Why Video?
History of music videos
Music videos are a short video which accompanies a piece of music, often a song. Modern music videos were and are commonly produced as a marketing device intended to increase the sale of the music. Between 1940 - 1946 soundies were created, these were 3 minute American musicals each containing a song, dance and/or band or orchestral number. Soundies were displayed on a machine called a Panoram, a panoram was a coin operated jukebox. Panorams would be placed in nightclubs, restaurants and amusement parks as a source of entertainment.
Believe it or not, one of the first examples of music videos comes from Disney's 1940's film Fantasia. The film is based already around music around the world's most famous pieces of classical music, for example The Pastoral Sympathy (The Sixth) By Ludwig Van Beethoven is used.
Music videos then developed further from there, in 1956 with Tony was filmed walking in Hyde Park whilst his recording of "Strangers in Paradise" played; this film was then distributed and played on UK and US television stations.
In 1960 a visual jukebox was invented in France, short films would be show with the artists songs accompanying them. This then spread across to other countries such as Italy who invented a similar machine called the Cinebox and in America with the Colour-Sonic .
MTV was launched in 1981, the first music video aired was "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles. From this first official music video the industry began to change, it soon developed into a powerful origin of pop culture and entertainment. From early to mid 1980s music videos began to develop and soon plots were added to engage the viewer more. Michael Jackson's music video for "Billie Jean" was the first to have create the concept of a short film, to allow the music video to have a beginning, middle and end. It wasn't until his realise of "Thriller" did he really change the music video game for all other artists.
MTV began through just programming music videos, it invested large sums of money so music videos could be produced at a higher quality. Not long after MTV became a TV show which would broadcast not only music videos but interviews with artists and it's own TV Shows; the tv shows which air today are aimed at teenagers and young adults.
Most music videos which air today are aimed for sex appeal, the majority of music videos contain woman wearing little clothing or acting in sexual ways, it's another way in which the music industry conceive people into purchasing music.
Music videos are a short video which accompanies a piece of music, often a song. Modern music videos were and are commonly produced as a marketing device intended to increase the sale of the music. Between 1940 - 1946 soundies were created, these were 3 minute American musicals each containing a song, dance and/or band or orchestral number. Soundies were displayed on a machine called a Panoram, a panoram was a coin operated jukebox. Panorams would be placed in nightclubs, restaurants and amusement parks as a source of entertainment.
Believe it or not, one of the first examples of music videos comes from Disney's 1940's film Fantasia. The film is based already around music around the world's most famous pieces of classical music, for example The Pastoral Sympathy (The Sixth) By Ludwig Van Beethoven is used.
Music videos then developed further from there, in 1956 with Tony was filmed walking in Hyde Park whilst his recording of "Strangers in Paradise" played; this film was then distributed and played on UK and US television stations.
In 1960 a visual jukebox was invented in France, short films would be show with the artists songs accompanying them. This then spread across to other countries such as Italy who invented a similar machine called the Cinebox and in America with the Colour-Sonic .
MTV was launched in 1981, the first music video aired was "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles. From this first official music video the industry began to change, it soon developed into a powerful origin of pop culture and entertainment. From early to mid 1980s music videos began to develop and soon plots were added to engage the viewer more. Michael Jackson's music video for "Billie Jean" was the first to have create the concept of a short film, to allow the music video to have a beginning, middle and end. It wasn't until his realise of "Thriller" did he really change the music video game for all other artists.
MTV began through just programming music videos, it invested large sums of money so music videos could be produced at a higher quality. Not long after MTV became a TV show which would broadcast not only music videos but interviews with artists and it's own TV Shows; the tv shows which air today are aimed at teenagers and young adults.
Most music videos which air today are aimed for sex appeal, the majority of music videos contain woman wearing little clothing or acting in sexual ways, it's another way in which the music industry conceive people into purchasing music.
Purpose of music videos
The main purpose for music videos is to promote and increase the sales of an artist's song, this can then lead to the increase in the sale of that artist's album/s. Music videos can give an artist a bigger audience and following, through music videos being shown on TV, social media sites and word of mouth. Often artist try to be creative when making a music video, through having a narrative which relates to the visuals or through the way they express emotion and enthusiasm within the video. There are other artists create music videos which are unique and quirky, theses are often made for the main purpose of entertainment and promotion. A key example of this is Psy - Gangnam Style, a kpop artist who, thanks to a very unique video, became a worldwide hit. In some cases music videos can be used to promote products, an example of this is Dr Dre Beats Pill (speaker) these speakers were frequently used within pop videos therefore increasing their sales.
