Vernallis mentions that after its initial flowering in the 1980s, music video has entered a new aesthetic era, characterised by new digital technologies, new kinds of cross media authorship and new transmedia potentials for expression she refers to as the “mixing board aesthetic” (Vernallis, 2013, 5-6ff). In the modern music video, via technology, colour, rhythm, editing, narrative, and authorship, not only has the quality of the work itself been improved, the audience has a better viewing experience, and they are able to understand clearly what the music wants to convey. Additionally, with the promotion of digital platforms, like Youtube and Instagram, the songs have been spread more widely through music videos, and singers and albums have been further expanded. Therefore, the commercial value is higher, and the value of songs is promoted to a new level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7QlX3yR2xs

Take Taylor Swift “Bejeweled”(Music Video) as an example to analyze. Firstly, this music video could be considered to describe a virtual story with a complete storyline, and the song seems more like a narratage, as well as Taylor performs and sings as the leading actor, it tends to tell the audience what Taylor wants to express in the song. Secondly, “Bejeweled” adds narrative elements that take two minutes before the song, so the audience can better immerse themselves in the video. Besides, in terms of technology and colour, the scene shot in the video is a fusion of real scenes and green screen, and the overall color tone is gorgeous select golden, blue, white, pink, and purple, also digital technology alters colour to high saturation. Therefore, it has a strong visual impact and highly fits the song’s atmosphere. Furthermore, the first two minutes of the video without the song are more like a short movie, and then the rhythm of the music echoes the camera movements, and the sound effect is reasonable in the gap. To some extent, this choreography enables the theme of bejeweled to be shown effectively in the term of auditory, for example, between two and three minutes, a pocket watch appears out of thin air, and she takes an elevator into a space surrounded by diamonds. Moreover, for Swiftie, the creation of this music video is also ingenious that there are many easter eggs hidden in lines, clothes and other scene decorations, such as in the final shot, the three fire-breathing dragons on the castle represent the fans who always protect and support her.

Based on the data from Youtube, “Bejeweled” harvested 30 million views and 1.49 million likes, some audiences praised it as a precious Gem and admired Taylor as an Artist and an Icon in every category that exists. According to the example of “Bejeweled”, the modern music video can be seen as an art of form by upgraded digital technology, rhythm and camera movements in close combination, auteur’s creativity, and narrative. This may indicate that music video endow the vitality of songs. As a result, the audience has a better experience, the music gets more praise and is widely promoted, and the singers get more traffic and enhance their commercial value.

References:

Carole Vernallis, ‘Music Video’s Second Aesthetic’, Unruly Media: YouTube, Music Video, and the New Digital Cinema, 207-233

Written by Zhongzhu Wang(33689304)