Micheal Jackson

Micheal Jackson is known for creating new and inventive music videos. He put a lot of time money and effort into making his music videos brilliant and unique. 

Jackson 5 before his solo career

Early videos consisted of just a performance on stage, this is during the period when he was a child and in the group Jackson 5. At this point there was no emphasis on the importance of the music video it was more about the song. 

Jackson 5 - ABC  - 1970

Gradually the videos got a little more put together. They started putting more effort into crafting a music video, using more techniques as they began to realise that the music video was a fundamental part of marketing a song. 

Jackson 5 - Blame it on the boogie - 1978

The start of his solo career

When Micheal Jackson started his solo career his music videos were still simple but it was clear that he was starting to pay attention to the impact a music video had on a song. He focused still mostly on the song but incorporated some effects, colourful green lights and a unique costume to set his music video apart. 

Micheal Jackson - Rock With You - 1979

Then Micheal started to use his music videos to tell a story. They incorporated a narrative aspect to them not just the performance base videos that had come in the past. Also beginning to show Micheal' s dancing abilities, by using light up pavement blocks to draw attention to his moves in Billy Jean. 

Micheal Jackson - Billie Jean - 1982

This idea of telling a narrative in his videos continues on and his music videos become more complex. This is when his music videos begin to showcase Micheal Jackson's dancing with elaborate dance sequences and they begin to realise that this is his unique selling point. As such we begin to see the emergence of the Micheal Jackson we all recognise today. 

Micheal Jackson - Beat it - 1983

Thriller

Micheal Jackson - Thriller 

The music video for thriller was a phenomenon and considered one of the most famous music videos of all time.

Thriller was the first of it's kind. It was a film in it's own right and much more complex than anything seen before it. It marked a new milestone for the music video transforming the quality expected from music videos to come. Thriller's choreography was extremely complex  and the costume's and dialogue created a video of a completely different calibre to the videos of the time.

As can be expected for such a high quality advanced music video it cost a fortune to make coming to a total of $500,000 which Micheal's record company refused to pay for. He was willing to pay for it himself but in the end didn't have to as he made deals with both MTV and Showtime. 

Showtime paid to air the hour long "Making of" documentary and the long version of the music video which came to a total of 14 minutes long.  MTV who had a policy of not paying for videos found a loop hole where they were able to pay $250,000 for the documentary for the exclusive broadcasting rights once Showtimes contract ended. MTV mostly showed the 5 minute shortened version of the video.

Sales of the music created a Guinness World Record as the top selling music video of all time. At the time it was possible to buy Micheal Jackson's Thriller on VHS which included the full video and the "Making of" documentary. This was timed perfectly as the hype for the video started weeks before Christmas. 

The Library of Congress added Thriller to it's National Film Registry and was the first music video in their registry. It also won a series of awards: Best performance video, Viewers choice and Best choreography at the first MTV video music awards in 1984.