I usually like to look at a couple videos each week. This week INXS makes the job easy for me, by putting two songs on one video.
A great pair of videos, and a nice contrast. In fact, we have total opposites. I Need You Tonight is a masterpiece of post-production effects, a collage in motion. Meanwhile, Mediate isn't edited at all -- it's one continuous shot. How fucking cool is that? (I can only think of a handful of videos that are done in a single shot. If you can think of any, let me know!) Best of all, the videos are cool, and so very solidly in the style of the 1980s.
Style: 5
Execution: 4
Nostalgia: 3
Autoeroticism: 2
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 3.5
NEXT WEEK: Debbie Gibson
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Sledgehammer
There are a handful of 1980s artists who dedicated their time and creative powers to their videos as much as their music. The Man With One Glove is a well-documented example. These performers are the reason why the 1980s had great videos; they amazed us repeatedly, and raised the bar for everyone else.
This is Peter Gabriel's video for Sledgehammer, simply put, one of the greatest music videos of all time.
How the hell do you follow that? There's more imagination and creativity in this video than in ten Def Leppard videos stacked together. (WARNING: Do not stack Def Leppard videos higher than your shoulders. Falling videos may cause severe injury or death!) It's clear that Mr. Gabriel wasn't satisfied with merely making himself look good. He also felt the need to innovate. He felt the need to take the time, money, and effort to take his music videos to a level way above and beyond what anybody could have expected. And with Sledgehammer, he didn't just raise the bar, he took the bar up Mt. Everest, planted it on top, and challenged the rest of the world to "Come and get it, motherfuckers!"
Well maybe he never said those words, but the video speaks for itself.
Animation was handled by a studio that was not quite famous for its stop-motion work: Aardman Studios. If you look closely, the bumper cars closely resemble the Chevron car mascots Aardman would animate years later. Among the animators was a brilliant young man named Nick Park, who happens to be responsible for these two:
I guess you could call Wallace and Gromit cousins in the Sledgehammer family tree.
It took months for the Sledgehammer video to be completed, which is just as unacceptable today as it was back then, but it was clearly worth the wait. Mr. Gabriel himself spent many long hours being the clay for the animators to mold, which is a testimony to his own patience and dedication to the project. In short, the man went way out of his way to create something for us to enjoy, and the world is better because of it.
So what do you do after Sledgehammer? Simple: You hit the Big Time:
I'm guessing it wouldn't surprise you to know that both Sledgehammer and Big Time were directed by the same person. Stephen R. Johnson. He also directed the video for Peter Gabriel's Steam, which is yet another amazing video, but it's from 1992, so you'll have to check it out on your own.
Back to Sledgehammer. Groundbreaking. Inspiring. Landmark. And the song's great too. This is one of the greatest videos every produced. It will be remembered for ages, and will be forever be used as an example of what a video can be when you summon enough imagination and creativity.
Style: 5
Execution: 5
Nostalgia: 5
Impact: like a 10 pound sledge.
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 6.0
NEXT WEEK: Debbie Gibson
This is Peter Gabriel's video for Sledgehammer, simply put, one of the greatest music videos of all time.
How the hell do you follow that? There's more imagination and creativity in this video than in ten Def Leppard videos stacked together. (WARNING: Do not stack Def Leppard videos higher than your shoulders. Falling videos may cause severe injury or death!) It's clear that Mr. Gabriel wasn't satisfied with merely making himself look good. He also felt the need to innovate. He felt the need to take the time, money, and effort to take his music videos to a level way above and beyond what anybody could have expected. And with Sledgehammer, he didn't just raise the bar, he took the bar up Mt. Everest, planted it on top, and challenged the rest of the world to "Come and get it, motherfuckers!"
Well maybe he never said those words, but the video speaks for itself.
Animation was handled by a studio that was not quite famous for its stop-motion work: Aardman Studios. If you look closely, the bumper cars closely resemble the Chevron car mascots Aardman would animate years later. Among the animators was a brilliant young man named Nick Park, who happens to be responsible for these two:
I guess you could call Wallace and Gromit cousins in the Sledgehammer family tree.
It took months for the Sledgehammer video to be completed, which is just as unacceptable today as it was back then, but it was clearly worth the wait. Mr. Gabriel himself spent many long hours being the clay for the animators to mold, which is a testimony to his own patience and dedication to the project. In short, the man went way out of his way to create something for us to enjoy, and the world is better because of it.
