History of the music video.

Music videos have changed dramatically with time, with software developing it has made a lot of oppurtunities for artists where they can experiment with music videos as opposed to before when music videos would be considered straight forward performance videos in contrast to today's music videos where narratives and concept based videos have become extremely popular to both artists and audiences.

The late 1970's

In the late 1970's british music artists would make an appearance on the hit show 'Top Of The Pops' this show could be considered a stepping stone for music videos as it helped artists establish themselves in the music industry, the artists would appear on the show and perform their song which would obviously be broadcasted on television. This show also featured popular current tracks which made it essential that artists were on that show if they wanted to make their song a success as it would be recognised to a big audience alongside other big artists in the industry. Before the late 1970's the only music video that was really made was performance based of the artist or performer on the song, the music video was usually just live footage of the live concert where the artists were performing this was sometimes a good thing as it helped the target audience see how good the artist was live as the music video was them performing live. Music videos in this time period however still included the same shot types that they do now such as long shots, close-up's and mid shots too.

Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the first music videos to step away from the performance based music videos that every music video to date had conformed too, they produced a music video that was different which is a big factor in it being so successful however due to all of the editing of the music video being done on a videotape its evident how far software and technology has come in the quality overall. Although performance based videos were still popular amongst artists, some artists did begin to create different music videos with a concept base, the majority of these music videos were both successful and popular probably because of how different they was it was something fresh for the audience and ingtriguing as it was still considered new. Videos who began to brand out and differ from performance based videos such as Queen- Bohemian Rhapsody effected massively to music videos, as other artists began to experiment with music videos which interested the audience who were used to plain performance based videos this may have been the reason why certain videos became more successful and profitable as it was an oppurtunity to experiment and even have an advantage on other artists.

1980's- 1991.

Top Of The Pops was a big contributor to the music industry as music videos went on to become just as popular the song and artist whereas before the audience was only interested in the song and artist, music videos were also a chance for the artists to distinguish between themselves and highlight their genre and even develop more of a personality than before. MTV is a extremely successful US network that was created in 1981 and is still around today, it began to air music videos by Madonna which simultaneously made music videos a neccessity, the music videos were becoming more unique as the artist devloped a personality that was now avaliable for the target audience, music videos were also popular because it gave the target audience the chance to be more involved with the artist theywere interested in, it helped build a connection as they felt the artist was producing a music video specifically for them. Music videos soon became vital to market an artist and as music videos were still current and new this was good because a lof of publicity came with the videos and how they interested the audience. Despite this being the making of music videos they're still no where nearly as advanced as they are today with the videos that are produced will all kind of effects and edited work, music videos were helpful as they really got across an image for the artist depending on how they wanted to be portrayed to the music video. An example of this would be Kylie Minogue and Madonna while Madonna was portrayed as a sex symbol that appealed to men with her rebellious image and fiesty attitude, Kylie Minogue was the opposite as the was displayed as a sweet girl who was aimed at the whole family as she could be considered more of a role model as opposed to Madonna who pushed boundaries with her videos. A more current example of this in the music industry today could be Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, while Taylor Swift creates family friendly music and has a good girl role model image that makes her fanbase wider as parents approve of her, her music videos are usually narrative but all very similar as she doesnt push boundaries or risk the image shes created for a fanbase. Differing from Taylor Swift is Miley Cyrus, however Miley Cyrus is a diverse artist as she was previously considered a good girl role model too before changing her image this was a risky decision as it could have meant parents werent as fond of her however it was easily done as Miley Cyrus was a teenager at the time, rebellion was something other teenagers could relate too as well as this it made her more interesting to the target audience as it was unexpected, Miley Cyrus' image could be considered quite fiesty and a sex symbol too which is where she opposes Taylor Swift who is more sweet than sexy with her image.

Higher quality coloured cameras were easier to access by artists as recording studios began to invest in this equipment, despite these being considered revolutionary equipment in this time period today the work that would be produced on them compared to the software avaliable would be mediocre. One of the most famous music videos to date was Michael Jackson -Thriller which was actually shot in this time era, this is surpising considered how successful the music video is on the budget equipment that was avaliable, the Thriller music video was released in 1983 and cost a staggering $500,000 to film with it being nearly 14 minutes long too it was the most intriguing video to be released, the narrative was actually obvious to the target audience in the music video that was easy to follow for the target audience while other music videos were slightly more difficult to follow. It could be said that this was the making of the lyrics matching the visuals and despite this music video being risky with a such high budget it is still one of the most successful music videos ever made.  This music video really set standards for other music videos to try and reach with its high quality and easy narrative.

