Visit to Rich Mix: Pete Fraser (Len Lye - A Colour Box)

On Tuesday our media class visited Rich Mix arts centre in Shoreditch to be part of their educational session called "From MTV to YouTube: Studying Music Video".

The morning session consisted of a presentation from Chief Examiner for OCR A-Level Media Studies, Pete Fraser. This presentation was very helpful for us and we were shown videos which Pete had moderated and enjoyed himself. Peter's presentation was based on the history of the music video, codes and conventions as well as top tips for making our own video.

Pete first showed us what he believes should be considered the first ever music video called A Colour Box by the artist Len Lye (1935). The video shows experimentation with colours and patterns on screen to represent music;



Whilst watching the video I immediately thought of a video I had previously seen on YouTube. I am unsure if it is the original music video or if it is fan made however it does show similiarities to the Len Lye experiment;



I also thought of the video when a screen shot of Bob Dylan's "Homesick Subterranean Blues" was shown by Pete due to how the lyrics are shown clearly in the video.


Pete showed us a modern video that also uses the same techniques as 'A Colour Box' as bright visuals work with sound. I think in this video by The Go! Team gives a very vintage feel using such techniques;