A2 Portfolio : October 2014

During lesson we looked at various successful and unsuccessful music videos from previous students, and commented on the reasons that made these videos unsuccessful or succesful throught the use of codes and conventions.

Unsuccessful videos

Video Number	Reasons why it was unsuccessful	Grade
1	Bad framing, the transitions did not flow, the lighting was too dark was not able to see part of the video, out of focus, lack of continuity.	E
2	Bad use of framing (cut off parts of the characters body) green screen was not used correctly, bad performance (no emotion), same scene throughout no change of location, in terms of mise en scene it did not match the genre, unnecessary quote in the middle of the video, lip sync was off, the video was overall rushed and not planned out.	E
3	Filmed in one location, the narrative does not develop, no costume change, shots where too long, fast editing – the editing was to the beat, overuse of certain special effects.	D

Successful videos

Video Number	Reasons why it was successful	Grade
1	Easy narrative, continuity editing, a variety of props and locations used, a running theme used throughout (fire special effect), a variety of cinematography- camera movements and angles, lip syncing used correctly and effectively.	A*
2	Repetitive, the storyline reached a climax, black and white theme used throughout, variety of locations and costumes, abstract editing, clear of mood and genre, good performance skills.	High A
3	Variety of shots, lip sync used, edits on the same spot, 100% performance given, costume change that matched the song’s lyrics.	Low A

History of the Music Video

In the mid 1950’s the earliest music videos and promos were produced, a music video is short video or film that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. Modern music videos are primarily made as a marketing device to promote the sale of the record or intended to get the artist recognised. Music videos are often called promotional videos ‘promos’ this is due to the fact they are promotional devices. With the early music video they were termed as short form music videos to distinguish them from full length movies. The earliest music videos or music promos were filmed in the mid 1950’s however, before then, as early as the 1920’s films by animation such as Oskar Fischinger were accompanied by musical scores labelled ‘visual music’.

An Optical Poem (1938) Classic Short Film

The short film 'An Opitcal Poem’ is by the celebrated German-born abstract film maker Oskar Fischinger.

During the 1950’s and 60’s, certain artists began to put visual elements with their music. The key way for artists to do this was to feature in short feature films. These films could be viewed at the cinema which showed popular artists playing themselves or characters in documentary style or narrative films. Specific artists which were featured in these style of films where Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard and The Beatles.

The Beatles - (1964) - A Hard Days Night (Trailer)

It is to believe that The Beatles promotional video ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ has had a lasting impact on modern day music videos. ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ was filmed in a documentary style, featuring the members of The Beatles each playing themselves. The plot of the film includes The Beatles the world's most famous rock and roll band—traveling from their home town of Liverpool to London to perform in a television broadcast. Along the way they must rescue Paul's unconventional grandfather from various misadventures and drummer Ringo goes missing just before the crucial concert.

This was The Beatles first promotional film; it was filmed in black and white because of the time in which it was made. For people to view the film they had to attend the cinema, as the television was not popular in this era. The audience for these feature films varied from all ages ranges therefore when constructing this film they had to be conscious of what to include as it was advertising the artist equally to the song.

From The Beatles success with ‘A hard day’s night’ came three other Beatlemania films that followed, Help! in 1965, Magical Mystery Tour in 1967 and Yellow Submarine in 1968.

The Beatles - (1967 - Magical Mystery Tour

After The Beatles success with previous promotional films, they had become extremely popular after appearing on several TV shows in America, this increased their fan base. Due to their increased popularity they no longer had to create full length films to promote their new music, instead they featured in short promotional films. For example The Magical Mystery Tour (The film was to be unscripted: various "ordinary" people were to travel on a 1964 Bedford VAL coach and have unspecified "magical" adventures. The Magical Mystery Tour film was made and included six new Beatles songs) was produced for television instead of cinema; this short film was only an hour long. The Magical Mystery Tour was screened on BBC prime time TV on Boxing Day 1967, due to new advances in technology the film was shot in colour. However even though televisions were increasingly popular in households they were not in colour. Therefore the special effects that were created were not as effective because the film was not shown in colour, and was savaged by critics. The Beatles initially had the idea to use the film to promote ideas against the establishment, the proliferation of hardware like TV and radio now meant artists could use these platforms to reach mass audiences and express their ideas. Modern day conventional features of music videos were now becoming apparent in these short feature films, for example montage editing, certain types of shot (mid-shots and close-ups) and shots of bands playing.

