A Brief History of Music Videos

Director Study: Sophie Muller

Sophie Muller is a British music video director. She has had many collaborations with famous artists over her 32 years in the industry, such as Sophie Ellis-Bexter, The Killers, Blur, Leona Lewis and Annie Lenox. Muller is 52 years old and works solely as a music video director, having done no work in film or advertising, and has directed over 100 productions. Many have dubbed her as the most successful female music director of all time. I decided to analyse 2 of Muller's music videos from slightly different time periods - 1 from 2007 and 1 from 2013, from just 8 months ago.

MIKA - Grace Kelly

Firstly, I decided to analyse MIKA's music video, Grace Kelly, which was released in 2007 but filming commenced in November 2006. The video was nominated for numerous worldwide awards.

This music video would be categorised as a performance video and there are some elements that can be used to identify this. The most obvious, of course, is that there are shots of the artist performing the song. Therefore, it allows the audience to make a relationship between the person singing and the song itself, meaning that it becomes more clear who the song belongs to. In performance music videos, shots of the artist performing are essential.

Performance videos also may present the artist in real-life situations such as warming up, talking or simply fooling around. During the introduction to this video, MIKA is seen to be talking to a young girl before he starts performing. Although the words are lip-synched and do fit into the rhythm of the music, this shows MIKA being in a real life situation and so this characteristic of performance music videos can also be applied.

Finally, many close-ups of the artist are displayed throughout the music video. The reason for this is because these close-up shots help to promote the main star in the music video and consequently, this makes them more recognisable in the media. This will lead to a higher profile for the artist and so, eventually, will generate a higher revenue for the record label. These close-ups also give the audience a chance to see MIKA performing.

Goodwin's music video theory can also be applied to Grace Kelly. The theory consists of seven main codes and conventions that Goodwin believed many music videos had in common with each other, and many of these elements can be seen to be used by Muller in MIKA's music video. 

Firstly, there is an evident relationship between the lyrics and the visuals in the music video. The main star of the video, MIKA, is quite clearly singing the song. This links back to the video possessing the characteristics of a performance music video. This link between the lyrics and the visuals makes the music video seem more relevant to the song. 

Similarly, there is also a distinct relationship between the music and the visuals used in the music video. For example, in Grace Kelly, you see MIKA performing on the piano. This piano is also used in the song, making it appear as if MIKA is playing the song to the girl. Again, this relationship between the music and the visuals mean that the video seems relevant to the song and so the audience is more likely to enjoy it.

According to Goodwin, music videos should also demonstrate certain genre characteristics. Grace Kelly is a pop song and the music video is certainly reflective of this. In terms of mise-en-scene, very bright colours are used. There is multicoloured confetti as well as people dancing with MIKA, who is wearing blue (connotative of calmness and relaxation). The video also stars mainly young people because this attracts the main target audience of the pop genre - young people. This up-beat style is very typical of pop music videos.

Finally, MIKA's Grace Kelly music video also follows a distinct visual style. For example, if you watch another MIKA music video, such as Love Today (which was released in the same album as Grace Kelly) you will notice that it follows a very similar style. For example, lots of people are seen to be wearing very bright colours and dancing together whilst the star is performing. A screenshot from Love Today can be seen on the left.

Overall, I absolutely love this music video. I really like the pop genre (and, being a young person, am part of the target audience) and I think that Muller did a great job at directing this video in order to entertain the audiences and help to reinforce the song lyrics through MIKA's unique performance style.

Robin Thicke - Feel Good
The second music video I have decided to analyse is American recording artist Robin Thicke's Feel Good. The music video was also directed by Sophie Muller. The song was released on 12th November 2013.


Similarly to Grace Kelly, I would categorise this as a performance music video. Robin Thicke - the main star and artist in the video - is seen to be singing the song and playing the music during the video. Again, this is done in order to allow for the audience to construct a relationship between the artist and the music, meaning that they are more likely to listen to other songs that belong to the same artist in the future, because they have prior knowledge of their genre.

Something that Feel Good's music video contains that Grace Kelly's does not is shots of the artist performing in unusual places. In Feel Good, Robin Thicke can be seen to be performing with dancers on a roof top in a particularly urban location at night. This is another element of a performance music video and, although it is slightly different to MIKA's, still shows the artist performing.

Additionally, the artist can be seen in a real-life situation. Near the end of the video, Robin Thicke can be seen sitting alone in a room drinking alcohol. Not only is this something that many of the target audience would enjoy doing, and so would be able to relate to it, but many musical artists are stereotypically people who enjoy getting drunk. Therefore, it also adheres to stereotypes of famous people.


Muller also appears to have adhered to some of the codes and conventions propounded by Goodwin in the Feel Good music video, some of which are more prominent than others.

Firstly, the demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close-ups of the artist. There are various close-up shots of Robin Thicke singing and performing throughout this music video. This helps to give him a higher profile and therefore, will generate a larger sum of money in future endeavours with the record label as more people will be aware of him and want to buy his music.

Also, there is a frequent notion to 'looking' and particularly voyeuristic treatment of the female body. In the video, there are absolutely no male dancers. All of the dancers are wearing pink, which is particularly stereotypical of females. The female dancers are wearing a small amount of clothing as not only does this encourages the male gaze and make more males want to watch the video, but it makes Robin Thicke look more manly and powerful.

This also links into Robin Thicke's development of motifs and iconography that recurs across his work. Blurred Lines, another song released by Robin Thicke earlier in 2013, also had only female dancers that were treated in a very objectified manner. They wore almost no clothing and again, encouraged the male gaze. This has resulted in Robin Thicke developing a very controversial image of being a "ladies man", which in turn makes him more popular with his target audience.

Sophie Muller clearly does not have a distinct 'style' when she is directing her music videos. MIKA's music video is quite fun and up-beat, whereas Robin Thicke's is more raunchy and directed towards an older audience. However, saying that, both of Muller's videos that I have studied have been performance videos. This may suggest that many of Sophie Muller's music videos show the artist performing, perhaps because this makes them more well-known by the audience.
Overall, I am a fan of Sophie Muller's work. I think that she does a very good job at a creating music videos that are reflective of the song and that engages the audience and enhances the overall impact of the song. The performance aspects of the videos are also very entertaining and allows for the audience to develop more of a relationship with the artist. I am a big fan of Muller's work!