1992-2004

Before technology became more advanced it was basically impossible for artists to record themselves and try and establish themselves, creating a track of a reasonably high standard without a producer or director was difficult and to hire a recording studio for long enough to produce some high quality work was so expensive that most artists couldn't manage to find the money. the late 90's and early 2000 years was actually when directors became more familar to the music industry, they slowly got recognised more and more for the work they was producing which is were the credits in music videos happened with the directors being credited on the videos they made, this really helped connect the music industry and the target audience. Slowly technology started being produced a reasonable affordable price for artists to start creating music videos, as well as this aspiring music directors starting applying their skills to artists starting out in the industry for a cheap price than allowed the produced work to be to a good enough level to approach record labels with more of a chance as artists were able to showcase their work and what they were able to do.

Hype Williams is the most obvious example of a director who established himself through this method and is not extremely succesful and has become recognised in the music industry, Hype Williams worked alongside Ke$ha on 'We R Who We Are', TLC 'No Scubz' and 2Pac 'California Love' which are just examples in how this music director is succesful through having to work for it and establish himself in the industry, directors like this are the reason we apply some techniques to music videos today such as concept based videos some people are suggested however some diagreee.

2005- present.

Music Videos are vital when a artist produces a song in more recent years, this is because the music videos artist produce help build a connection with the target audience and a relationship between the lyrics making them overall more personal. The media is also a reason for this as publicity creates a certain image for artists that the target audience will go on to buy in too through interest in their personal life and who the artist actually is, in more recent years the target audience has become interested in the artist not just the work they're releasing, because of this a music video is what makes the work more popular as the audience wants to see the artist. Some of the most viewed artists on YouTube include Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, who's videos are uploaded to their youtube channel also owned by the certified business Vevo, this is a free way for the audience to access the music videos, many artists can now actually establish themselves thanks to Youtube a way where anyone can upload a music video and get noticed. Music videos before being released sometimes release trailers because it creates suspense as to what the music video may include. The target audiences usually follow certain artists and are intrigued by the music video,an example of this couldbe Justin Bieber - beauty and a beat, to build publicity for when the song was released Justin Bieber pretended his camera was stolen the the footage was leaked when really it was just his new song because of this stunt his video reached a record breaking amount of views in one day through the anticipation in the target audience.  In recent years the music video's are now created with top of the range technology which enables the artist to create diverse music video and also get across the image they want through music videos. It also helps build recognition of the artist especially when the include the conventions that apply to their music genre and make it obvious what genre music they create music for.

Justin Bieber realeased a short trailer of his song Boyfriend before releasing the official song music video to promote it and create suspense, because most of his fanbase is teenage girls they were anticipating the full release of music video after seeing the trailer which ensured the Youtune Hits weren't dissapointing to Justin Bieber.

Through looking into the history of music videos and how they've changed over time its enabled me to understand how the music videos have been created along with how the technology as changed which as helped to create music videos of a higher standard. It's also helped me to consider how my music video will look for example if we created just a performance based music video it could look old fashioned or data even as this type of music video if from a certain genre. Its also helped me understand how music videos are vital and what images can be creates in a music video of the artist, for example you can create what image you like through a music video. Music videos will always change or develop overtime partly because equipment that actually creates the music video is improving as well as experience and ideas with time.

Diversity of music videos.

In the post i will explain what the divesrity in music video means, the advanatages and disadvantages of creating a diverse music video as well as this i will also give some examples of artists who have previously used in music videos and then going on to explain if we plan to create a diverse music video.

 

A diverse music video is basically a music video that unconventional and doesn't include the common stereotypes associated to the music genre the artist produces music within, an example of a diverse music video firstly could be Window Licker - Aphex Twin. The music video is diverse for many reasons, one of the more noticeable reasons could be that the artist is not present throughout the whole music video, this is a risky decision as it makes it difficult to build a relationship between the artist and the target audience making them less familar and harder to again build a fan base. The music video is concept based and is actually based on society which is a odd thing to base a music video on especially for this music genre as its nothing something the target audience would be familiar too and may even confuse people as to what genre music it is based entirely on the image of the song, the music video goes against the majority of Goodinws Theories and makes it difficult to build recognition for the artist without including him in the music video.

Another diverse music video is Madonna- Frozen who is an artist of the hip hop genre however Frozen differs from any music she has made before, Hip hop usually about creating a fun atmosphere and positivity whereas in the music video Madonna is wearing black throughout in a remote location which is another difference from the usually exotic location. The happiness and positivity that is usually evident throughout hip hop music videos is replaced by colours and an atmopshere that connotes negativity, the artist connotes loneliness and isolation in the music video which isn't common for a hip hop music video.

