Introduction
The subject of this dissertation is concerned with the music video as a system. The objective is to analyze the form of the music video and its containing features. In order to know how the system works, we need to know how each component work. Subsequently, we can learn how they interact with each other and empower each other to run the engine of the music video. The chief features of music videos are “the music” and “the video” — the sound and the vision. The fundamental component of music video is music. As will be discussed in the first chapter, the music video began to emerge with the necessity for a companion image. The history of the music video begins with the music itself, and the development of its final form is directly influenced by its history.
The starting point that led to the invention of the music video was the emergence of Rock ‘n’ Roll, which was concerned with popular culture and more specifically with the young generation. It influenced the cinema, television, lifestyles and fashion. Rock ‘n’ Roll was the offspring of the age of commodification — the emergence of popular music. It revolutionized the way music was produced and consumed. In a similar vein, popular music pushed its way into the film industry, and became conventional for film music. The rock soundtrack promoted the sale of both movies and soundtracks – record albums. This process soon led to “promotional films” for the songs in order to address the music market, and eventually to the emergence of MTV, a “music video” television. The question here is: why do music videos sell the music? How do music videos showcase the music well enough to persuade people to actually buy the record?
Investigating the form of the music video explores the influential aspects of this medium. The music video as an audio-visual form stimulates both the seeing and hearing senses. The auditory and visual layers of the music video carry different sets of information that can be perceived as divergent concepts. In order to make a connection between the visuals and the musical concept, video directors utilize different tools. As will be discussed in the second chapter, stories are one of the highly conventional tools in supporting the visual information. An engaging narrative prevents the viewer from being distracted, typically because the story is related to the song lyrics. Moreover, the story is a suitable place to develop the musician’s character. The other influential aspect that conveys meaning is the use of “editing”, which determines the order and duration of the imagery. Editing in music videos borrows the dynamic quality of music and manipulates the meaning of images by juxtaposition. Regarding the fact that video has to flow with the lyrical space of the music, expressiveness of imagery is the chief goal for all the visual elements. For its functions, the music video has to be an entertaining, surprising, provocative, and quick sensational experience. Because of their diverse nature, watching music videos is like dipping into very different tastes, themes and styles. As a result, the videos have always been involved with utilizing creative techniques of video making and extensive experimentation in order to offer new spaces and meanings.
Regarding the music as the inspirational resource for the video, the collaboration between the video director and the musician is an important aspect in shaping the video. In the third chapter, I will investigate how the ideas of musicians and directors connect with each other to construct a unity of concepts, and I will present examples of collaborations and inspirational relationships. Furthermore, I will discuss how directors can connect the concept of the video to other ideas and bring out new meanings.
The music video has always been accused of simply ‘selling the song’ and its value has been doubted because of its original use as an advertising tool. There are many remarkable examples of music videos that have gone further than being simply an ad, for instance the works of directors David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Michel Gondry, and many more. Music videos are like short films, but they are louder; the sonic side of them is as operative as their visual side. Thus they are highly stimulating and as a result engaging and more importantly, enjoyable.