Music through the ages: The 1990's

Beastie Boys- Sabotage

Sabotage by the Beastie Boys is a music video which parodies 1970's cop shows, and is a post-modernist video. This immediately is important and makes this video stand out, as very few music videos of the time had used concepts such as this and this shows just how far the music video phenomenon has come. The editing is very quick and fast-pased reflecting both the speed of the song and also helping to reinforce the stereotypes of a cop show. The mise-on-scene the band members are wearing is also supposed to be "jokey" with the oversized moustaches and again this is key to enforcing the fact that they are parodying this type of show. There is also a use of titles in the video, adding a cinematic feel to the video and making it seem a lot more like a short film than a music video. There is absolutely no performance in the video and again this shows how far the music video industry has come. There is also some use of the classic hip-hop shot, with the camera looking up at the band as they walk.

Nirvana- Smells Like Teen Spirit

Nirvana spearheaded the grunge movement in the 1990's and took the world by storm with songs such as "Smells Like Teen Spirit". In this video there is a lot of use of lighting, with lots of darkness and smoke used to reflect the fact that the band are rebellious and against the mainstream culture. Another thing to notice is that they have drafted in cheerleaders which is odd, because it seems this is quite a mainstream thing to do as many mainstream videos of the time used sexualised women to promote their video to the male audience. The mise-on-scene that the band members wear also adds to this as they wear dark colours and have long hair, something that traditionally boys don't have. With the use of the young teenage crowd clearly we are seeing who Nirvana are aiming their song at and trying to appeal to these people with the cheerleaders and other means.

The Prodigy- Firestarter

Firestarter by The Prodigy is another example of an odd- but well done music video. The video is set underground in a creepy tunnel, which helps to reinforce the violent and scary atmosphere created within the music video. The video utilises editing effects such as slow-mo throughout, which are very effective at emphasizing key parts of the video. The mise-on-scene of the main singer is also very interesting, as his hair is clearly a satanic reference, as he has "horns" of the devil. These odd outfits help to show the violent and odd nature of this music video. The use of camera shots is also effective, with rhythmical editing and lots of tracking shots of the lead singer used.