Music Video

A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for
promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used
as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. If we look
deeper into the history we will find Talkies in 1927, which were movies with speech
and sound made during a time when most films were silent. After that Soundies in
1941 47 brought a selection of short musical films, which covered the whole range
of eras most popular styles. The major focus of Soundies were entertainment. Music
videos pre 1980s werent known as a big entity, only having small air time on shows
like top of the pops when the band couldnt appear. Nov. 10, 1975s Bohemian
Rhapsody by queen was arguably the first music video to be launched, it mostly
featured clips of the band preforming their song with no storyline, and it took a while
for others to try this form of media. Music videos in the 80s started in Britain. Though
it quickly caught on in America, and it blew up following the Nov. 30, 1982s thriller
video by Michael Jackson, this started the concept of a music video having a
storyline and also broke racial barriers in MTVs treatment of music. Artists and
musicians realize what video does for their music and how it created a stronger and
more immediate impact for the consumers. Videos allow a complete visual
communication and help build emotional connections with people. Compared to
image and text, video is a completely different method of engaging audiences since
the amount of information it can display in a second outweighs the amount of
information that is read.

Purpose of a music video

Promotion is the most obvious reason why anyone would create a music video. Songs
need promotion and in this oversaturated world of musicians, often good artists are
easy to miss. This is why artists need to use every available method to give their
music exposure, including a promotional music video. Music videos are crucial for
dictating how you want your music to be perceived, in this sense the music video
becomes an extension of yourself. Your choice of style, approach and content will
reveal elements of who you are, even things that arent obvious in the music. The
ideas, themes and concepts are communicated from the artist to the viewer through
the medium. Consumers connect through an artists music then connect through
their video with a new level of understanding. Artist will use outlets such as social
media and video sites such as Vimeo and YouTube, in order to take advantage of the
sharing feature of each platform, which allows them to circulate their video, in turn
gaining them more recognition. Music videos are used to promote the sales of an
artists merchandise, and if they are signed to a label the label grows richer. For
example, in the Up on a Tuesday video Drake is wearing a hoodie from his label
OVO, they do this because it will drive the sales of products related to the artist.
Synergy is often used by two media companies work together. This is when a TV
show or film will use an artists song in the production, this is done in order to
increase the clout of the artist. There are 3 production strategies, first there are
major labels which control the artists and dictate the music that they create. The
artist doesnt get much money from the label and are controlled by them. There are
3 major labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group & Warner Music Group.
Sony and Universal have a deal with VEVO, who hosts the videos of the artists they
have signed, which in turn creates revenue for the label. Though the major
disadvantage of these major labels is that they are very controlling, and often mute
the uniqueness of an artist, making them more generic and mainstream. Second
there are independent labels, independent labels dont have as much of a financial
backing. Any label which is not affiliated with the major three, is independent. These
labels often allow the artist a lot more freedom to do what they want. The major
disadvantage to these labels are that they cant give an artist the same recognition
and exposure as a major, this is mainly due to the lack of finances. There an
Unsigned/ self-produced strategy, unsigned artists are usually working to get signed.
Being unsigned or self-produced means that they have to promote themselves and
finance themselves.

Styles
Music videos are shot in many different styles, one style to consider is an illustrative
style. This is when the music video uses the lyrics as the basis for the visuals, mean that
the lyrics and the visuals have a strong bond. The visuals to Eminems song Stan have a
very strong connection to the lyrics. It also incorporates cutting to the beat, which is a
way of editing a video so that each clip changes at the same time as the beat of the
track. Most clips use a 'cut' transition, so you generally 'cut to the beat' of the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLZFdqwh7E

Another style is Interpretive; this style prompts the audience to speculate to what the
true meaning of the visuals were. This done through producing a narrative which is not
lifted from the lyrics, causing the link between the visuals and the lyrics to be blurred.
This allows the audience the freedom to interpret for themselves what he music video is
about. The visuals to Ed Sheerans Small Bump have a very blurred link to the lyrics.
The visuals also incorporated certain camera movements for different reasons. There was
an establishing shot which set the scene at the beginning, a long shot which normally set
out the location of a closer scene, so the audience have a better understanding of the
atmosphere, and a mid-shot and close up will be used to see the artists face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_af256mnTE

