History of the Music Video (1960's to early 2000's)

In this essay, I will be examining an overview of the music video history from the 1960s to the early 2000s. I will be reviewing groundbreaking videos from each decade, the significance and decline of MTV, influential music video directors and one controversial music video.

In 1965 Bob Dylan composed "Subterranean Homesick Blues" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0) which had a video to with the song. This was groundbreaking because this was the very first music video ever produced. In 1976 a rock band called The Residents released "Third Reich 'n' Roll". This video can be considered as ground-breaking because it incorporated stop-motion animation in addition to German Expressionism aesthetics. The video also captures and conceptualises the history of rock music. 

Michael Jackson’s 1983 “Thriller” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA) remains the most popular music video of all time: a 14-minute horror spoof that changed the business. Behind the scenes it gave its star a temporary home with director John Landis, sparked a near romance with actress Ola Ray, and revealed how damaged the young pop idol already was. The most popular music video of all time is "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, which was released in 1983. This video was extremely groundbreaking as Michael Jackson's 14-minute video tells a story rather than just accompanying a song. The storyline is in the form of a horror movie, and the choreography is very complex, especially for a music video as it looked like a stage musical production.

Spike Jonze upped the ante of the badass Beastie Boys track “Sabotage” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE with the visual element of ’70s-style cop show action sequences. The combination of Jonze’s camera angles, car stunts, and chase scenes are the perfect visuals for the explosiveness of the song’s dynamics. The retro costumes, wigs and moustaches worn by The Beastie Boys as they portray various fictional characters gives the video a ridiculous humour making it even more engaging to watch. After losing in each of the five categories the video was nominated in at the 1994 MTV Music Video Awards, MCA rushed the stage in his Nathaniel Hornblower disguise from the video and interrupted Michael Stipe’s speech, protesting the fact that “Sabotage” had failed to receive any awards. 15 years later the video won the Best Video (That Should Have Won a Moonman) Award.

In 81 MTV Music Television goes on the air for the first time ever. MTV went on to revolutionize the music industry and become an influence of pop culture and entertainment in the United States and other parts of the world, including Europe, Asia and Latin America, which all have MTV-branded channels. This allowed viewers to watch music video from the comfort of their home, 24/7. This made it easy for young people hosting parties or people who take an interest in music and their videos.

MTV was declining in the early 2000s but quickly declined for a new invention called YOUTUBE. This took the world by storm as you can watch any music video at anytime. Online streaming came into play, which meant you could do the same. It also allowed unknown artists to showcase their music.

Spike Jonze -

One director is Spike Jonze who has a unique vision for music videos. Some examples of his work include Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' and Apple Home Pod Advert, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k70OczvX45k) all have great impact and influence. His work takes on different challenges and stands out from others. Jonze wanted to re-invent the music video with an underground, ironic vibe. Jonze inspired some music videos to turn into an art form.

Michel Goudry

Another director is Michel Gondry, his work is mostly conceptual, with the videos created uses effects which makes for odd visuals. Examples of his work are: Everlong by the Foo Fighters, and Kylie Minogue - 'Come Into My World'. He likes to take ideas from his dreams and experiences, and this can be seen in his music videos, because they are often a surreal vision of mundane things.

This video above by Korn - A.D.I.D.A.S. is very controversial because the police and firefighters are meant to be helping the passengers in the cars, instead of looking at porn magazines. This shows that the police and firefighters are not interested in saving people. They were more interested in other things than human life. The video shows different ethnic characters. The servicemen are saving the band's equipment and ignoring the Afro-American pimp. This shows they placed more importance on the band even though they were dead, by saving the band's assets.MTV was declining in the early 2000s but quickly declined for a new invention called YOUTUBE. This took the world by storm as you can watch any music video at any time. Online streaming came into play, which meant you could do the same. It also allowed unknown artists to showcase their music.MTV was declining in the early 2000s but quickly declined for a new invention called YOUTUBE. This took the world by storm as you can watch any music video at anytime. Online streaming came into play, which meant you could do the same. It also allowed unknown artists to showcase their music.Directors:Spike Jonze - One director is Spike Jonze who has a unique vision for music videos. Some examples of his work including Beastie Boys 'Sabotage' and Apple Home Pod Advert, all have great impact and influence. His work takes on different challenges and stands out from others. Michael Gondry -Another director is Michel Gondry, his work is mostly conceptual, with the videos created uses effects which makes for odd visuals. Examples of his work are: Everlong by the Foo Fighters.This video above by Korn - A.D.I.D.A.S. is very controversial because the police and firefighters are meant to be helping the passengers in the cars, instead of looking at porn magazines. This shows that the police and firefighters are not interested in saving people. They were more interested in other things than human life. The video shows different ethnic characters. The servicemen are saving the band's equipment and ignoring the Afro-American pimp. This shows they placed more importance on the band even though they were dead, by saving the band's assets.

References?Bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k70OczvX45k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=239vHrwt8Rs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0 [Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA [Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5rRZdiu1UE [Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k70OczvX45k [Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y [Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=239vHrwt8Rs [Accessed 21 Jan. 2020].