Technical Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

Since cinema was invented, we have had the ability to bring songs to life in the form of music videos. However, music videos were not always how they are today. Advances in technology have shaped the modern music video.

The Early Years:
Music videos have been around since the 1920s, however they were mainly just footage of the band as they played.
Many Jazz musicians such as Bessie Smith created short films to accompany their songs, however they lacked the special effects that are commonly seen in modern music videos.

Bob Dylan:
Bob Dylan created Subterranean Homesick Blues in 1965 as a segment for D.A. Pennebaker's film "Don't Look Back". This is widely credited as one of the first modern music videos.

Pop Music TV Shows:
In 1970, the record industry discovered that TV shows were a great way to promote their artists. Short 'promos' were created which acted as early music videos which began to replace the live performances of artists on TV.

Bohemian Rhapsody:
In 1975, Queen released their music video for Bohemian Rhapsody. The video was groundbreaking as it was one of the first to include digital effects, marking the beginning of the music video era, and setting the structure for modern music videos.

By the mid 1980s music videos had become a standard feature included with most songs.

Technical Codes:
Camerawork:

• As with any moving image text, how the camera is used and how images are sequenced has a significant impact on the meaning.
• The close-up shot of the singer predominates in music videos as they make the song feel more personal and attempt to make viewers fall in love with the artist.
• The introduction of portable video cameras made music videos more common.

Editing:

• The most common editing style in modern music videos is the fast-cut montage. This usually encourages multiple viewings as the viewer wants to make sure they haven't missed anything.
• However, slow paced editing may also be used to establish mood for a sad or emotional song.
• Digital effects such as split screens, colourisation and CGI can be used to enhance the viewing experience, as well as green/blue screens with chroma keying to enhance the backgrounds of music videos.