HISTORY OF MUSIC VIDEOS

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was considered the first music video however in the early 1980s MTV started showing short clips described as “illustrated songs”, “filmed insert”, “promotional video” and various other names.

In 1964, The Beatles starred in their first promotional video A Hard Day’s Night. It was shot in black and white and presented as a mock documentary. This video was used as a basic template for other music videos.

A Hard Day’s Night- The Beatles

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Many “filmed inserts” were produced by UK artists so they could be screened on TV when the bands were not available to appear live. An example of this is Pink Floyd, they were pioneers in producing promotional films.

One of their “filmed inserts” is called Interstellar Overdrive. It was filmed in San Francisco, lasts 15 minutes and was directed by Anthony Stern.

Interstellar Overdrive: Part 1- Pink Floyd

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Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was written by Freddie Mercury and released in 1975. This is considered the first music video.

After the success of Bohemian Rhapsody it became regular practice for record companies to produce a promotional video for artists’ single releases.

Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen

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Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen 1975- No narrative, only performance shots- Different styles of music throughout (Cappella intro, ballad, guitar solo, opera and hard rock)- No extra performers other than the band- Used effects on the video

Da Funk- Daft Punk 1997- No performance shots- Narrative overshadows song (Seems more like a short film)- Diegetic: Sound coming from radio, other people acknowledge the radio - Volume changes depending on camera position

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Milkshake- Kelis 2003- Narrative and performance shots combined - Set in one location- Extras: Dance groups/ dance off

Bezerk- Eminem 2013- CGI- Fisheye- Narrative: clips of violence- Different locations- Green screen used

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Bohemian Rhapsody has no narrative shots, it is made up of different style of music and has had special effects added to it. It is considered the first official music video and has made a massive impact on music videos today because record companies decided to make promotional videos for artists new singles based on the success of Bohemian Rhapsody. Da Funk is the complete opposite of Bohemian Rhapsody, it has no performance shots. The music is diegetic and the other people in the video acknowledge the song coming from the radio. The sound also changes depending on the position of the camera. The video seems more like a short film than a music video because throughout the main character has conversations over the music and you can hear the sounds of the city. Milkshake is made up of performance and narrative shots combined. The location does not change as she is in a diner throughout the music video. This video is a lot more dance orientated as are most of the music videos around the decade 2003. As technology developed music videos became more advanced. An example of this is Bezerk, at the start of the music video CGI is, throughout various effects are used, fisheye effect and a green screen. This is a huge difference to the previous music videos I have mentioned because although Bohemian Rhapsody has effects they are not as advanced.

The most inspirational video out of these four is Bohemian Rhapsody because they experimented with effects and different styles of music making a huge impact on music videos.