Music Video History
A music video is a combination of imagery and a song, produced to promote the song or album involved. They were prodiminately around in the 1980s, when MTV started regularly showing them on TV. However, they still existed before these up to as early as the 1920s, known as 'illustrated songs' and 'film clips'.
1960 - 1967 - Visual Innovation
The first jukebox was invented in france in the late 50s. This encouraged various artists such as Jacques Brel and Serge Gainsbourg to use visual assetts with their songs. Memorable clips of this time were firstly, Jan & Deans "Surf City" in the summer of 1963. It was filme on location in Malibu, Southern California, and caught the 60's beach scene and vibes on camera perfectly, portraying it with a sense of reality. The big development in this period was The Animals hit in 1964 'House Of The Rising Sun", which included high quality colour appearance and the group lip synching their song.
1967 - 1973 - Promotional Clips Grow In Importance
Inside this time period, there were various artists, all of which made a massive impact on the history of music videos, simply because of their role in society at that time, and are still talked about today. For example, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and The Who are all key examples of the development of music videos at this time.
Bob Dylans "Subterranean Homesick Blues" avoided any attempts at narrative or performance elements within the video, and focussed on Dylan himself, standing in a back alley, shuffling large cue cards which appeared to have key words from the lyrics as their titles. These clips were known as "film inserts" at the time, and the main use was for the backround when artists performed these songs live.
David Bowie, who was most apparent in 1972 - 1973, created several clippings which were directed by a photographer. These were landmarks in terms of development of music videos, not least because it was the first time a photographer got involved in the idea. Mick Rock was given complete control of the clippings and in a way, this started off the idea of using photos in music videos.
The Who were inspirational in their own way, and known for the release of their film clippings in this time. Especially 'Call Me Lightening' which involved a narrative and storyline, of the band sitting in an abonded hangar, and being chased by a 'bleeding box'. This began a whole age of music videos which told a story within their songs, and accompanied the songs in order to promote their different singles.
Bob Dylans "Subterranean Homesick Blues" avoided any attempts at narrative or performance elements within the video, and focussed on Dylan himself, standing in a back alley, shuffling large cue cards which appeared to have key words from the lyrics as their titles. These clips were known as "film inserts" at the time, and the main use was for the backround when artists performed these songs live.
David Bowie, who was most apparent in 1972 - 1973, created several clippings which were directed by a photographer. These were landmarks in terms of development of music videos, not least because it was the first time a photographer got involved in the idea. Mick Rock was given complete control of the clippings and in a way, this started off the idea of using photos in music videos.
The Who were inspirational in their own way, and known for the release of their film clippings in this time. Especially 'Call Me Lightening' which involved a narrative and storyline, of the band sitting in an abonded hangar, and being chased by a 'bleeding box'. This began a whole age of music videos which told a story within their songs, and accompanied the songs in order to promote their different singles.
1974 - 1980 - Beginnings Of Music Television
One of the most known British music tv shows Top Of The Pops, began playing music videos on the TV in the late 70s. This increased the sale of the singles, as regular viewers wished to see the same again next week, and decided to buy the song in order to prepare. The BBC did however, retain strict ruling over how many videos could be aired each show. David Bowie and David Mallet both succeeded in this area, reaching a number one.
The rock British TV show, The Old Grey Whistle Test, also began airing videos weekly in the 70s. It was widely thought that performances on the show were live, however, alot of artists recorded the track prior to the performance and mimed on stage to the correct backdrop (the film insert).
The rock British TV show, The Old Grey Whistle Test, also began airing videos weekly in the 70s. It was widely thought that performances on the show were live, however, alot of artists recorded the track prior to the performance and mimed on stage to the correct backdrop (the film insert).
1981 - 1990 - Music Videos Go Mainstream
In 1981, MTV, an incredibly popular American TV show, aired 'Video killed the radiostar' which in a way started an era, as society was introduced to 24-a-hour-a day music on TV. Easy to use and cheap equipment was essential for music videos to succeed. Directors tended to choose 35mm film, and in the end the genre was created as videos became accessible to practically everyone in the music industry.
Michael Jackson song, Thriller, was also a notable landmark in this decade of videos going mainstream. The 14 minute long clip set new standards in the music video industry, having a budget of $500,000. This is probably the most recognisable point in history, to which people generally realised that music videos were going to play a major part in the future.
