4. Music Videos in the '60's!

Music Videos in the 1960's
Music Videos had not officially been created in the '60's and most 'music videos' were more along the lines of a live performance with no special effects or narrative, no props and maybe occasionally a set. 
Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire (1963)

This video is mainly one long shot of the band in the standard format of the singer at the front - the two behind and the drummer in the back. Generally the drummer is obscured from view however the drummer is in the left corner - maybe because this is live? When there are new additions to the song (backing singers, trumpet instrumental solo) the camera pans, either to the right for the backing singers or cuts to the trumpet players.  During the middle of the song the camera cuts to a close up of the lead singer to emphasise the fact he's the lead singer. The genre of this song is 'country music' and this fits with the setting which looks a lot like a farm. The video does not have a narrative and the slow, long edits don't really fit with the title 'ring of fire.'

Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man (1968)

This song is filmed as if it is being played live with close ups of the singers face. The shot then cross-fades into a longer shot of the singer and gradually zooms in during the verse and again at the second chorus the video cross-fades into a wider shot again and at the very end of the video the camera zooms into the background which is a church which relates to the title of the song 'son of a preacher man.' In the foreground of the video surrounding Dusty Springfield there are vine type props and in the background there is the image of a church type building which fits with the title. Her outfit matches the colour of the props and is a lot less revealing compared to outfits nowadays. However, like most music videos in the 60's there is no narrative or special effects or any costume changes/scene changes. 

The Temptations - My Girl (1964)

The music video for this song is again simple and filmed live however there is one main difference. There is actually a dance routine for this song and although simple it is effective and new and will soon become popular in music videos. The main singer is set apart from the others but not by a significant amount and he doesn't do a lot of the dancing - this is to help draw attention to him as the lead singer. Nearing the middle of the song we get a shot of the group through the audience which highlights the fact that it's live and that music videos aren't fully formed. However, like the other two there is no narrative and there are no props or sets at all - they are just in front of the audience.