TECHNES Encyclopedia Database

Music Video Aesthetics

At the turn of the 1980s, Hollywood form appears to be in a state of transition, between the end of a period known as the New Hollywood and the beginning of a new studio era, which seems partly linked to the production models associated with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. Under the probable influence of the Indiana Jones franchise, rhythm continued to accelerate throughout the 1980s, and double-digit ASLs,^[1] still present in the 1970s, largely disappeared from mainstream cinema. According to David Bordwell, most popular films at the time had ASLs ranging between five and seven seconds, and many films (Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1981; Lethal Weapon, 1987; Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, 1988) exhibit averages of four to five seconds. We also find several ASLs of three to four seconds, mainly in films influenced by music videos and in action films such as Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982), Streets of Fire (1984), Highlander (1986) and Top Gun (1986).^[2]

In addition to the influence of the model proposed by the Spielberg–Lucas duo, the editing of American commercial cinema in the late 1990s and 2000s must also be understood as having evolved under the influence of music videos. A new way of conceiving certain sequences, which would previously have been accompanied by an original symphonic score or other non-symphonic music, emerges with the use of pop songs. In a manner reminiscent of a music video, the song is presented in its entirety, or nearly so, through a central sequence of the film. Moreover, the film often has no relation to the musical or romantic comedy genres, which are traditionally more conducive to this phenomenon by their very nature. Tony Scott’s Top Gun is certainly the emblematic illustration, in the mid-1980s, of this new trend in mise-en-scène. Naturally, the sequence serves to promote a song, in a manner akin to a television music video, within the diegesis itself; studios, following the New Hollywood model, could then add to the film’s revenue streams those derived from the sale of the single on vinyl, cassette, or compact disc, in addition to the revenues generated by radio airplay. Top Gun is driven by two songs written by Tom Whitlock and composed by Giorgio Moroder: “Danger Zone,” performed by Kenny Loggins, and “Take My Breath Away,” performed by the American new wave band Berlin, the latter also functioning as the film’s love theme. This track became a massive international success, reaching number one on music charts in many countries.