Wednesday 9 September 2015

Music Video Timeline

 Advances in technology have turn music videos to what they are today.

1920: Jazz musicians,such as Bessie Smith, started making short films to accompany popular songs.



 1965: Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues which was a segment for D.A Pennebaker's 'Don't Look Back' was widely credited as one of the first modern music video.


1970: Record industries discover TV shows as a great opporunity to promote artists. There was a focus on producing short 'promos', early music videos replaced live performances of the artist on the TV stage.

1975: 'Groundbreaking' video released by Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody. The video switched between performance in studio and their performance on a live stage. The clear use of special effects marked the beginning of the music video as it set the language for modern videos.


1980: Releasing a music video to accompany a new single had become a standard.

1990: A number of technical codes became common -
  • Most common form of editing associated with the music promo is fast cut montage.
  • Many images are impossible to grasp on the first viewing thus ensuring multiple viewing.
  • Split screens, colourisation are also commonly used effects.
  • Non-represenation techniques in which music artist is never shown became common.
  • Lack of edits such as long takes/steadic are also common.
  • However, genre developed music video directors increasingly turned to 35mm film as preferred medium while others mixed film and video.

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