Task 1 - Purpose of a Music Video . .

Purpose of Research . .
Before making my Music video it is incredibly important to do research. Research is important to anyone making a media product. The reason for this is because before making a product , especially a media product, it is important to understand, understand how the product is made, your target audience and be able to answer questions effectively.
There is two main types of research you can do, the first is . . .

Secondary research . .
This is the easier of the two as this is information someone else has gathered and put together, it's second hand. The best places to find this type of research is on the internet and in books, although you have to be careful when collecting this information as some could be incorrect. The best secondary research you can find is usually from a mix of sources.

Primary Research . . .
This is the more time consuming of the two as it is a collection of data you have collected yourself and been carried out by you also. The best way to go about carrying out this information is my using questionaries, group feedback sessions and other things such as interviews. Primary research does involve a lot of preparation but is good as it is the post reliable form of research as you created it.

Before creating my music video I am going to do research into music video background and other various music videos.


The very beginning of a visual clip being put with a music track started in France in the late 1950s, the machine that put the two together was called the Scopitone, it was described as a visual jukebox. The machine played short films made by french artists to accompany their songs. The machine quickly spread across Europe and the USA and with it the idea of adding images and film to music/songs. Something that helped propel the development of the music video was the feature film 'A Hard Day's Night' from the early 60's, the movie was based around a musical fantasy land and shot in a mock-momentary style. The film contended musical sequences, this were innovative and influential as they were later used for Promo clip and were also the model for later music videos. These 'Film Inserts' were distributed and shown in many other countries, especially USA, so that the band wouldn't have to make in person appearances to promo them and the movie. By the time The Beatles finished touring in 1966 there work had become more sophisticated including there promotional clips and film inserts.
Promotion is a big part of what a music videos are all about because of the fact that they can go places the band cant and it means the band don't have to make in person appearances. Plus the videos let the audience see what the band are like, or at least what they portraying themselves to be, making the audience feel as they have a connection to the band/artist and are more likely to be fans.
By now the importance of having a promotional clip to go with you single was growing in importance and other bands that took on The Beatles style of promotional clips were 'The Who' who featured in several promotional clips from 1965, The Rolling Stones also appeared in many promotional clips that when with some of their singles. A lot of these bands videos where purposely rough looking and a little rocking roll, but one band that made their clips a little more dynamic was The Doors who had a background in film-making as the lead singer and keyboard player had been studying film at UCLA. The clip for their debut single was full of atmospheric lighting, camera work and editing. Their 1968 anti-war single was also a little different, it combined specially filmed footage of the band, including a fake execution by firing squad. it was also full of inter cutting of graphic images and film of the bloodshed and madness that was the Vietnam War.
This is another example of what a music video can be used for, protest. Not only can the promotional clips and videos be used to show the band but also to show there views, manly on politics. This can create for the audience great respect for the band, again strengthening their 'connection'.
Music television came to the United Kingdom in the late 70's when the popular TV show, Top of the Pops, began playing bands/artist music videos were as normally they would only have live artists on the show. Despite the fact the BBC put strict limits and rules on the number of 'outsourced' videos Top of the Pops could use, if the music video was good the song's sales would increased as viewers hoped to see it on the show the next week. In fact David Bowie can credit director David Mallet with helping Bowie to achieve his first UK number one in nearly a decade and Mallet directed an eye-catching promo to accompany his single 'Ashes to Ashes'.
But when the idea of Music television really took off was when the channel MTV was launched in the U.S. The channel airing "Video Killed the Radio star", it was the beginning an era of 24-hour-a-day music on television with this new outlet for videos the popularity of music videos grew to the point where they began the central part of the music business.
The music video has kept up with today's technology and transferred its self to computers and Internet as well, although it wasn't till the launch of YouTube that the idea of watching a video online was common place. Music videos had had a slow and steady increased in popularity by managing to keep up with trends and technology's, keeping them in the public eye.