Hound dog - Elvis Presley (1956)
This isn't a music video as such as it is more of a performance video with just Elvis Presley performing the song the whole way through. It is just black and white and there is no use of colour. The video is trying to sexualise Elvis with his dancing throughout. The camera mainly focuses on Elvis with no changes of camera angles or cuts although there is the occasional cut to close ups of the guitar player.
Great balls of fire - Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
Similarly to 'hound dog' this video is also purely performance with no use of colour. However there are more cuts to close ups and long shots used in this between the different members of the band, but these are always slow cuts. The cutting speed does speed up with the lyrics "mine, mine, mine" which adds effect and fits in with the music.
Tutti Frutti - Little Richard (1955)
Again this video has no narrative and is just performance based. It has an introduction to the song at the beginning before the song begins. The video begins with a long shot with the singer performing in the background, the dancers in the foreground and an audience at the side. The dancing and the reactions from the audience make the music seem fun and enjoyable to listen and dance to. There is then a cut to a closer shot of the singer with the band in the background showing they are also enjoying themselves. There are the different slow cuts throughout the video to different camera angles of the audience shown clapping and having a good time, the dancers who seem to be enjoying themselves and the singer who is entertaining everybody. Again, the whole video is in black and white.
1960's
Hard days night - Beatles (1964)
This video is from the film 'hard days night.' At the beginning there are the use of titles on the screen with the name of the song. In this music video the bands characters and personalities are shown more through narrative. A big crowd of people are shown chasing the Beatles wanting to see them which shows they are a well known, popular band. There is the use of comedy throughout with people falling over and the crowd running past the band while they are on the phone. There are many different cuts to different scenes, settings and mise en scene which keep the music video interesting and help to explain the narrative of the video. The cuts also show the crowd are chasing the band everywhere. There are close ups of members of the bands' faces juxtaposed with close ups of the crowds faces to show their reaction when they get a glimpse of the band. The crowd are all female and we come across a few male throughout the video who don't seem to be bothered about the band while the female are chasing them, this sexualises the band.
Be my baby - The Ronettes (1963)
This video just contains performance and is entirely in black and white. There are cuts from long shots of the 3 singers to close ups of their faces as they are performing. There is a crowd in the background shown to be enjoying the music and we can hear cheering from them throughout the video. There are also dancers behind the singers who add to the entertainment of the video. Different camera angles are used to show the singers and dancers. The singers also dance which could possibly show them in a sexual manner and make them appeal to men.
Good vibrations - The Beach Boys (1966)
This music video begins with a fade in with an angled camera shot of the band performing the song. There are cuts to different close ups of members of the bands and instruments from different angles. It is entirely in black and white with just performance shots. The camera zooming in on the band is an effect used. As the song slows down there is a cut to a close up of a girl smiling as she hears and sees the band, this could make the band appeal to women. There are then cuts between the band performing and the girl watching.
1970's
Space Oddity - David Bowie (1972)
This video begins with the special effect of a blue squiggly line which cuts to the singer, this line then keeps appearing through the video. Colours are now used with special effects to make them more vivid. There are cuts to different camera angles of the singer with the camera occasioanly zooming in. Strange camera angles are used and the camera sometimes wobbles to make the music video seem slightly strange, along with the vivid colours, which may be the appeal to the audience of the band and the song. The video is quite simple with just the use of the singer and no extra people but the special effects make it more interesting for the audience so they want to carry on watching and listeing. They will also help the audience to remember the song.
It's only rock and roll - Rolling Stones (1974)
This video contains no narrative with just the band performing, The mise en scene used, the bouncy castle and the sailor outfits make the video seem a but strange but this may add to the fun of the video and appeal to the audience of this type of music. There are cuts between long shots of the whole band and close ups of separate members of the band. They are shown danicng which may also add to the fun and humour of the video as they band are shown having a good time while they are performing. The bouncy castle begins filling up with foam towards the end of the video which adds to the strangeness but also the humour as the drummer seems to be drowning in the film. Mainly white is used with some blue aswell and there are no special effects.
London Calling - The Clash (1979)
This music video uses colour but these seem to be dull and faded. At the beginning there are cuts between the close ups of peoples feet tapping to the music and long shots of the band performing the song). Different camera angles are used to show the band performing, it is raining which shows the band are enjjoying themselves and don't care but just want to carry on performing. The mise en scene used of the band performing on a river fits in with the lyrics "i live by the river" there is a cut to this when these lyrics are sung and at different points throughout the video.
