APPLYING ‘CHRISTIAN
METZ’ (LANGUAGE & CINEMA - 1974)
MODEL OF GENRE DEVELOPMENT TO ‘MUSIC VIDEOS’
[ANSWER
THE QUESTIONS BELOW ON A WORD DOCUMENT, ADD IMAGES AND HAND IN FOR ASSESSMENT]
MUSIC VIDEOS:
(1)
THE EXPERIMENTAL: Visser/Musicals/Beatles/Queen
(2)
THE CLASSIC: Thriller/Beat it/Duran Duran (Early 80’s/MTV)
(3)
THE PARODY: Weird Al Jankovic: Eat it/Amish Paradise
(4)
THE DECONSTRUCTION: Robert Palmer: Addicted to love/Shania Twain: Man I feel like a woman
EXPLANATION OF 4 PHASE
(1)
By EXPERIMENTAL we mean the phase of
filmmaking which explored and experimented with how to film a band or artist whilst they are performing
A.
First recording of a
person singing to camera
World's
First Music Video - Gus Visser and his Singing Duck (1925) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQ6v_nYPMs
Q:
Analyse how the clip has been framed? What is the context is of the clip? What
is happening in the clip?
Gus
Visser and his Singing Duck 1925 was the first performance music video. This
clip uses a single camera set up and uses a continuous still medium shot with
him and his duck on a theatre stage. He was an unconventional singer as he was
a comedic singer who performed in theatres his short musical film. In the clip Visser
is singing the song "Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me" while holding a duck
and every time the word "Ma" is said, the duck quacks each time sounding
as if she is saying "Ma".
B.
Musical Films: Gentlemen
prefer Blondes/Diamonds are a girl’s best friend
Musical films were
another important precursor to music video, "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). The
performance is filmed mostly in a long shot with pans left and right and
tracking towards the artist – mostly a long take, no or little cuts.
C.
A Hard Day’s Night
(1964) Directed By Richard Lester
Q: What camera
angles, shots, movement & position, are still used today from the ‘Hard Day’s
Night’ Performance music videos?
A
Hard Day’s Night by the Beatles used multiple cameras, takes and shots to
create this music video. Lester started to create codes and conventions for
music videos. Lester used medium shots of the singers, establishing shots of
the stage, two shots of the band members joking around together, close ups of
lead singer’s face and of them playing the instrument. Lester uses cutaway of
instruments being played by using a close up of the instrument being played and
then tilts to the singer’s face. Lester films certain members of the band
separately then zooms out to the whole band.
Richard
Lester helped formalise and establish the codes and conventions of how to film
a band;
1 Close
ups of lead singer
C Cutaways
of instruments being played,
3 Filming
band together and separately,
4 Cutting
to the beat of the song, on the beat transitions/cuts
5 Filming
a live performance with multiple cameras.
(2)
By CLASSIC we
mean the phase of music videos which established the conventions in its most
successful & defining period (The 1980’s)
A.
Michael Jackson: Beat It/Thriller
B.
The Buggles: Video killed the
Radio Star (1st August 1981 – First ever MTV broadcast)
Q: Discuss what the
appeal was of MTV in the 1980’s? Analyse in relation to Thriller/Video killed
the radio star
(Think in terms of pop culture at
that time, TV as a medium, importance to record sale etc.)
MTV
was upcoming TV show in early 80’s which showed music videos of predominately
for rock but changed to focus on popular music. MTV increased record sales for
where the channel was available. Originally none of Michael Jackson’s music
videos appeared on MTV due to allegations of racism until CBS records started
putting pressure on the company. Then Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” appeared on
MTV in 1983 due to its success in the charts and they established a working
relationship. Michael Jackson’s Thriller was a short film music video which had
a storyline/narrative behind the song. Music on TV was a new concept in the
80’s as they had radio to listen to music. MTV offered a new medium to listen
to music by playing music 24 hours, 7 days a week and the first music video
played was “Video killed the Radio star” which is very ironic. "Video
Killed the Radio Star" was a huge commercial success, reaching number one
on 16 different national charts. The music video is best known as marking the
debut of MTV, when the US channel started broadcasting at 12:01 AM on 1 August
1981.
(3)
By PARODY we mean videos that have mimicked famous music videos
in some comical way
A. Weird
Al Jankovic: Eat it (Parody of Beat it)/Amish Paradise (Coolio/Gangster
Paradise)
(4)
By DECONSTRUCTION we mean videos which have taken the generic elements
of another music video and amalgamated them into something else (homage)
One
of the best-known examples of DECONSTRUTION
is Madonna's 1985 video for "Material Girl" (directed by Mary
Lambert) which was closely modelled on Jack Cole's staging of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best
Friend" from the film Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes.
Q: Discuss what elements of the Marilyn Monroe musical scene are
borrowed by Madonna? Think in terms of the Similarities of Mise en scene: location,
setting, costumes, props, body language etc.
Madonna’s Material Girl copies a lot of Marilyn Monroe’s
iconography from "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". Madonna copies
the blonde, wavy hair with a pink dress. The colour pink represents love,
affection and compassion. In “Material Girl” the men in suits carrying love
hearts like Marilyn Monroe’s "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend".
Also
Robert Palmers: Addicted to Love was deconstructed by Shania Twain’s: Man I
feel like a woman
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