The History of Music Video:

This history of music videos:

This is a very ambiguous question as a music video can be interpreted in many ways according to the era and style of the previous generation. Now, any video or even image can be turned into a music video with useful editing softwares such as Final cut and even applications on smart phones. However around the time of the concept of music videos, many artists and companies claim to have the first music video.

Many companies and individuals have claimed to create the 'first music video' however above are the collections of the most notable ones.

My favourite Music Video - Avicci

My favourite pop music video is by Avicci (Feat. Robbie Williams), the song is called 'The Days'.




This is my favourite music video as it is very creative and defies majority of the current music video conventions as there are no stereotypical props/characters such as alcohol, fast cars, house parties etc. The music video shows an artist painting the song's lyrics on a large wall, however, at the end the entire wall shows an image of Avicci - who created the song. The main twist is when the painter throws colourful paint which creates a mural. This was entertaining to see as it was interesting to see art work being created.

I also liked the fact that there was only one actor in the entire video and it was still very enjoyable to watch. The main drawback was there were no cut scenes showing the artist performing, at a concert for example, or in the studio. I would imagine it would add an extra dimension to the video and adding more of a pop like video.

The end of the music video leaves the audience with a great image as it is creative, colourful and bold. This steps out of the norm that music artists generally portray as they focus mainly on artists or props whereas this music video focuses on art, mainly street art which was refreshing to see coming from a mainstream artist (Avicci) 

Overall I would rate this music video an 8/10 as it is very creative and the song ties in well with the visuals, the only reason it isn't a 10/10 as I would have preferred if there were a few cut away scenes to the artist performing to show the audience who Avicii is and how they perform. 

Watching and analysing this video has dramatically helped me to gain ideas and themes for our music video, such as the creative camera shot types, use of bold colours and in time edits. Even though our genre is very different from this, the essence and creativity can still be distilled to create and impact within out music video as this one cleverly did. 

What is a Pop Music Video?

As our A2 project is to create a Music video, it is important to first identify and understand exactly what a music video is, as well as all the vital elements surrounding the product. 

     

A Pop Music video is a short film which includes a song; music videos are generally produced for promotional purposes and to allow the audience to gain awareness of the song as well as the artist. The origins of music videos date back much further, they came into the spotlight in the 1980s, when MTV started showing music videos frequently. Music videos use a wide range of styles of filmmaking techniques such as animation, live action filming, documentaries, narrative and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend a variety of styles, such as animation and live action. Other music videos may not have a set concept, being just a filmed version of the songs live performance of the artists in concert of at a recording studio.

 Style: Music videos can be categorised in terms of the style they use, these can include:
- Performance: Where the band/artist is recorded actually singing the song in places such as studios or concerts. This style is less used recently and is sometimes featured in music videos in a few scenes. 
- Narrative/story- Mixed performance and narrative- Cameo (artist features in the narrative but does not perform)- Animation – digital/stop-motion.

 Editing and Sound: Different techniques are used in the editing and sound of music videos, including:
- Editing to the beat of the song- Split-screens- CGI/Special effects- Jump cuts- Straight cuts- Inclusion of diegetic sounds (Cars, weather, animals etc.)

 Development: Due to the popularity of music videos, many of them are now made into collections and sold on DVD. Instead of watching the video to listen to the piece of music, some viewers now watch them purely for their aesthetic value.

Response to Breif