Music video Essay | Draft 1

Creative Media: TV & Film Essay Discuss the different purposes for music videos covering a range of examples from different eras and genres

Written By Foyez Jitu

In this essay, I am going to discuss the different purposes for music videos covering a range of examples from different eras and genres from previous years. The first music video to ever be broadcasted on television was “Video killed the radio star”. The music video itself was very unusual to the audience at that time. Music videos have a real talent to grab attention this is why they are mainly used by artists. Furthermore, different artists want to engage with their target audience taste, which is why watching music videos help identify the different genres. Isn’t that right? It is! All audience can identify the difference between a rock and a pop song because of music videos and this is what brings an artists choice of identity and recognition. Music videos are the essential key to a successful music artist.

There are many genres in the music industry but how do they make them stand out? This is done via using a certain style within the music video. Usually a pop music video would be filmed using bright lighting to match the upbeat tune. Also music videos can help represent a particular company either by a sponsored or advertisement. Look at the shell advertisement for example; this company has used a mixture of music artists featuring in the advert called ‘Best Day of My Life’. In the video they have used a mixture of bright colours to show the particular style of music. The main purpose of music videos is to portray a particular genre of music to attract that particular audience that it interests.

After, the wild release by The Buggles, on MTV soon after all around the world internationally the artists have sold millions of copies of their music including their music videos and many artists grew their fame by showcasing their music an award winning films, adverts and television shows. Many music videos followed a rather unusual pattern of showing random seanes in their music videos not relating to any lyrical verses. In addition the music videos stretched to a wider audience when bands and artists sold internationally.

Slowly the music industry had made £900 thousand a month to making almost £13 million.

Music videos were really the essential key to opening any artist’s door to success. In the 1990s we see this carry on however, with the actual artists being a part of the music video following a story that links to the lyrical words. This most famous song “Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears. In the music video we see that the artist in this plays a character, specifically a school girl. It was very organised in the style of which the choreography had been set up, with it switch between multiple scenes, telling a story to go with the music.

One of the other reasons for mentioning this music video is because of its controversial costume design as many saw it as sexualising minors. It was one of the first to make a quite clear connection between the song and the video.

Eventually, a large number of music videos slowly started to grow more and developed more. This then continues the trend of more story based music videos in to the 2000’s but also with the introduction of more artistic attempts at videos.

Examples: (Past) Billy Joel / We Didn’t Start the Fire - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTLKWw542g Fountains of Wayne/ Stacy’s Mom - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZLfasMPOU4 Examples: (Present) Take That/ These Days - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I43R3jIFE74&list=PLbbY7sePYESeC-zQ3CjpAGYl2i8VhvxX The Chainsmokers/ Closer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT2_F-1esPk

In the above examples of music videos, I have looked at I have realised in the past music videos they have used storylines to explain their song meaning. They have done this to help make them understand what their music video is about. However, in new music videos in present time they don’t really use storylines that match their music. For example, the try to make their song get memorised by the video. Like the example of the music video ‘closer’ they have put the words in the music video to help the audience learn their music. Although this is not for all music videos. Some bands like ‘Take That’ try to make their music match out their actions of their video. Some music videos sometimes want to portray a certain feeling to their audience like “Love, Anger, and Sadness”. They sometimes do this through the music video, like the example of ‘We didn’t start the fire’ and ‘closer’ all show some love emotion.

“Pump It” by The Black Eyed Peas is a different take on an attempt at a story, while maintaining the actual artist within the Video. The Video shows the group essentially competing against another gang, ultimately beating them. While a simple take, it does show the development, with the use of different types of editing techniques. It was a simple premise overall for the music video. It also had a strong use of Green Screens.

The next music video we will be looking at is for the song “Handlebars” by Flobots. This is a music video that actually uses animation, which we would see rise in use during the 2000’s.

This music video is not only used to help the song sell, but it was also to send a heavy message through its use of story. We see this in quite a lot of songs from 2000’s, like Eminem’s “Stan”, as many have realised that the audiences at time want the music to have meaning, and nothing shows it better than the music video.

However, old trends in music videos still stick around, like the ones that focus specifically on the band playing the music. An example of this continuing is from the song “viva la Vida” by Coldplay. This focuses on the band, but puts a twist to the usual focus this type of music video would give, Because of how it exaggerates the movements of the group. This included with the clear lyrics of the song suggests a story to the audience, but is fairly ambiguous about what exactly goes on within, making the audience want to listen more to the song.

Continuing on to the 2010’s, we see that music videos are being used more to convey the personality of the artist. Even with those that are DJ’s, with them having specific codes shared between all their music videos. But still a focus on using the videos to send a message within a story.

Next after this was a music video that was also sending a message, but more about the business of music making. The video is for the song “Stressed Out” by Twenty-One Pilots.

In the video, we follow the group as they ride around their childhood homes, then at a later point introducing the bands family members. The video fits more into the lyrics of the song which talk of a simpler time. The band members take part in activities we associate with younger people, but it is also mixed with the actual band playing the music. It is used to show the contrast of what you had to do when you were young and now as a person is older. It helps set the mood of the band as it shows they are a band that may not always enjoy the modern music industry, giving them a relatable tone. This is amplified by the video, as it shows the members doing things nearly everyone would have done.

The video is counted as part of the alternative genre and was seen as the newest breakthrough since 2013, which was with a specific artist. That artist being Lorde with the song “Royals” who is the next video I would be talking about. The video was said to be created to show more a piece of art and be something different from the usual we see in modern times.“The music video for me was about creating a piece of art and I wanted it to feel cinematic and like it’s something you can immerse yourself in. Having me in it didn’t feel like something that was necessary to create that world. So I’m just in it for just a little bit. I think it works well.”

It is a video showing teenagers taking part in usual activities and hobbies in slow motion.

This was shown to be effective, as the video won multiple awards. The International music video also links to two other songs from Lorde’s album. This trend of the music videos telling a story when all are put together has been around for a while, but was not coined properly until the Gorillaz used the same style for their second and, especially, their third album. This use of making the music video have an artistic approach has been a huge success in modern media, as it makes many feel that the writer and artist have a message to send, which modern audiences love to see develop or feel a part of.

Within this unit we were assigned to create a music video. We decided to do the genre reggae pop. Reggae pop artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as early as the early 1970’s; no official term had been used to describe this practice. The original music video was taken in a long shot; this made it feel like the song was happening in real time. I think the singer Bruno Mars chose to make the video like because it made the lyrics also feel as if he was singing it in present time. The music video looked very funny to watch because of the five dancing moneys in the background. This helped give us a great idea to replicate the video however; we made it more adventurous by adding different masks. The original music video made it to the top of the charts in Denmark and the United Kingdom.

Our music video, replicated the original music video featuring Bruno Mars. However, our music video featured a complete different dance moves and looks very funny. When planning we originally didn’t want to do a long shot because it meant we’d have to get the

choreography 100% accurate. Also with a large group it would be very difficult to achieve that. But we all decided that a long shot will still give that feeling that everything is happening in real time. We also decided it would make the videos look very similar to the original music video and would be easily recognised. The music video we produce shows how the type of genre has grown to become popular and now more recognised. Lastly, we chose to use the comedy side as this is how this original has been used to develop and grow in its unique way to modern day.

Overall, music videos really help grow musicians and artists to become more established worldwide. The more recent examples that have been discussed show a huge impact that music videos have adapted via the basic filming techniques. Furthermore artists want to be more creative to engage a wider number of views and record sells.