OLIVIA EVITT
The History of the Music Video
OSKAR FISCHINGER (1900)
Renound for creating abstract musical animation before the world of technology introduced computer graphics and music videos, Fischinger was a German-American filmmaker, painter, and abstract animator.
His career entailed making over 50 short films, and painting over 800 canvases; some of which are now in museums and galleries worldwide. He also created special effects for Fritz Lang's first sci-fi movie, Woman In The Moon (1929).
THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)
Produced by Warner Bros, this American Musical Film was the first feature-length motion picture with synchronised dialogue sequences.
It sent the silent film era in to decline, and was responsible for the beginning of the "talkies" era (sound film).
Producer, Darryl F. Zanuck won the Special Academy Award for producing the film. The Jazz Singer was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Engineering Effects.
1900
1927
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964)
Directed by Richard Lester, A Hard Day's Night is a British Comedy Film that follows the lives of British rock sensation; The Beatles.
The film proved to be hugely successful both financially and critically. Time Magazine rated it as one of the all-time great 100 films, and was described as "an enormous commercial success".
It's influence proved significant as British critic Leslie Halliwell stated "...it led directly to all the kaleidoscopic swinging London spy thrillers and comedies of the later sixties..."
1967
PENNY LANE (1967)
The video for Penny Lane was known as a "promotional film" at the time, however nowadays is known as a music video. It was one of the first examples, alongside "Strawberry Fields Forever" and responsible for the start of the evolution of music videos.
The film was shot in and around Angel Lane in London's East End, as a result of the Beatles being reluctant to travel to Liverpool at this time. Strawberry Fields Forever was shot in the same location.
Penny Lane was selected by New Yorks Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) to be one of the most influential promotional music films of the late 1960's. It is believed that the creation of the film is what led to today's music videos.
SUMMER HOLIDAY (1963)
Producer Kenneth Harper alongside director, Peter Yates, created this Technicolor Musical Film in 1963. Starring singer Cliff Richard, the film follows a group of friends on their journey to Athens, Greece; in which they meet with fellow lead actor - Lauri Peters.
The film features 16 song and musical numbers, all of which were dubbed by session vocalist Grazina Frame due to assumptions that Lauri Peters did not have a strong enough voice. Frame had completed similar work in Cliff Richard's earlier film The Young Ones.
1963
As a result of the film, many singles reached Number One in the British Charts during early 1963. These included "Summer Holiday", "Foot Tapper", "Bachelor Boy" and "The Next Time".
JAILHOUSE ROCK (1957)
Starring the King of Rock; Elvis Presley, alongside Judd Tyler & Mickey Shaughnessy, this American musical film drama was released in 1957.
The film follows a young man (played by Elvis) who discovers his musical talent whilst facing a prison sentence for manslaughter. After his release from jail, his musical career begins.
Jailhouse Rock peaked at number 3 on the Variety box office chart, and reached number 14 in the years box office totals, grossing $14 million. In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
1957
1940
SOUNDIES (1940)
Produced in 1940 through to 1946, Soundies were three minute American musical 16mm films. They each contained a song, dance and/or a band and orchestral number.
The name 'Soundies' came from the Soundies Distributing Corporation of America, of whom you could rent completed films off within a few weeks of producing.
1940
PANORAM (1940)
Panoram is the name for a coin-operated jukebox that would display Soundies (music accompanied by a synched film image, nowadays known as music videos).
Panorams were situated in nightclubs, bars, restaurants, factory lounges, cafe's, and amusement centers.
The panoram was priced at more than $10,000, and showed films starring some of the greatest musical stars of this period including Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie.
1964
THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN (1964)
1964
The House of the Rising Sun was recorded by British rock band, The Animals in 1964. It was descrive as the first folk-rock hit.
The song tells of life gone wrong in New Orleans, and was a number one hit in the UK singles chart at the time of its release, alongside Canada, Australia, and US.
The total length of this single totalled four and half minutes, which was regarded to be far too long for a pop song at this time. However producer Mickie Most declared "Everything was in the right place... It only took 15 minutes to make...", therefore the song was released at full length and reissued as a single twice - charting on both occasions.
