and more modern.

A narrative style music video is when there is a series of visual shots and they depict a story/narration. They're usually easy to follow and link to the song itself. Usually, this type of video will mimic a film genre and the lyrics will often be reflected within the story. This type of music video can be used for many genres but is usually used in Rap/Hip Hop, Pop, and R&B. Typically, the artist/s would appear as a part or as an observer of the story. Songs that use this type of music video have to have a deep meaning in order to make a successful narrative - a story without meaning would not be interesting to the audience. an example of this music video type would be "Sia - Titanium". In this music video, the narrative of the video is that there's a boy who has powers that cause mass destruction and struggles to fit in because he's seen as "different" and tries to suppress his powers in order to, but, because his powers destroyed a school (seen in the opening scene) the police are trying to capture him so, he's now on the run. The video is meant to show how people who are "different" are oppressed in society and the chorus " I am titanium" is meant to be a positive message to those type of people, telling them that they are strong - like titanium.

A conceptual style music video is when the video is based on a sole idea/concept and these ideas are usually radical and obscure. These types of music videos usually include unusual images or narratives that make people want to engage more because they want to truly understand what is going on. The video doesn't have to link to the song or lyrics and is seen as more artistic. This form of a music video is typically used for EDM/Dubstep music but can be adapted to Rap/Hip-Hop and Rock and has been done plenty of times. An example of a conceptual music video would be "A$AP Rocky - A$AP Forever". In this music video, the concept is to use a camera that constantly goes round and over his head and they do this in different multiple settings and his makes it seem as though the camera is just orbiting A$AP and as the location changes it creates this really weird effect that no artist, that I have come across, has used. the concept doesn't have a narrative, it's just different and outlandish and that is why the video is so well known.

To conclude, the earlier music videos were very basic and there were many around the same time but the "first" video to date was "Bohemian Rhapsody By Queen" and in their video, they only used 2 or 3 different camera angles, one being a close-up and long shot. They also used very basic effects like double exposure and lighting effects that were probably groundbreaking techniques back then but are very easy to do now. This music paved the way to a whole new era of music promotion and now every artist makes music videos in order to promote their music. As time went on, artists began to try to create different music video styles like, for example, narrative music videos and conceptual music videos. Narrative music videos tell a story through creating a short film that links to the lyrics and usually, songs with powerful messages or strong themes/topics use this format in order to put further emphasis on their views on the issues they're are trying to tackle/put out there. Music video creation has come a long way from old 1970s film reel cameras and no editing software to where we are today - 4K cameras and a vast range of video, animation and 3D editing software and this is due to the evolution of technology in both camera -work and editing software and I'm lucky to be in a position where everything I need, from cameras and lenses to editing software, is readily accessible and I also have the knowledge on how to use them.

Bibliography

Article title:	Music video
Website title:	En.wikipedia.org
URL:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_video

Article title:	Buggles - Video killed the radio star 1979
Website title:	YouTube
URL:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwuy4hHO3YQ

Article title:	Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video)
Website title:	YouTube
URL:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

Article title:	Bohemian Rhapsody How They Made The Queen Music Video
Website title:	YouTube
URL:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbyXYas7djM

Article title:	The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight (Official Video)
Website title:	YouTube
URL:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcCK99wHrk0

Article title:	Types of Music Video
Website title:	Epikmusicvideos.com
URL:	https://www.epikmusicvideos.com/blog/100-types-of-music-video-production.html

Article title:	David Guetta - Titanium ft. Sia (Official Video)
Website title:	YouTube
URL:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfuAukYTKg

Author	Jackolopolus
Article title:	Concept Music Videos
Website title:	Slideshare.net
URL:	https://www.slideshare.net/Jackolopolus/concept-music-videos

Article title:	A$AP Rocky - A$AP Forever (Official Video) ft. Moby
Website title:	YouTube
URL:	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzc6hG3yN4