The release of channel 4s Chart Show in 1986 was yet again another turning point on TV, as this channel consisted of music videos only, with no presenters or other shows, and were linked together by state of the art computer graphics for this time.
Michael Jackson song, Thriller, was also a notable landmark in this decade of videos going mainstream. The 14 minute long clip set new standards in the music video industry, having a budget of $500,000. This is probably the most recognisable point in history, to which people generally realised that music videos were going to play a major part in the future.
The release of channel 4s Chart Show in 1986 was yet again another turning point on TV, as this channel consisted of music videos only, with no presenters or other shows, and were linked together by state of the art computer graphics for this time.
1992 - 2004 - Rise Of The Directors
In December 1992, MTV started referring to directors, producers and other titles of the video, encouraging the new idea of Auteurs within this industry, creating a medium. Well known directors such as Michael Gondry, Spize Jonze, Stephane Sednaoui, Mark Romanek and Hype Williams all began to have a recognisable style in terms of their creations, and the industry began getting more competetive.
Two videos by Romanek in 1995 are widely known as 2 of the 3 most expensive music videos of all time. Scream by Michael and Janet Jackson hold the record of most expensive music video, with the grand cost coming to an unbelievable $7,000,000 US dollars. Romanek also directed 'Bedtime Story' by Maddonna.
Two videos by Romanek in 1995 are widely known as 2 of the 3 most expensive music videos of all time. Scream by Michael and Janet Jackson hold the record of most expensive music video, with the grand cost coming to an unbelievable $7,000,000 US dollars. Romanek also directed 'Bedtime Story' by Maddonna.
Famous Auteurs
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is a French director, who has won various awards for his videos. He directed for A list artists such as Paul Mcartny, Kylie Minogue and The Rolling Stones. He is most well known for his inventive imagination and the manipulation of mise-en-scene.
Gondry started off as a drummer himself, in the French rockband, 'Oui Oui', and he soon began making videos to accompany their songs. He was then 'scouted' by artist Bjork, and was asked to direct her music video for 'Human Behaviour'. The partnership is assumed to be successful, as the collabaration continued, and Gondry directed a total of seven music videos for her. After this MTV hit, Gondry continued in making music videos for other well known artists, and even directed various commercials, including the most famous one for Levis 501 Jeans Drugstore, which was banned in North America due to the suggestive content involved surrounding latex condoms.
Gondry's work is known to be inspired by memories from being a child, and influenced by his somewhat questionable childhood, being brought up in the sixties. He is most known for his surreal settings and visual effects, which act as a trademark, or recurring theme in many of his videos. He struck up various partnerships with Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham, in releasing a series of DVDs, each of which had all the work each director had ever done. This improved public recognition of the directors, and they also recommended each other where necessary.
Michael Gondry Quotes: - “Childhood occupies the biggest part of your brain, so a lot of my memories subconsciously (and consciously) enter the videos I do.”
- “When people are very original, sometimes they are original as a way to resist the mainstream.”
- “It is not pretentious. It just gives you the feeling you could do it yourself.”
Gondry started off as a drummer himself, in the French rockband, 'Oui Oui', and he soon began making videos to accompany their songs. He was then 'scouted' by artist Bjork, and was asked to direct her music video for 'Human Behaviour'. The partnership is assumed to be successful, as the collabaration continued, and Gondry directed a total of seven music videos for her. After this MTV hit, Gondry continued in making music videos for other well known artists, and even directed various commercials, including the most famous one for Levis 501 Jeans Drugstore, which was banned in North America due to the suggestive content involved surrounding latex condoms.
Gondry's work is known to be inspired by memories from being a child, and influenced by his somewhat questionable childhood, being brought up in the sixties. He is most known for his surreal settings and visual effects, which act as a trademark, or recurring theme in many of his videos. He struck up various partnerships with Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham, in releasing a series of DVDs, each of which had all the work each director had ever done. This improved public recognition of the directors, and they also recommended each other where necessary.
Michael Gondry Quotes: - “Childhood occupies the biggest part of your brain, so a lot of my memories subconsciously (and consciously) enter the videos I do.”
- “When people are very original, sometimes they are original as a way to resist the mainstream.”
- “It is not pretentious. It just gives you the feeling you could do it yourself.”