1980's
Run DMC and Aerosmith - Walk This Way 1986
This music video begins instantly with music and narrative, the camera shots explain the narrative by panning across the two rooms showing the wall in between them to insinuate they are separate physically. We then see the two contrasting groups dressed differently and the speech infers one side is not happy with the other. The high angle wide shot allows the audience to see in one shot the contrast between the two groups which is also contributed to by the variations in lighting and props. The music video has begun with music and the song plays quietly in the background as the guitars play over it seemingly practicing their instruments instead of going straight into the song which has become a typical feature. The narrative at the beginning of the piece shows how music videos have become more like short films. Before the singing starts there are a series of close up shots on both groups which again exaggerate the differences and also highlight the contrasting genres - rock and hip hop. When the vocals begin we see close up shots on Aerosmith's face which is typical of a rock music video as the expression is usually exaggerated, we see wider shots on the side of Run DMC which is also common of hip hop music videos where we see more people in the shot and movement towards the camera. This feature is again shown when Aerosmith break through the wall and there is a high angle close up shot of his face singing which cuts to a low angle wider shot of the two men on the other side stood with their arms folded. This video also uses the feature seen in earlier decades of using performance in the video, this has been consistently replicated in music videos but, as shown in this video, is not used for the duration of the video.
The Police - Every Breath You Take 1983
The video begins with a high angle shot zooming into an ash tray with a smoking cigarette which then fades into a drum. The video begins and remains in black and white a typical feature of videos from earlier decades when colour wasn't used. There are numerous shots of the instruments as the camera begins zoomed in and zooms and pans out to another instrument. The black background with the members of the band dressed blandly makes the video seem quite understated and bland, this however plays to the feel of the song which is morbid and also draws attention to the playing of and the instruments. Fading is used to bring the other band members into shots so they are all playing together, a mirror reflection is also used in this way. The video uses fading, lighting and shadows to create a specific feel on the audience, the fading works well with the rhythm of the song and instruments are faded in when heard. When the tempo and dynamics of the song increase there is more editing with zooming in and out of a piano and numerous instruments faded into shot. There is only small inclusion of narrative as we see a man cleaning a window in much brighter lighting than the performance. This video reflects earlier music video trends such as the video being plainly on the performance and little narrative which had now become a popular feature.
Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 1983
This video uses a popular feature of modern videos by using contrasting music at the beginning to the actual song that is being promoted. We see a woman in a kitchen doing typical womanly tasks with a quick cut as soon as the music begins to a girl running round bright streets in colourful dress moving frantically unlike the character we first saw who was sat in a dull kitchen, this links to the name of the song as the second character is young and representing the title. Like the Run DMC video this video uses contrasting sides to emphasise a narrative, we see the daughter talking to her mother and their clothing shows the contrast in characters. The mother is linked with close up shots where as the daughter has wider shots as she moves round the house possibly suggesting the mother is more confined. We see a use of special effects as the daughter rings her friends and they all come into one shot from editing. We see more special effects when the girls are dancing and the shot goes into a bubble with other colourful bubbles on the screen, this would seem very outdated in a video in 2013 but fits with this music video with the mise-en-scene. There is consistent use of close up shots when it is just girls probably to show clearly their expressions and jewellery but wider shots when men are involved to show the contrast more clearly.
1990's
Similar to the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun video, this video begins with sound that is not the actual song that is being promoted. This video however uses the diagetic noise of a tapping foot, tapping pen, ticking clock and finally school bell before the song begins. This is used to promote the narrative of the video as in this time we can see the girl is at school bored and with the low to high angle shot we can see she is a school girl. This video contrasts with songs in later years as it has the feature of consistency, throughout this video all the shots are of Britney Spears in her school uniform and in the school which altered in later years as there would be lots more outfit changes and lots of different settings. This video uses two outfits and two settings which is used to express the contrast in the character and help the narrative. This video includes the now common trends of lots of shots in sync with the music including various types of shots and angle with a repeated pattern which includes close up shots of the artist singing with wide shots of dancing. It is obvious how popular dancing in music videos became in this decade as this video is nearly completely dancing with the artist at the front and numerous backing dancers. The sexualized singer uses mise-en-scene and narrative to attract the audience of young boys and girls, Britney doesn't seem too sexualized that she is intimidating to girls but still enough to keep boys interested.
This video shows how much music videos became short films as this video by Eminem is practically all narrative and the story that goes on in the music video is what brought attention and popularity to both music video and song. The wide shot zooming into the television allows the audience to see the setting of the video but then see the artist in the television presenting "The Slim Shady Show" this introduces the narrative with the artist and almost instantly suggests it is a parody. Eminem uses the video to portray the message and meaning of his lyrics to the audience. The between the fat man stuffing his face watching his song with his wife and the various characters Eminem takes on in the television express a strong narrative. There are various wide and on angle shots to include both the viewers of the television and Eminem on the television in shot with sometimes just shots of the couple and then close ups on the television. The video is consistently about humour and humouring his own lyrics referring them back to a situation, there are numerous performance shots included in this video probably to keep it as a music video and not too much of a short film. There are many low angle shots which is common in this genre of video with the artist knelt and making gestures towards the camera. The use of special effects and bright lighting makes the video seem modern and professional which contrasts with the content bringing the desired parody effect.