The main purpose for music videos is to promote and increase the sales of an artist's song, this can then lead to the increase in the sale of that artist's album/s. Music videos can give an artist a bigger audience and following, through music videos being shown on TV, social media sites and word of mouth. Often artist try to be creative when making a music video, through having a narrative which relates to the visuals or through the way they express emotion and enthusiasm within the video. There are other artists create music videos which are unique and quirky, theses are often made for the main purpose of entertainment and promotion. A key example of this is Psy - Gangnam Style, a kpop artist who, thanks to a very unique video, became a worldwide hit. In some cases music videos can be used to promote products, an example of this is Dr Dre Beats Pill (speaker) these speakers were frequently used within pop videos therefore increasing their sales.
The style of "Digging Holes" by Amazarashi music video is narrative. This is clearly shown as the artist is not seen once within the video, there is also no live performance shown. The video is literally a visual representation of the message in the lyrics.
The lyrics and main theme of the song is suicide. The lyrics 'I'm digging holes. I'm digging a hole for myself to get in.' represent that to the listener. Not only this but the writing which is printed are tweets taken from people confessing their inner suicidal thoughts. If you watch the videos with the audio translation on you are able to read the different messages people have tweeted. The main narrative for the video is to spread awareness of mental health illness, to show just how many people it affects and that to those suffering they are not alone. The video ends very powerfully by using a wide shot to show that the printed tweets have spelled out 'You're not alone' which really emphasises the meaning behind the song. The videos spreads awareness of how many people mental health illnesses affect through showing clearly how many tweets there are to be printed, there also is a scene which fast cuts through the different profile photos of the printed tweets. This powerfully shows the viewer that each one of these confessions comes from a person, it gives it a sense of realism. The video itself is filmed in Aokighaha (The suicide forest). The forest is well known for it being a frequent place for people to commit suicide. This brings more meaning to the video and to the song itself. Through filming the video within the suicide forest it makes it more hard hitting. It can make people realise that each one of those confessions could be a future suicide, it brings it to life and shocks the viewer. The music video mostly uses close ups and extreme close ups, these are usually of the printers and the tweets which are being tweeted. There are times where the lyrics match the visuals, an example of this is when they lyrics 'I'm digging holes' is sang the writing being printed writes the lyrics. The colours consist of manly darker colours, dark greens, browns and navy dominate the video, dark colours fit the overall atmosphere of the video and song. As the song is quite slow paced the cuts match the pace of the song, the shots are often left a long time before cutting to the next shot. There also is a scene where the shot is in slow motion, this is the scene where the paper falls from the trees at 3.28, the use of slow motion adds to the emotion behind the song and gives the video a bigger impact. |
Click here for the English lyrics.
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Unlike the previous music video that had a narrative style, this music video is very performance based. This is clearly shown through the band being the centre of the music video.
The video is filmed in a red hue, not only does this make the video more crisp and aesthetically appealing but it also relates to the lyrics. The song itself is called Loveblood, this is repeated within the chorus of the song. Love and blood are both words which people immediately relate the colour red with, through using a red backdrop throughout the video it compliments the music to the visuals. The use of a bright red backdrop and giving the band a dangerous yet appealing look matches the genre of the song, the band is indie rock. Indie rock often have videos which use bright colours to match the atmosphere of their songs. The shots match the pace of the song, when the song is fast paced the cuts will be rapid whereas at 2:04 the song slows down and the cuts are slower, as well as this the scenes are shot in slow motion. The video focuses on the band performing, this is common for music videos featuring bands. It shows to the audience that they can play their own music and empathises that they're enthusiastic about their music. The band are wearing quite vintage clothing, this is often a popular fashion choice with indie rock bands, unlike pop bands who often wear the latest trends. It also cuts to shots of a woman and at one point there is a shot of feathers falling which relates to the lyrics, both the woman and feathers can relate to love which is the main theme of the song. |
References
. http://www.slideshare.net/ellis421465/a-brief-history-of-music-videos
. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundies
. http://www.slideshare.net/ellis421465/a-brief-history-of-music-videos
. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundies