100 greatest music videos 19-1

19. Madonna 'Material girl' 1985

18. Beyonce 'Crazy in love' 2003

17. Blur 'Coffee and TV' 1999

About a milk carton which tries to find the person shown as missing on it.

16. Outkast 'Hey ya' 2003

15. R.E.M 'Everybody Hurts' 1993

14. Christina Aguilera'Dirrty' 2002

13. Pink Floyd 'Another Brick in the wall' 1979

Based on one of the member's experiences at school

12. Michael and Janet Jackson 'Scream' 1995

Most expensive music video ever made at $7 million

11. Coldplay 'The scientist' 2003

10. Nivarna 'Smells like Tenn spirt' 1991

9. Madonna 'Vouge' 1990

8. The Verve 'Bittersweet Symphony' 1997

7. Michael Jackson 'Billie Jean' 1983

6. Robbie Williams 'Rock DJ' 2000

5. Madonna 'Like a Prayer' 1989

Very controversial video as many thought it was blasphemous

4. Queen 'Bohemian Rhapsody' 1975

Was shot in 3 and a half houses in a warehouse.

3. A-Ha 'Take on me' 1985

When the song was first released, without a video, it did very badly on the charts and just disappeared. When re-released with the video, it got to number one and sold millions of copies.

2. Peter Gabriel 'Sledgehammer' 1986

Used stop motion animation

1. Michael Jackson 'Thriller' 1983

The video was banned on prime time Tv as it was considered 'Too scary'. It cost $700,000 to make it.

Preliminary Task - How we made it and what we learnt

For our preliminary task we had to film two people singing, and then edit the footage to make the people lip sync with the song, like we will have to do for our music videos. It also helps us to understand how to edit the footage, as it was different from how we have edited before.

We had to get two people to lip sync to 'Don't go breaking my heart' by Elton John. We then filmed both the people singing together, and then separately, each time in one take.

By filming the whole take in one go, when it comes to editing it, rather than trying to match the footage and song to make them lip sync several times, we can just line up all the footage and music at the same time. We can then cut between the different takes as we want on the different layers.

When editing our AS coursework thriller opening, we just used one line and edited it along this. This time, we have all the different layers lip synced on top of each other, can can just change between each take as we wish.

Getting permission for the song

After looking for songs on sites such as unsigned.com, I have found a song that I wish to use.

The song ans the artist's page can be found here:

http://www.unsigned.com/000sarahbird

I chose the song 'Under the sky'

Now I have found the song, I need to get permission to use it. To do this, I will email the artist. Unfortunately, there was no contact information on Sarah's unsigned.com page, so using Google I searched for her name. By doing this, I found out that since she had joined a band called Sugabeat, who's site I found. Here I found an email address, and so tried to contact her via this email.

100 greatest music videos 39-20

39. Pulp 'Common People' 1995

Based on the story of the lead meeting this girl who wanted to be like the 'common people'

38. Fatboy slim 'Weapon of choice' 2001

Stared the Hollywood actor Christopher Walken dancing, and flying, around a hotel.

37. Guns 'N' Roses 'November Rain' 1992

Over the top and expensive, it cost $1.5 million. Based around a wedding

36. Red hot chilli peppers 'Give it away now' 1991

35. Sinead O'Connor 'Nothing compares 2u' 1990

The video is mostly close ups of her face with some footage of her walking round Paris. The close-ups force you to look her in the face. Half way through when singing the 'All the flowers that you planted mama in the back yard, all died when you went away' she starts to cry of her own accord due to the emotion and the loss of her own mother. Her crying in the video added value to the song.

34. The White Stripes 'Fell in love with a girl' 2002

Made completely of animated lego in 5 colours, white, black, yellow, blue and red.

33. U2 'Sweetest thing' 1998

Filmed in one take, going along a road in Dublin. Only a few edits made as first attempts of getting an elephant into the shot didn't go according to plan. The video is about a man apologising to his partner, and was made after Bono forgot to get his wife anything for their anniversary, hence the story in the song about saying sorry.

32. Chris Isak 'Wicked Game' 1989

31. Eminem 'Stan' 2000

Tells the story of an over obsessive Eminem fan. The video is post modern.

30. Weezer 'Buddy Holly' 1995

29. Electric six 'Gay bar' 2003

It was controversial video, and was banned in America as it featured a man dressed as Abraham Lincoln being gay. Abraham Lincoln was chosen to be portrayed as people believed he may of been a 'closet' homosexual.

28. Foo Fighters 'Learn to Fly' 1999

27. David Bowie 'Ashes to Ashes' 1980

Abstract video, no one knows why it featured the different settings, props, costumes and characters that it did.

26. TLC 'Waterfalls' 1995

25. Madness 'Baggy Trousers' 1980

24. Radiohead 'No Surprises' 1998

The whole video is a close up of the singer's head in a glass jar that fills up with water.

23. Britney Spears 'Baby one more time' 1999

This song was very controversial due to the outfit she wore in the video, a schoolgirl's uniform.

22. Justin Timberlake 'Cry me a river' 2002

It is said to be based on his break up with Britney Spears

21. Queen 'I want to break free' 1984

Shows the band in drag, doing house work. The video lost many American fans

20. Grolliaz 'Clint Eastwood' 2001

Case Study: Jamie Thraves

Jamie Thraves is a usic video director.

He made short films at university, and used them as 'calling cards' to get himself a 'foot in the door' with the video production company Factory Films.

He began by filming 3 low budget music videos, each cost around £5,000 each.

Radiohead 'Just'

Jamie Thraves directed the music video for Radiohead's 'Just' with a budget of £100,000 in 3 days. The video shows the band playing in a block of flats, while the rest of it is based on the other side of the road on the ground. A man just decides to lay on the floor, and won't say why. After gathering a large group of people wanting to know why he is lying there, he tells them. However, while the speech is subtitled, when the man says why he is lying on the floor the subtitles are taken away. No one knows what the man says, and what he does say has been the subject of many debates and discussions.

Coldplay 'The scientist'

Coldplay's 'The scientist' music video had a budget of £200,000 and was also shot in 3 days. The video shows a man, Chris Martin, go 'back to the start' as the songs says. The video itself was filmed going forward, and later reversed. However, in order for the lip syncing to work when the video was reversed, Chris Martin had to learn how to sing the song backwards so when it was finished, the video was going back but his singing was going 'forward'.

100 Greatest pop videos 59-40

59. ABBA 'Knowing me knowing you' 1977

Simple video, just close ups of the members from different angles

58. The Cure 'Close to me' 1985

The video was filmed in a cupboard, reflecting the lyrics of the song

57. Meatloaf 'I'd do anything for love (But not that)' 1993

Over the top, based on the story of Beauty and the Beast

56. Eminem 'Without me' 2002

55. Fatboy slim 'Praise you' 1999

Filmed with hidden cameras outside of a cinema. Those with the cameras were posing as tourists, and so the public didn't realise it was a music video, just a dance group performing.

54. Daft Punk 'Around the world' 1997

53. Wham 'Club Tropicana' 1983

52. Massive attack 'Teardrop' 1998

51. Run DMC & Aerosmith 'Walk this way' 1986

50. Paul Simon 'Call me Al' 1986

49. Jamiroquai 'Virtual Insanity' 1996

The video seems to show the floor moving, taking furniture and the artist with it.

48. Johnny Cash 'Hurt' 1995

Made when he was very old, it has old footage cut in giving the impression he is looking back at his life. He also looks old and weak, also suggesting he knew he was going to die soon.

47. The Prodigy 'Fire Starter' 1996

46. Adam Ant 'Prince Charming' 1981

Based on the story of Cinderella

45. Aerosmith 'Crazy' 1994

44. Kylie Monouge 'Can't get you out of my head' 2001

43. Dire Straits 'Money for nothing' 1985

42. Bjork 'It's oh so quiet' 1995

Based on the old fashioned Hollywood musicals where everyone into the street burts into to song and dance

41. Spice Girls 'Wannabe' 1996

The whole video was shot in one go in one shot with no edits. It showed each member and their personality, except for 'Posh spice' who was hardly show possibly due to a lack of talent.

40. Missy Elliot 'Get ur freak on' 2001

Finding the right music

In order to create my music video, I first need to pick what music I will use. I have to pick music from an unsigned artist. To do this, I will look for music on sites such as http://www.unsigned.com/

I have to use unsigned music to avoid any possible copyright issues. This then makes it nearly impossible to get permission from a famous artist, and so unsigned music will be the best option.

I will mainly be looking at pop and rock music, as this is the music genres I prefer, and so Will make the video more enjoyable to make as I am more likely to like the song. If I didn't like the song I am to pick, it could mean I am less likely to put in the effort to make it.

Once I have selected a song, I will email the artist to ask permission for the song, and a copy of it.