Music Videos Throughout the Era

Being someone who has grown up with more “up-to date” music videos, I thought it was very interesting seeing what the first kind of music videos (Scopitones) looked like. One thing I noticed that was common in almost all of the ones I saw, was the women’s clothing. It was colourful, tight, revealing and racy. A lot of skin was shown especially for that time period. In April Stevens & Nino Tempo’s “Land of 1000 Dances” young women, wearing skimpy bikini tops with white skirts and sailor hats, were dancing and jumping up and down. Half way through, they literally ripped off their skirts to reveal little bikini bottoms. Videos done by January Jones and Joi Langing were the same. The other thing was, that the females only wore high-heeled sandals. All the women had a certain look to them as well; they were pretty, young, “all dolled up” (big hair, and heavy make-up). Even in today’s society, I thought it was a bit much. The videos all had cheesy, choreographed dances, and most singers had back up dancers. The stage/background either looked as if it was set “in-studio” or with a “hot summer’s day” backdrop. I also noticed that the camera work wasn’t too creative, compared to today’s videos with smooth transitions from shot to shot, and a variety of different camera angles. I was quite impressed by the videos made by those who started this whole trend. There is a lot more equipment and technology available today. We have a more elaborate costumes, backgrounds, and camera angles. I’d say today’s videos are equal in style vs. substance. However, with the scopitones, I’m thinking style might be winning just a bit.