the history of music videos

The History Of Music Videos.

Sarah Byard.

Let me take you on a magic carpet ride through the thrilling history of music videos.

Oskar Fischinger.

Oh, you’re gonna love this guy!Oskar F, handsome is he, Oskar Fischingeeeer.

Oskar Fischinger, arguably, created the first music videos in the 1920s. He created visual animations which moved in time to the music. When the Nazis took power, this type of media was put down; however, he moved from Germany to Hollywood and worked for Paramount.

Optical Poem. Allegretto.

Kreise.

These were considered to be a whole new world for technology.

The Soundies – 1940s.These were an early form of music video. They were 3 minutes long musical films made mainly in Hollywood, with the last one being made in 1947. They were played on Panorams, which were coin-operated jukeboxes. They were the first live-action music videos.

Scopitones.These were what the Soundies were mostly played on. They are a kind of jukebox, but with a screen for videos. They were first made in France, but then spread across the world. Their popularity mostly faded in the 1960s, but the last film for Scopitone was made in 1978. They are mostly now in museums or are owned by private collectors.

Hard Day’s Night - 1964.This was a feature film starring the Beatles; it was a “musical fantasia” featuring (some) plot, comic sketches and musical numbers. This was ground-breaking because it brought music videos to the foreground of culture and made them very popular, as it was made during the heights of Beatlemania.

Bohemian Rhapsody - 1975.After the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, it became common practise for record companies to produce a promotional videos. This was because the video was a massive success, due to not only the success of the song but the novelty of the effects in the video. The video was apparently made so they wouldn’t have to mime it on Top of the Pops.

MAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

I DON’T WANNA DIEI SOMETIMES WISH I’D NEVER BEEN

BORN AT ALLLLLLLL

Origins.MTV was formed on August 1, 1981, and was the first real music channel. The first video to be shown was “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles (the irony of which I didn’t get until a few weeks ago). The original purpose of the channel was to show music videos 24/7 guided by VJs (video jockeys).

They wanted to use the famous “one step” quote from Neil Armstrong; however, he refused it. They were able to get this clip and manipulate it, as it is a public clip.

Effect Of MTV.

MTV was, and still is, extremely influential. When it first started out, areas that were able to get MTV saw rises in record sales of songs which were not played on the radio. This was because the audiences had seen the videos on MTV and wanted to buy the song. Nowadays, their views of issues such as censorship etc. are extremely influential on adolescents and young adults.

MTV also helped directors get more fame, as they were made to put the name of a director at the beginning of a music video.

Change For MTV (where music died).• In the early 2000s, MTV abandoned playing music

videos 24/7 in favour of airing animated programmes (eg. South Park), scripted programmes and, especially, reality programmes (eg. Teen Mom).

• The music genre shown shifted from rock to more mainstream pop, r’n’b and hip hop.

• The VMAs were introduced in 1984.• Formatted music series’ were introduced in 1986.

I HAVE SHOWN YOU THE WORLD (OF MUSIC VIDEOS), TAKEN YOU WONDER BY WONDER. TELL ME, EXAMINER, NOW WHEN DID YOU LAST LET YOUR HEART DECIDE? A WHOLE NEW WOOOOOOORLD.