Initial Music Video Research

Sasha Sloan – Music Videos

Genre of music - Indie pop

      Type of music video, e.g., performance, narrative, message, etc. (we'll do this in more depth as a class) –Narrative, showing what the lyrics are saying.
Settings and locations – Houses, bars, streets and parks. Very casual everyday places.
Costumes - Doesn't wear clothes that are to stand out and flash, stays very casual. 

      Props – Not many props.
Make-up – Very minimal and natural.
Themes and tone – A lot of her videos her filmed in low lighting places or at night to help create the sadder and moodier themes of the music.
Narratives – A lot of the narratives are quite similar, depending on lyrics the narrative symbolises that.
Choreography – No choreography.

 

Song chosen - The only – Sasha Sloan

The lyrics - meaning, use of similes and metaphors – The lyrics in the song talk about feeling alone and feeling sad about being alone. Which is very relevant and relatable to a lot of teenagers and young adults which is the target audience for this kind of music. Verse 1 is about how it is making her feel and what this feeling is doing, then verse 2 talks about a couple ways of coping, which aren’t necessarily good. The pre-chorus sounds like Sloan is trying to reach out to whoever is listening.

 
The music - genre, tone, key, shift in any of the mentioned terms – The music tends to keep a slow sort of pace and the same sort of key and tone all the way through, apart from a small rap section.

 

 

History of Music Videos

 

1. It is considered that Tony Bennet claims to have created the first music video when he was filmed walking along Serpentine in Hyde Park in 1956, which was then set to his recording of the song Stranger in Paradise.

2. In the UK one of the shows that showed bands and artists performing their songs and music was 'Top of the Pops' each show consisted of performances from some of that weeks best selling popular music records. In the USA there was a similar TV show called 'Hullabaloo' which showcased the leading pop acts of the day. With a different host each week getting a chance to perform some of their songs.

3. The song David Bowie released in 1980 was Ashes to Ashes. From looking at the lyrics mainly in the chorus I think the song is about some kind of drug addiction whereas in the video I'm not quite sure what's going on.

4. In 1981, MTV which was the first 24-hour satellite music channel launched in August. To start with only a few cable operators wanted to carry it, but it soon became a major hit.

5. In 1984 Laura Branigan released Self Control which MTV refused to play. Even though I thought there was nothing wrong with the video or song, the only reason I can think of for MTV not wanting to play it is that they thought it wasn't suitable for all of their audience.

6. In 1984 Michael Jackson released Thriller this becoming one of the most iconic music videos of all time. It was the first video about the making of a music video as well as becoming the best selling VHS to that date. It has also been said that Thriller dissolved barriers in MTV's treatment of music, revolutionised music video production, and spawned the "making of" genre of documentary.

7. In 1985, Aha released Take on me which used the rotoscoping effect in their music video. This is created by tracing live action images and then rendering them to look like actual moving sketches or drawings.

8. In 1986 Peter Gabriel released the video for Sledgehammer 

9. In 1995 Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson released Scream becoming the most expensive music video of that date. It allegedly cost over £4.4 million to make a lot of it apparently having to do with the timescale they were working with.

10. Missy Elliott's single Ching-a-ling is important to the music video timeline because it was the first ever 3D video.

11. In 2010 Lady Gaga reached 1 billion views for her her song Poker face.

12. In 2010 Professor Green released Coming to get me in collaboration with Doritos to promote their 'late night' campaign, it was a big deal because it was a 360 degree interactive music video.

13. In 2015 it was YouTube's 10 year anniversary.

14. A panoram soundie are considered to be the precursors to music videos, they were produced between the years 1940-1946. It was the trademark name of a visual jukebox that played short filmed musicals. The device consisted of a jukebox playing a closed loop 16mm film reel projected onto a glass screen. Making it kind of the beginning of music videos.

15. A big director, Hannah Lux Davis has worked with big name artists over the past years such as Ariana Grande, Anne-Marie, David Guetta and Jason Derulo. 

During lockdown in 2020 Taylor Swift surprise to the fans ended up recording and releasing two albums these being Folklore in July and then Evermore in December.

There has also been many socially impactful music videos being released that confront and show real life issues. For example in 2015 Lady Gaga released Till it happens to you which was used to raise awareness and fighting against sexual assault on college campuses, it was shortlisted for an Oscar nomination for best documentary feature. Also in 2012 Same Love was released by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, which celebrates gay culture and how he wanted to stop homophobia in the hip-hip community.