Cliff Richard - Summer Holiday (1965)

Similarly to The Beatles, Cliff Richard starred in a promotional film for his music. Cliff Richard’s promotional film was ‘Summer Holiday’; this promotional film is a 60’s musical, based on 4 London mechanics that strike up a deal with London Transport. They do up a double decker London Bus, drive it around Europe as a hotel and if they make it they will own and be in charge of a whole fleet. Throughout the film Cliff encounters several problems that give the film narrative.

For the audience to view the film they would have had to go to the cinema, the song ‘Summer Holiday’ which is the main feature of the film that promotes Cliff’s music, is part of the narrative and is happy and easy to listen to. Therefore the song and film can be related to all ages and this is a promotional way to draw a wide audience in. With links to music videos, this promotional film includes many conventions that are seen in music videos today. For example lip syncing, editing to the beat and visual imagery that represents the lyrics. Examples of visual iconography that help the audience understand the indication of the narrative are signs on the road that say ‘Paris’ and people wearing stripped shirts and berets. This indicates to the audience that they are in France; however the use of these easily accessible props may indicate that the film was made on a low budget.

Development of the modern music video

The Beatles - Hello, Goodbye (1967)

The Beatles video to ‘Hello, Goodbye’ was a separate video and not part of a promotional film. The video contains a great amount of conventions more than what we expect to see in music videos today, however overall this video is very poor. At the beginning of the video the curtains open in black and white and then turns to colour, this indicates to the audience the start of a show and makes them feel they are about to watch a live performance. The video as a whole is largely based on performance and has no real narrative allowing the focus to be more on the song and the lyrics. Throughout the video as I have mentioned they use a wide variety of conventions, for example they use several different camera shots but are not executed well. For example in a medium close up shot the framing is not precise and the top of one of the band members heads is chopped off. Also the shots are too long. In terms of mise en scene, The Beatles are wearing exaggerated outfits, which is not usually the way in which The Beatles are viewed, this is indicating to the audience we are saying ‘Hello’ to the new Beatles.

Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back - (1976)

Bob Dylan’s – ‘Don’t Look Back’- Directed by Pennebaker. Following Dylan’s 1965 UK tour he released the video in a documentary style; this video is to be considered the first modern music video even though it follows a documentary/film style. The beginning of the video starts off with Bob Dylan standing in the right hand side of the frame holding cue cards that place in the centre of the frame. On the cue cards are selected words and phrases from the lyrics of ‘Subterranean Homesick Blue’. There are intentional misspellings and puns throughout the clip: for instance, when the song's lyrics say "eleven dollar bills" the poster says "20 dollar bills". It is argued that this was the first time in which a song had been put with moving image which wasn’t part of the narrative in a promotional film. Even though it is considered to be the first music video it does not follow key conventions that we see in modern day videos, as it uses one continuous shot and only one single performer.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody - (1975)

Originally when the song was relesead it had no success in the charts, however Queen made a video for the song and aired it Top of the Pops. The reason the video was made and shown on the popular British music show was because, the song was to complex to perfrom live and more accurately, be mimed live on TOTP. The video turned out to be a masterstroke, providing far more promotional punch than a one-off live appearance. Top Of The Pops ran it for months, helping keep the song atop the charts. This started a trend in the UK of making videos for songs to air in place of live performances.The video was very innovative. It was the first where the visual images took precedence over the song.

Timeline of music videos

Micheal Jackson - Thriller (1983)

Madonna - Vogue - (1990)

Weezer - Buddy Holly - (1994)

The Impact of MTV

On this day in 1981, MTV: Music Television goes on the air for the first time ever, with the words (spoken by one of MTV’s creators, John Lack): “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll.” The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to air on the new cable television channel, which initially was available only to households in parts of New Jersey. MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influential source of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels.
In MTV’s early days, its programming consisted of basic music videos that were introduced by VJs (video jockeys) and provided for free by record companies. As the record industry recognized MTV’s value as a promotional vehicle, money was invested in making creative, cutting-edge videos. Some directors, including Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Three Kings) and Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), worked on music videos before segueing into feature films. In the 1980s, MTV was instrumental in promoting the careers of performers such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince and Duran Duran, whose videos played in heavy rotation.

A2 Portfolio

Friday 3 October 2014

Textual Analysis - MAGIC! - Rude

Textual Analysis - Katy Perry - This is how we do

Textual Analysis - Olly Murs

Wednesday 1 October 2014

History of my chosen Genre

Lyric Analysis - Mood Board

What makes a good product - Further Analysis

What makes a good product - artist study

Lesson write up - Successful/Unsuccessul videos

History of the Music Video