 

One disadvantage to diverse music videos to is that they're considered boring by many people as well as this they also can leave the viewers confused which isn't good after creating a music video usually to get across a specific purpose or message, by confusing the viewers it could potentially have a negative effect on the artist reputation and damage it by confusing the fanbase or target audience it would be hard to build a connection if they didnt understand the video. By ruining the artist reputation is may contribute to the video not neccessarily being successful which is another disadvantage, lastly diverse music videos usually only appeal to a smaller niche market which is a big factor to being considered when creating a diverse music video as it could waste time and money by risking the artists already fanbase for a niche audience and risking the fanbase already built.

Diverse music videos also have their advantages including the fact that it could reach out and increase the artists fanbase by creating a music video that appeals to somebody it would usually, it could also highlightt the artist in another light as opposed to always producing extremely similar music. A diverse music video will also draw attention to the music video which could potentially become free publicity with the song basically promoting itself, it could also increase recognition of the artist and increase the success of the song and be a big contributing factor in the artist rising in both fame and the music industry.

 

After looking into music videos i decided that certain examples could work and work to the artists advantage however this seems to be rare and a risky decision that isn't always worthwhile, the risks seem to outweigh the beneficial factors. If a diverse music video is create right it has the potential to be extremely successful and considerably cheaper if the diversity is too an extreme level where it attracts free publicity despite taking these factors into consideration overall i think diverse music videos are risky and aren't worth the risk especially until the artist is well established in the industry. We wont be creating a diverse music video as it would limit us as a group with what conventions we could apply and may even result in being both boring and difficult for people to understand, as well as this it may have been even harder for our group to decide on what to apply to our music video, the typical conventions of a dance music video are fun and positive which is something we wanted to display in our music video as a group therefore we wont be creating a diverse music video.

Photoshoot.

A photoshoot was vital when creating our music video, this is for many reasons, it helps establish the artist with an image building a relationship between the target audience who will hopefully grow to becom a fanbase for the artist and the artist themselves. When an artist produces music within a certain genre its always good to apply conventions that apply to their music genre and carry off the right image promoting them correctly. It may be slightly misleading if a pop artist such as Justin Bieber used an image of him in dark clothing and makeup in a dark gloomy setting because this is the stereotypes of music in the heavy metal genre, because when purchasing a album or buying into an artist and what they produce, the  image that is created of the artist is the deciding factor as opposed to the title and song list which will still pay a part but could potentially leave the target audience dissapointed with their purchase.

A photoshoot creates a certain image, this needs to be carefully considered as it needs to be something the target audience and fans can connect to as that's who the work produced is aimed at rather than the work, this is because if the music produced and the artist image differ to much it may leave everyone dissapointed. The artist image shouldn't dramatically change, especially over a short period of time this is because the fans will have built a relationship with a certain image and by changing the artists image dramatically it could damage both their reputation and fanbase. Creating the right image for the artist is especially important if the artist isn't already established in the music industry as the image you create will be introducing the artist therefore it needs to be something likeable that makes people want to listen to their work, to establish yourself as a serious artist in a certain genre you also need to apply the conventions of that music genre to your music video because changing your image may make you seem unprofessional and it will help make you more familiar to a certain audience and in the industry too.

Risk Assessment.

As a group we created a risk assessment which was extremely important as a risk assessment basically allows us to all consider potential risks when filming our music video, you have to consider a variety of thigns that you might not usually think of and despite certain potential risks being extremely unlikely, its neccessary to think of everything as overall it will benefit the group and work we produce. If we dont consider all the potential risks someone within the group or relevant/vital to our music video could hurt themselves in some way which is ovbiously not idea for them to be hurt but as well as this it will again be evident in the work we produce as it may delay our filming schedule meaning we rush for example.

By creating a risk assessment we can try to prevent risks from happening or even have alternatives incase they do happen which is unlikely, its important we take the risk assessment with us as it will allow us to refer back to it for each shot and what risks we think could apply to it, meaning we're less likely to forget and can avoid potentially dangerous situations.
 

Filming Schedule.

It was vital that we created a filming schedule for our media group to follow as it helped us create the music video more so than before, it brought the storyboard we'd designed to life as we'd only drawn shots up and what was in them before this whereas we in the filming schedule we went on to add dates and times we were going to film as well as props neccessary etc. This also made it easier to plan our video and how we was going to create it because it became easier to understand not only what shots we had to get when filming but what we had to include and what we was getting across to the audience, for example in one of our shots we considered including geeky glasses to get across to the target audience a certain image, the filming schedule would've meant we'd noted down that the glasses were a key prop making us less likely to forget.

Overall a filming schedule is also important as it would help the group stick to deadlines, we created the filming schedule to maximise the standard of the music video we're going to produce so as a group we also decided that if we follow the schedule we should be able to produce a music video to the best of our ability. The filming schedule will help us to plan each shot in more detail and will hopefully prevent us from forgetting anything important to a shot and the video.