2000's
Beyoncé - Single Ladies (2008)
Beyoncé's video brings into play old and new trends and features of music videos. The use of black and white consistently throughout the video incorporates trends from early decades where colour was not used but is not used for the feel of the song like The Police did as the song is fast paced. The video also uses features such as just the three girls dancing which is a typical feature of the first music videos and ones in the next decade where the artist performing was the only thing included. The music video shows how just simply performance shots can be effective as this video was extremely popular and voted in the Top 10 00's music videos on Billboard. The use of black and white and little special effects with only the changing of background colour makes the video effective as it is so different to what is popular in this decade. There is a range of shots used in the video where the camera pans around the girls from a high angle and zooms in and out but the camera for the majority remains at one level and at a medium shot, this allows the audience to concentrate on the dancing but for the video to be sexualized with the camera movement as the girls bodies with little clothing is exaggerated.
2010's
This video is simple but effective as it uses a simple narrative with quite advanced special effects. The narrative is a simple concept of one character singing to another which is reflected in the lyrics. The bright lighting makes the setting visible and the expressions of the characters are clear. The main part of the video is the use of video tape to draw and spell out certain parts of the song, special effects are used in music videos but not as bluntly as this and in earlier decades where this would be the main focus of the video. Although Bruno Mars is singing in the video I wouldn't label it a performance video as although sometimes he is playing the piano this is just variation and the main part of the video is the concept and narrative expressed through the special effects.
This music video is a boybands first song and so sticks to the typical conventions of a breakthrough video. The video shows a lot of the band wearing white and this is a typical convention of boyband videos such as Five. The video shows the bands doing a lot of typical teenage things such as driving cars and playing on the beach which can be associated with care free teenagers and lets them appeal to a wide audience and seem young and fresh to the market. The lighting is consistently bright to show the band as lively and the outfits have some consistency between the band but also has individual styles which makes the band seem together but also have their own character. The setting of the beach and scenes on the road make the band seem to be doing desirable fun things that teenage girls and boys would enjoy.
This video subverts the typical pop music video and this is probably because the artist is Ed Sheeran. Ed Sheeran came to fame after a struggle with busking and didn't take the usual route of a talent show like the X Factor. This means Ed Sheeran although probably very steered by management has kept a lot of his original style. His videos rarely show him and instead rely heavily on narrative. In this particular video the narrative is very fictional and we see a typically attractive young woman who is meant to be cupid showed by blatent wings and the dress that is white. Instead of advertising his wealth Ed uses dimmed lighting and a range of characters, props and mise-en-scene to narrate a story that he thinks relates to the lyrics of his songs and instead his video is a short story.
Contrasts
Same song: TLC Waterfalls 1990s & Stooshe 2010s
2012
The TLC video contrasts with the Stooshe video in numerous ways. It is obvious which decades these videos are from as the TLC video shows very exaggerated and obvious special effects such as the women coming out of the water and strong emphasis on close up shots of the band members singing and gesturing on water and with very strong costumes and make up. The music stops to allow a narrative in the TLC video which splits the video up, this adheres with modern videos where the videos are dominated by narrative but these are juxtaposed with the music instead of separated. The TLC video does have features which would not be misplaced in 2010 music videos as the quality is above average and shows a vast movement since 1960's. The Stooshe video shows typical features of earlier decades as the band are stood performing on a podium and then also share that of later decades as there is a lot of dancing. Both videos share the quality of appealing to the working class Stooshe uses graffiti and stays away from expensive sets whereas TLC uses narrative of crime. It is interesting how the Stooshe video uses less special effects and relies heavily on bright lighting, bright clothing and the use of paint to promote and appeal to the girlband stereotype when technology is so much more advanced than the time of the TLC video.
Same artist: Madonna Vogue
Hung up
Analysing one artist over a period of time shows how music videos have changed. Although the songs vary slightly in tempo the songs share some similar features. The medium and close up shots of the artist remain constant in the video in an almost pattern which is juxtaposed with shots of dancers and narrative. The dancing controls both videos and is a significant feature, the differences appear most in the outfits as in the video where the artist is younger the clothing is a lot different to that of the most recent video. This may suggest that now music videos are controlled by the sexualisation of the artist as Madonna wears little clothing and dances provocatively in the recent video but in the earlier video exudes her sexuality with dance moves and cuts to her looking more womanly and singing. The variety in shots is wider in the more recent video as this uses more narrative. The colours are brighter in the second video and there is more make up, less clothes and more narrative. 
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