Another style is Narrative; this style is when a music video tells its story to an audience,
narrative music videos tell a story that normally relates to the song. Sometimes the story
is fictional and sometimes it's non-fictional. These videos are popular because they keep
the viewers interested and they normally remember the story and the song because of
the video. The visuals to R Kellys Trapped in a closet have a strong narrative. They also
incorporated camera angles, which make a huge impact on the meaning and style of the
music video. Wherever a camera is placed can show the power of the artist/characters.
Or sometimes it can show an exact location from where we should be seeing it. By
choosing different angles, the viewers have a different view of the action, which makes it
more interesting and everybody will have their own way of watching it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFosUj6A22c

Another style is Parody; this style of music video is designed to mock or tease an
original piece of work, normally in a bad way. It is very similar to pastiche, except it
generally has a bad and funny way of representing it. Parodies have gained popularity in
recent years and has helped some YouTube Artists become famous because of their
parodies. The visuals to Pillow Talk by The Key of Awesome, do a great job at mimicking
the original video by Zayn Malik, and poking fun at holes in the video. They also
incorporated, miming and lip-syncing to link the visual with the song, so it gives the
allusion that the artist is singing. This technique is used on the majority of music videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-lQJt09eU

Another style is In Concert; this style of music video has a sense of realism and they
appeal to viewers who perhaps cannot go and see them in concert all the time, so they
can see what it looks like for a change. It also might give viewers an incentive to go and
see the band live. Sometimes they can be staged to look like they are live. The visuals to
Linkin Parks Numb/Encore allow the viewers to watch a live performance from the
band, with other visuals, helping the viewers understand what a live show with the band
would be like. They also incorporated, multi-image which is a technique where multiple
videos are on one screen. This generally shows more than one thing going on. This was
used to show that the visuals werent just a live performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLlF2FMv968

Another style is Animation; there are three types of animation style music videos,
traditional hand-drawn, stop motion and digital. An artist would select which variation
would best convey their message, and stay true to their image. Animation videos tend to
be more quirky and unusual because they can be as impossible and outrageous as the
artist wants them to be. The visuals to the Gorilazs Clint Eastwood used took full
advantage of this style, having the artist be fictional creatures, implementing
supernatural elements etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_xRb0x9aw

Another style is Pastiche; this style of music video represent a small imitation that is used
respectfully from another form of media such as film or TV show. This idea is a good way
to get a bigger audience because fans of the artist will know about the imitation and the
fans of the other form of media will find out about the artist. The visuals to Wheatus
Teenage Dirtbag efficiently imitates the film Loser and uses clip from the film to tell a
new story with their lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC3y9llDXuM

Another style is Surrealist; this style of music video contains a style that is so strange and
unreal that it's almost impossible that the situation would ever happen. Surrealist videos
sometimes contain a lot of animation. They are sometimes fun and exciting which does
appeal to younger children. But some music artists take an impression of a certain artist
or sculptor and use their style in the music video. The visuals to Coldplays up&up
displays this style to quite an extreme. By incorporating, visual effects they added
more of a narrative and create more excitement in the music video. Sometimes an
audience will be so interested in the technology behind the effects but sometimes
they just like the idea of adding more of a story and colour to the video. It keeps
them entertained. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNTC7uZYrI

Another style is Homage; this style music video pays a tribute to a particular time,
event or person. It is a way for artists to show their respect to others. These videos
can influence viewers and make them remember or sympathize for a specific time or
place. The visuals to P. Diddys Ill be missing you are a homage to the memory of
the Notorious B.I.G after he was brutally murder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Gc2K10CrThw

Another style is Influence of Commercial; this style of music video sometimes

mention or involve their whole video around a particular product. This is a good way
to advertise certain products, because fans of the artists will take note of the
products and be persuaded into thinking that it must be a good product if celebrities
are using it. The visual for Kanye Wests Wolves is an entirely used to promote the
fashion house Balmain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsA84bXrBZw