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham is an English born music video director, who's best known work includes, Come To Daddy by Aphex Twin, Windowlickers by Aphex Twin and Frozen by Madonna.
Cunningham made his 'debut' to the music video industry with Aphex Twins Come To Daddy, which was in many ways revolutionary for its time. The video, released in 1997, was regularly referred to as an "Orgiastic mind-****", and with various suggestive actions involved in the video, it caused quite an uproar. This is because in this day and age, any link between sex and children is clearly going to be frowned upon. The director takes modern ideologies and stereotypes, and exaggerates them as a form of conveying to the audience how ridiculous these ideas are.
Chris Cunningham's trademark is the trichromatic photography and synchronical editing used in his video work. Looking at the videos myself, it is also easy to see a pattern in that all of his videos are dark and somewhat sinister. He also edits most of his own work, in attempt to gain the precise desired effect. Cunningham has been nominated for countless numbers of videos and continues to create amazing work with "New York Is Killing Me" by Gil Scot-Heron, in 2010.
Chris Cunningham quotes : - "All I ever do is talk about films and then not make them. As a result I thought: just shut up about it - make a film then talk about it when it's done. But it's got to be something that I'm absolutely frothing about. After three or four years tinkering with other people's material I came to the conclusion that I just had to develop my own material from scratch.
- "I love anatomy. I love the human form, I always have. That's why I got into painting and sculpting, that's why I got into doing prosthetics, that's why I got into making films about bodies. But the one thing that I hadn't been able to incorporate was sound. And that was my favorite love of all. And as soon as I started doing that in film, that was it for me.
- "We did versions of it in six different languages, to go round the world. The German version was ****ing hilarious, just really brutal. Everything sounded so aggressive and rude. The girl sounded like she was going to get out of the chair and stab you after she'd finished her monologue. [talking about his ad for Playstation, Mental Wealth]
Cunningham made his 'debut' to the music video industry with Aphex Twins Come To Daddy, which was in many ways revolutionary for its time. The video, released in 1997, was regularly referred to as an "Orgiastic mind-****", and with various suggestive actions involved in the video, it caused quite an uproar. This is because in this day and age, any link between sex and children is clearly going to be frowned upon. The director takes modern ideologies and stereotypes, and exaggerates them as a form of conveying to the audience how ridiculous these ideas are.
Chris Cunningham's trademark is the trichromatic photography and synchronical editing used in his video work. Looking at the videos myself, it is also easy to see a pattern in that all of his videos are dark and somewhat sinister. He also edits most of his own work, in attempt to gain the precise desired effect. Cunningham has been nominated for countless numbers of videos and continues to create amazing work with "New York Is Killing Me" by Gil Scot-Heron, in 2010.
Chris Cunningham quotes : - "All I ever do is talk about films and then not make them. As a result I thought: just shut up about it - make a film then talk about it when it's done. But it's got to be something that I'm absolutely frothing about. After three or four years tinkering with other people's material I came to the conclusion that I just had to develop my own material from scratch.
- "I love anatomy. I love the human form, I always have. That's why I got into painting and sculpting, that's why I got into doing prosthetics, that's why I got into making films about bodies. But the one thing that I hadn't been able to incorporate was sound. And that was my favorite love of all. And as soon as I started doing that in film, that was it for me.
- "We did versions of it in six different languages, to go round the world. The German version was ****ing hilarious, just really brutal. Everything sounded so aggressive and rude. The girl sounded like she was going to get out of the chair and stab you after she'd finished her monologue. [talking about his ad for Playstation, Mental Wealth]
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze, born in America in 1969, has worked on many world famous projects but is most well known for his input to the music video industry.
A common feature involved in his videos are their off beat approach in his visual story telling, particularly in the mix of live-action, animation and puppetry and he often casts Katherine Keener in his work. Other famous pieces include co-finding MTV's Jackass and co-producing the magazine The Dirt, along side Andy Jenkins and Mark Newman.
He started off his career in magazine and publication, before taking the route of film. He then went on to break dance to FatBoy Slim's 'Rockerfella Skank' which the artist loved, and wanted Jonze to direct more of his songs. Jonze then collected a group of dancers and filmed for the hit 'Praise You' which was a great hit, and him and his fellow dancers were invited to perform at MTV Awards in 1999. The video won Best Direction, Breakthrough and Best Choreography , to which Jonze gratefully accepted.
