Music video conventions

All music videos have the same purpose and therefore have generic forms and conventions. Andrew Goodwin has identified some key features in music videos which can be seen from the early music videos.

Len lye (1935) created one of the first music videos for ‘A Colour Box’. This music video was also used as an advert for the post office so from the beginning music videos were used to promote. In the video there are a lot of fast moving patterns that complemented the music. The movement became more upbeat with the music. This applies ones of Andrew Goodwin’s conventions ‘there is a relationship between the music and visuals’.

As time went on the music video developed further, in the 1940’s the ‘Soundies’ were introduced. These were three minute long music videos with stars such as Carolyn Gray, Liberace, Stan Kenton, Gale Storm, Kay Starr, Doris Day. In these videos they started to introduce the idea of a narrative with the visuals illustrating the lyrics. Performance shots were also introduced with the focal point on the main singer and the band in the background. By then they had started to experiment with editing, with cuts from medium shots to medium close ups etc. However editing had not yet been developed, it didn’t have flow and was static.

In the 1960’s Scopitone was introduced. They showed the idea that a woman is a prop by having them dancing in the background and sexualizing them by having close up on the women’s legs. However by this time editing had developed further in ‘Copacabana’ montage editing was used to show juxtaposing photographs. Also in the 1960’s ‘The Beatles’ released music videos again the editing techniques had developed further and The Beatles were using special effects like superimposing shots. In the 60’s music videos started to experiment with performance shots and started performing on location. By the 60’s colour film had been developed so now videos were in colour and this was another improvement made.

Many people say that the first music video was in the 70’s; Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, this was the first music video that really had an effect on the popularity of the single. The editing was a lot more sophisticated and used dissolves, split screens and superimposed shots. Lighting was used well in this video to compliment the music. By now the music video follows most of Goodwin’s key feature of a music video.

Genre Research

Garage is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in the UK in the early 90’s. UK garage was incorporated into other styles of music in the mid 2000’s particularly within hip- hop and urban music. Garage music was formed in the 90’s when house music started to evolve, UK garage was first known as speed garage.

In the beginning of UK garage DJ’s would often speed up tracks and remove the vocals to appeal to the large group of jungle fans. So with no vocals on tracks it made room for MCs who started rhyming to records. Since these times MCs have now become a vital aspect in garage music.

Popular garage artists include The Artful Dodger, So Solid Crew, Heartless Crew, DJ Luck and MC Neat, Ms. Dynamite, Shola Ama and Mis- Teeq.

The Purpose of Music Videos

Music videos started as early as the 1930’s and have continually developed over the years. There are many purposes for music videos.

- Promotes an artist’s music; by having a music video on music channels it makes more people aware of the artist and there music.

- Audience identification; music videos are visuals images and therefore the audience can Identify the artist by their image

- Represents the lyrics; often music videos tell the story of the lyrics this is often good for the audience as they can understand the meaning of the song.

- Entertainment; this is the main purpose the video is there to entertain the target audience and keep them interested in the artist.

- Advertise; on many occasions product placement is used in music videos meaning that the video is also an advert.

- Raises awareness of social issues; this can be done through both the lyrics and the visuals accompanying it.

Music Video Questionnaire

What is your age group?
14 or under 15-19 20- 24 25 or over

What is your gender?
Male Female

What is your ethnicity?
White Black Asian Mixed

Do you watch music videos?
Yes No

If Yes how often?
Everyday 1-3 times a week once a fortnight once a month

What is your favourite genre of music?
Pop Rock Hip-hop Garage Dub step Indie R&B

Who is your favourite artist?
_________________________________________

Where do you watch music videos?
Television Internet

If you watch on television what are your two favourite channels?
______________________________ + _________________________________

Do you judge an artist on their music video for particular songs?
Yes No

If Yes, what catches your attention and holds it?
_______________________________________________

Does a good music video increase your interest in an artist?
Yes No

Name your favourite music video.
_____________________________________________________________________

Questionaire Results

Questionaire results

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