Madonna paid tribute to Marilyn in Material Girl

Initially just a promotional device, the music video soon became art in its own right. It’s the perfect genre to illustrate this season’s punk trend as seen at Dolce & Gabbana.

So, music videos started with TV right? Wrong. Early Thirties’ cartoons often featured popular musicians performing their songs on camera in live-action segments. And from the Thirties to the Fifties, classic Hollywood musicals became music videos in themselves. Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was one of the most popular and in turn influenced Madonna’s 1995 Material Girl video.

Interessante. What else have you got? Elvis, of course was fusing music and film during the Fifties and Sixties, and over here, The Beatles filmed promotional colour clips for Paperback Writer/Rain.

So when did music videos become mini-movies? That was The Beatles again. In 1967, the promo clips for Penny Lane borrowed art house film techniques, including slow motion and colour filtering. Slowly, the humble music video became more concept-led. In the Seventies, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd all made music videos that were artistic expressions.

Who upped the game? Bowie, as always. John, I’m Only Dancing and The Jean Genie both came with mini-videos. And Queen made a video for Bohemian Rhapsody to be shown on Top Of The Pops. Michael Jackson’s theatrical videos such as Thriller also enthralled.

And what about MTV? It launched in 1981, and Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star was the first video played.

How pivotal was it for music? It was a real driving force in what became popular, and in picking up on emerging genres. It was when the big boy directors got involved – including Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze – and MTV started putting film-type credits on music videos that videos became integral to an artist’s success. The music video had finally become art. Now, it is considered to be so important it can inform film.

Really? Yes. Anton Corbijn directed videos for U2, Depeche Mode and Nirvana, all of which informed his incredible film debut, Control, about New Order.

What now? We have YouTube and anyone can make a video. Bands can upload their work straight to this platform and see it go viral.

Watch: Michael Jackson’s Thriller – zombies, echoing laughter, gravestones – terrifying. Runaway by Kanye West, a swan woman explores the perils of modern life in this experimental music video.

Art-House Erotica

Autumn/winter 2013 trends in film