From 1992 to 2011, Jonze has directed over 50 music videos for A list singers such as Weezer, Daftpunk and Wax. He is a very successful music video director and his most recent work includes 'Otis' by world famous Kanye West and Jay-Z.
Spike Jonze Quotes : - "As a feature film director you got to be a guarding dog of the whole production. You got to be able to hold 100 script pages in the head at the same time. If you miss a detail it's wasted. I don't know how the music video generation can affect the movie business, but I'm curious what feature films the English Chris Cunningham and the Swedish guy Jonas Akurland are going to make."
A common feature involved in his videos are their off beat approach in his visual story telling, particularly in the mix of live-action, animation and puppetry and he often casts Katherine Keener in his work. Other famous pieces include co-finding MTV's Jackass and co-producing the magazine The Dirt, along side Andy Jenkins and Mark Newman.
He started off his career in magazine and publication, before taking the route of film. He then went on to break dance to FatBoy Slim's 'Rockerfella Skank' which the artist loved, and wanted Jonze to direct more of his songs. Jonze then collected a group of dancers and filmed for the hit 'Praise You' which was a great hit, and him and his fellow dancers were invited to perform at MTV Awards in 1999. The video won Best Direction, Breakthrough and Best Choreography , to which Jonze gratefully accepted.
From 1992 to 2011, Jonze has directed over 50 music videos for A list singers such as Weezer, Daftpunk and Wax. He is a very successful music video director and his most recent work includes 'Otis' by world famous Kanye West and Jay-Z.
Spike Jonze Quotes : - "As a feature film director you got to be a guarding dog of the whole production. You got to be able to hold 100 script pages in the head at the same time. If you miss a detail it's wasted. I don't know how the music video generation can affect the movie business, but I'm curious what feature films the English Chris Cunningham and the Swedish guy Jonas Akurland are going to make."
David Fincher
David Fincher is probably most well known for his film 'Fight Club' which he directed in 1999. However, the Auteur from Colorado in the USA also has directed various music videos for world class artists.
He started off at a couple of advert companies, and slowly worked his way up the business at several small film companies, before settling down as a famous music video and film director.
He has a lot of trademark techniques which help define him as an auteur. For example, he often has low key or tinted lighting to convey desired effects and he uses wide and low angle shots. In terms of narrative, he often contrasts the stereotypical happy ending, with downbeat finishes to his videos and often elements of suicide involved in the story. It is also widely known that he demands several takes from his actors with slightly different variations, which suggests he is a bit of a perfectionist, not a bad characteristic in this industry.
He has directed over 60 music videos alone, for incredible artists such as George Michael, Madonna and Michael Jackson, he is arguably one of the most influential director due to his trademark techniques which make him identifiable in terms of a director.
David Fincher Quotes: - "I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but somebody has to." - "Directing ain't about drawing a neat little picture and showing it to the cameraman. I didn't want to go to film school. I didn't know what the point was. The fact is, you don't know what directing is until the sun is setting and you've got to get five shots and you're only going to get two."
- "People will say, 'There are a million ways to shoot a scene,' but I don't think so. I think there're two, maybe. And the other one is wrong."
He started off at a couple of advert companies, and slowly worked his way up the business at several small film companies, before settling down as a famous music video and film director.
He has a lot of trademark techniques which help define him as an auteur. For example, he often has low key or tinted lighting to convey desired effects and he uses wide and low angle shots. In terms of narrative, he often contrasts the stereotypical happy ending, with downbeat finishes to his videos and often elements of suicide involved in the story. It is also widely known that he demands several takes from his actors with slightly different variations, which suggests he is a bit of a perfectionist, not a bad characteristic in this industry.
He has directed over 60 music videos alone, for incredible artists such as George Michael, Madonna and Michael Jackson, he is arguably one of the most influential director due to his trademark techniques which make him identifiable in terms of a director.
David Fincher Quotes: - "I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but somebody has to." - "Directing ain't about drawing a neat little picture and showing it to the cameraman. I didn't want to go to film school. I didn't know what the point was. The fact is, you don't know what directing is until the sun is setting and you've got to get five shots and you're only going to get two."
- "People will say, 'There are a million ways to shoot a scene,' but I don't think so. I think there're two, maybe. And the other one is wrong."