Task 3 (Research - The Growth of Music Videos)

The following is a time-line that shows the introduction, changes and growth of music videos.

1940 - Soundies

The 'soundies' are an early form of music video. Produced in New York, Chicago and Hollywood these films were three minutes long and normally consisted of short dance sequences.

These early version music videos were shown on coin-operated jukeboxes in clubs and restaurants.

'Soundies' covered all genres of music although they were especially popular for playing a part in the spread of African-American artists who found it difficult to publicise their work on other public mediums.

Here is an example of a 'Soundies'music video;
"Zig Me Baby with a Gentle Zag (Featuring Gai Moran and Danny Hocktor"


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1961 - Ricky Nelson

During 1961, Ricky Nelson's "Travelin Man" video is shown on television. The short film made to promote the video is considered the first music video.


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1962 - New form of music video for television

In 1962 television production companies invented a new form of music television. They created programs such as "Top Of The Pops", "Ready! Steady! Go!" and "Oh, Boy".

These programs allowed artists to come on and promote themselves. The shows started as band vehicles but soon became a huge hit across the country.
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1970 - Great Opportunity

The record industry discovered that the aforementioned TV shows provided them with a great opportunity to get artists noticed. The record industry began to produce many short "Promos" which could be featured on television instead of some live performances.
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Task 2 (Research - Genre Comparative Study)

First of all, here are the two music videos that I am putting forward for comparison with regards to the six stages of analysis.

T.I - Live Your Life ft. Rihanna

Flo Rida - Sugar Ft. Wynter Gordon

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Both of the above music videos follow quite closely the conventions for Hip-Hop music videos, thus being mostly telling some sort of love story in an "american" fashion. Other conventions could be considered as the dancing styles etc. that we also witness in a lot of music videos of this kind.

These two videos approach the link between lyrics and visuals in seperate ways.

Flo Rida makes few links between the lyrics themselves and the visuals. The only like that can be made in this video is some of the shots that show the lyrics being sung. A possible link is the shots that show Flo Ride being pampered by the girl he calls "Candy".

T.I makes better links between lyrics and visuals. The parts where Rhianna is singing about being a "shining star" and having "fancy clothes" is what she is herself just getting ready to become as she is just about to go on stage and sing. There are also visuals that support the story T.I is telling about the current affairs of his life.

The next stage for analysis is the links between music and visuals.

This is something that Flo Rida has approached very well. He has used a number of shots that feature a speaker in the background that is pumping to the beat of the music. This can allow the audiece to link together the beat that they hear with the beat that they are watching visually.

Again, T.I has approached this stage in a different way in that most of his cuts are done at each bar of the song, this is normally when the next line is sung.

Promotion is something that is extensively noticeable in both of these videos. They heavily feature the main artists.

Flo Rida may find that his music video promotes him better because his video contains a higher amount of sex appeal.

This leads me nicely on to voyeurism, which obviousy Flo Rida has achieved quite well. Although there is a suitable amount of voyeurism in T.I's music video, i'm not sure if it will be enough to attract as larger audience as Flo Rida's video could.

Task 1 (Research - Initial Six Stage Analysis)

Lady Gaga - Paparazzi

This music video takes up some of the conventions for pop videos and the main one being the sex appeal of the lead singer. This comes across strongly throughout the video.

There is a clear link between lyrics and the visuals being presented to the audience. The main message being presented is the role the “paparazzi” play in the world so there are a number of insert shots of newspaper articles and there is even some camera views through a photographers camera lens.

The music also has a distinctive link to the visuals. At first there is an unusual opening to the song in that there is no music to go with the visuals to begin with, instead this silence and only dialogue allows the dialogue and visuals to be enhanced. There is also an idea that the beat of the music that starts off a rhythm if you like for some of the camera cuts.

Lady GaGa is featured throughout the music video and this helps with the main job of promoting herself and her new song. The video also helps her to create the image she wants to be perceived by the audience. There is a slight twist within this music video, in that the video is actually a story of how Lady Gaga maybe doesn't want to be promoted.

I think that the artist has deliberately used a large amount of voyeurism for the audience; her sex appeal will attract a larger audience than most moderate music videos. There is also voyeurism within the music video, where the paparazzi are smothering her with their cameras once she fell of the balcony.