1975
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (1975)
Freddie Mercury, lead singer of the hugely successful British rock band Queen, wrote the six minute long masterpiece that is Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975. It held originality through consisting of several sections and no chorus (an intro, a ballad section, and operatic passage, a hard rock part, and a reflective coda).
The promotional video for this ballad included a wide variety of special effects and camera techniques. It took only 4 hours to film, and all the special effects were obtainted during recording opposed to editing them in. The video has been hailed for launching the MTV age.
It was suggested to Queen that the song would never be a hit due to being 6 minutes long. However it became the UK Christmas Number One in 1975 and held the top spot for 9 weeks. It was the first ever UK song to get number one twice with the same version, and is the only single to have been Christmas Number One twice. It was also a phenomenal success in the US, and certified gold for it's staggering number of sales.
1979
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR (1979)
This song was originally written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes, and Bruce Woolley in 1977 and later recorded by and English new wave band; The Buggles (Horn & Downes were both members.
The music video, written, directed, and edited by Russell Mulcahy, and is well remembered for the first music video shown on MTV at 12;01am on August 1st 1981.
The song was a commercial success, reaching number one on 16 different national charts. It was also certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for UK sales of 500,000.
1980
ASHES TO ASHES (1980)
Ashes to Ashes was a song released by the hugely successful British artist, David Bowie, in August 1980. It was Bowie's fastest selling single up to that point in time.
Despite it's musical qualities, Ashes to Ashes is noted for it's innovative music video, which at the time became the most expensive music video ever made, and remains one of the most expensive of all time, costing £250,000.
The video was very complex, it used solarized colours alongside stark black and white and scenes were shot in various locations. The video was so iconic and expensive that it is known to be one of the most significant in the evolution of music videos.
1982
THE WALL (1982)
The Wall, a concept album released in 1982, was the eleventh studio album released by British rock band Pink Floyd.
It explores themes of abandonment and personal isolation through following life of the character, Pink.
The Wall is noted for it's widely explored themes, and remains one of the best selling albums of all time in the US, selling over 19 milion copies worldwide between 1979 and 1990. Although it recieved mixed audience feedback, it's impact was big; Melody Maker quoted "i'm not sure if it's brilliant or terrible, but I find it utterly compelling".
1983
THRILLER (1983)
Voted as the most influential pop video of all time, this 13 minute long video was directed by John Landis to accompany the hugely successful Michael Jackson hit.
It was MTV's first world premiere video, and is the only music video to ever be selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
The 13 minute long masterpiece picked up 2 Grammy's and 4 MTV awards from 1984 through to 1999. It was named "a watershed moment for the music industry".
EMBRACING THE POWER OF THE MUSIC VIDEO (1981-1991)
1981-91
MTV was responsible for music videos turning mainstream after it's airing of Video Killed the Radio Star in 1981. From then onwards, it began the era of 24-hour-a-day music. By the mid 80's, the music video played a central role in popular music marketing and all genres were embracing it.
1983 brought us the release of the hugely sucessful Thriller.
Towards the end of the decade, television introduced channels for specific genres such as "Yo! MTV Raps" which allowed hip hop music target a mass audience for the first time. CMT (Country Music Television) was also launched.
1992
RISE OF THE DIRECTORS (1992)
In 1992 MTV started listing directors with the artist and song credits, proving the medium with legitimacy and credibility. Directors such as Chris Cunningham, Hype Williams and Floria Sigismondi all bought their own unique style to music videos.
1995
SCREAM (1995)
The video for Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson's hit, Scream, stands to be the most expensive music video ever made, with the production costing $7,000,000.
2012
MOST VIEWED YOUTUBE VIDEO (2012)
In July 2012, Korean Singer Psy's worldwide hit Gangnam Style was uploaded to YouTube and stands to be the most viewed YouTube video. Overtaking hugely successful artists such as Adele, Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber, Psy's single has had a massive 2590 million views (as of June 2016).