Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

History of Music Videos

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back much further, they came into prominence in the 1980s, when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip".

Music videos use a wide range of styles of film making techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries, and non-narrative approaches such as abstract film. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation and live action. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the song's lyrics, while others take a more thematic approach. Other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the song's live performance.

• • 1926-1959: Talkies, soundies, and shorts. 
  • 1960-1973: Promotional clips and others
  • 1974–1980 – Beginnings of music television 
  • 1981–1991: Music videos go mainstream
  •  1992–2004: Rise of the directors

    
    

   

   

Initial Ideas

I have been thinking about different resources that are available to me and taking this into account I am stuck between making a music video or a short film. I believe there are many great ideas that I could experiment with when making a music video however I also believe I could do the same thing with a short film. 

Music Video:

• For a music video I believe I would be using one person and telling a story throughout the video.This would make my video a narrative plot which I think will hook a lot of people. The song I am thinking of using is by Birdy - Skinny Love, however this idea may change later on as I am not sure what I want to do yet, and I have just been gathering a few initial ideas. Furthermore by using this song the location would have to be somewhere in a natural environment as it would make it look more realistic compared to using green screen. 
• My second idea for a music video is using more than one person and using the song All I want by Kodaline. This song builds up throughout and it could be done as a live performance. The song is current and very modern which I think would make my music video more realistic. This could also be a narrative video as the song has great lyrics and the video would be supporting that. Additionally this would mean that it would allow me to make simplicity very creative as the lyrics are already there. 
• The third and final idea for a music video is to use the song 'Stay' by Rihanna. For this video I would do an old Hollywood video where I have one person singing the song however it is all done in black and white, which makes it look old and attractive in order to hook the audience. 

Short Film: 

• For a short film I wanted to do a horror film which lasted approximately 3-5 minutes. Horror films are usually the ones which hook the audience most as they are waiting for something scary to happen. This could be filmed at night in the dark to make it more realistic. Furthermore I have been thinking about using only one person to do this and think of a clever narrative which is very attractive and will hook the person watching. 
• My second idea for a short film is to have  a metaphoric narrative as this is usually the best idea for a film which is effective. As my film would not be very long it would need to have a beginning, middle and end which is very simplistic, however it needs to be very attractive and hook-able in order to make it look realistic.

Resource Audit

People:
I have a few different people available to me which I could use and they all have different talents. I have people who play instruments, people who are good actors and also people who are very good with modeling and have a passion for music themselves. I believe this would make my video very realistic as having people that know what they are doing makes it more attractive to watch.