The History of Music Videos

The Exciters - Tell Him

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah-tui1ubnU

This video was first released in 1962 and is considered to be one of the oldest music videos.

The video is well presented, yet is also not suitable for a modern audience as it has many aspects that are very different to the tropes of modern music videos. These can include the way the band are dressed an the dancing that is involved within the video.

Michael Jackson Thriller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA

This video was first released in 1983 and has been voted the most influential pop music video of all time.

I particularly enjoy, about this video, the way in which this video starts in a style a modern musical audience would consider to be typical. I also find this video interesting and consider it well produced because it challenges the tropes of music videos but is also successful. I would have to agree with that it is influential and controversial also.

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

This video was first released in 1975 on the album for A Night at the Opera and can be described as one of the most diverse songs of the 20th century.

Lady Gaga Telephone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVBsypHzF3U

This video was released in 2010 and was particularly successful within Europe.

My preliminary task - complete

My short film - practise

Due to time issues I have completed my short film but it does not follow the entire screen play fully or in places at all. It now follows the below screen play better than the original.

1. The teacher drives down the road to school in a rush and parks quickly in a spare parking space.
2. A shot to the teacher at the boot of the car getting out things in a hurry.
3. The teacher rushing towards the school.
4. A shot of the teacher coming down the corridor.
5. The teacher telling a senior member of staff excuses to why he was running so late.
6. A cut to a shot of the teachers class doing nothing.
7. The teacher walks in and apoligises for being late then tries to settle the class.
8. The school bell then rings and there is a cut to the teacher in is office.
9. Another teacher mentions work that the disorganised teacher has not marked.
10. A cut to the teacher hurriedly marking a pile of work.
11. The teacher running down the corridor and then entering the class room.
12. A shot of the teacher "argh my life is so stressful".
13. Ending credits.

Typical Tropes of Music Videos

Rap

• half naked black women
• mostly black people in the video
• rappers
• sportswear
• masculine prospective
• rough/intimidating atmosphere

Dance

• bright colours
• enigma
• women in leotards
• dancing provocatively
• less aggressive
• more upbeat

Indie

• relaxed
• performance element - instruments
• a band, having fun together - a group of friends
• relatively low budget
• multiple locations
• lots of cuts

"A Hard Day's Night" and the Music Video

On Monday 4th July we spent a lesson watching The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night", a film made in 1964.

• It was shot on a fairly low budget, and used a black and white documentary style. This is still seen in many indie videos even today.
• The film was made up of a series of Beatles sang in with a vague and surreal story line.
• Within the film the band perform on stage like a 'real' performance but also in a more non-naturalistic style. This again is seen in many and nearly all music videos in todays society. Music videos such as pop and rock both follow this trope, yet rock bands generally will include more 'real' performances.
• "A Hard Day's Night" though not the first of the music films, with examples such as "Rock around the Clock" coming in 1956, stands as an earl example of synergy.
• The concert film allowed for a new level of fandom, fans were now able to see their favourite band in the medium of film as well as on radio and vinyl. Like in many modern pop videos each member was seen to develop a personality, one with which fans could connect with.
• The band is a group of young men that seem to be enjoying themselves, they are as one in a unit but also seperate in personalities. This is seen in many music videos in the modern society in which we live with many pop and rock bands.

Literal Videos

We had a lesson spent watching and discussing literal videos on youtube. These videos replace a songs lyrics with descriptions of the action happening in the video. Some examples that we watched included Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean', James Blunt's 'Beautiful' and Bonnie Tyler's 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDZP-O88skY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOlI5Qiq-9g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovEDhFfgdOo

The links for these videos are above in respective order.

These music videos, which became famous in 2008, generally do use a lot of media terminology for shots which are in the music video, things that a usual audience for the video wouldn't notice. Furthermore the lyrics focus upon the unusual and odd things that occur in the music videos. For example in Billie Jean, lyrics focus upon the cat and the lighting up of different objects such as the lamp post and pavement.

A Day in the Life of a Teacher

For my short film I am going to film a "day in the life of..." style mock documentary. The idea I have come up with is to film a day in the life of a teacher, however this will not be a usual teacher, this teacher will be very disorganised and relaxed about his responsibilities. there will also be the unexpected twist of the teacher not being revealed to be a teacher until the last shot. Below is the story board ideas:

1. A shot of a teacher getting ready for school, they will be at home at this point. There will be a close up shot of the teacher picking up and dropping a large pile of folders.
2. This shot will be of the teacher arriving in school, walking quickly down Lewis Road.
3. A close up of a clock showing the time to be about 8:45 am, showing the teacher to be running very late.
4. This will be a long shot of the teacher rushing to a classroom, there will then be a cut to the classroom with all of the students throwing paper planes etc.
5. Instead of trying to calm the class the teacher then sits at a desk. There will be a close up shot of the teachers face looking bored.
6. A dissolve will show the teacher at break sitting drinking a cup of coffee.
7. As the bell rings for the end of break, there will be a close up of the teacher scribbling notes on work.
8. A mid shot of the teacher picking up lots of sheets of paper from the floor will cut to a shot of the clock, showing them to be late again.
9. There will be a handheld shot of the teacher running along the corridor and arriving at the classroom, out of breath and looking disheveled.
10. As the teacher walks into the class it becomes obvious for the first time that they are a teacher.