So what do you do after Sledgehammer? Simple: You hit the Big Time:
I'm guessing it wouldn't surprise you to know that both Sledgehammer and Big Time were directed by the same person. Stephen R. Johnson. He also directed the video for Peter Gabriel's Steam, which is yet another amazing video, but it's from 1992, so you'll have to check it out on your own.
Back to Sledgehammer. Groundbreaking. Inspiring. Landmark. And the song's great too. This is one of the greatest videos every produced. It will be remembered for ages, and will be forever be used as an example of what a video can be when you summon enough imagination and creativity.
Style: 5
Execution: 5
Nostalgia: 5
Impact: like a 10 pound sledge.
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 6.0
NEXT WEEK: Debbie Gibson
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Jump and Jump
This week we go back to 1984 to talk about two songs, both called "Jump" and both having pretty terrible videos. First up are The Pointer Sisters.
First of all, I don't want any of you to think I have a grudge against the Pointer Sisters. They didn't run over my kitty when I was little. (I still haven't forgiven you, Kenny Loggins!) I actually have a fair amount of admiration and appreciation for the sisters, and perhaps that's why this video seems like such a letdown. A major letdown. I'm tempted to say they phoned it in, but I'm pretty sure Hall & Oates phoned in all their videos, but ended up with better stuff than this.
It helps to understand that at the time the U.S. was getting ready to host the 1984 Summer Olympics. Once you know that, the footage they spliced into the video makes a lot more sense, but it's still a cheap and lazy way to do a video. Using stock footage of anything is just about the worst thing a video can do. I don't care if you're getting ready for the third coming of Jesus, re-using footage of the second coming is completely unacceptable. The second worse thing to do in a video is put the band on a stage and have them lip-sync their song. The third worst thing to do to a video is have your cousin Leon edit it. The fourth worst thing to do is dress like you're attending a church social. The fifth worst thing to do is to let David Lee Roth direct. At least they avoided that last one.
Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but it's hard to see a video that bad after seeing such wonderful work as this:
If you want to see a genuinely good Pointer Sisters video, look up their video for I'm So Excited. It was the very next video they released, and there's a HUGE difference. It's flashy, fashionable, sexy, stylish, and everything you needed in order to be an 80's pop group. But as for this video, it's a laundry list of what not do. So here's my breakdown:
Style: 1
Execution:1
Nostalgia: 2
Olympicosity: 1
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 1.25
And now part two! Wind the calendar back a couple months and we have another band releasing a song with the same name. Here's Van Halen's Jump:
This video, directed by Sir David Lee Roth, makes several strides over the Pointer Sister's video. Firstly, there's no stock footage of sporting events. Secondly, the members of Van Halen seem capable of jumping much higher than the Pointer Sisters. Roth in particular. However, the boys have an advantage since they're not wearing heels.
Van Halen's Jump is a bad video because all it shows is footage of the band performing the song. And they're not even performing for an audience. And chances are, they're not even performing at all. This video has no creativity, no ambition, and attempts to do nothing more than portray the band members as a bunch of goofy, fun-loving guys. Well at least they nailed that last part. While this video is tantamount to is a serious crime, it wouldn't be so bad if the majority of VH's videos weren't also boring performance videos. The difference between Jump and Panama videos is virtually nil. They're interchangeable. Yet somehow, this video won several awards. Go figure.
Once again, I don't have any hate for Van Halen, heck I owned pretty much all their albums, but a band who so throughly ruled the 80's should have better videos than this. Here's my summary:
Style: 2
Execution:2
Nostalgia: 3
Rothenticity:2
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 2.0
NEXT WEEK: Debbie Gibson
First of all, I don't want any of you to think I have a grudge against the Pointer Sisters. They didn't run over my kitty when I was little. (I still haven't forgiven you, Kenny Loggins!) I actually have a fair amount of admiration and appreciation for the sisters, and perhaps that's why this video seems like such a letdown. A major letdown. I'm tempted to say they phoned it in, but I'm pretty sure Hall & Oates phoned in all their videos, but ended up with better stuff than this.
It helps to understand that at the time the U.S. was getting ready to host the 1984 Summer Olympics. Once you know that, the footage they spliced into the video makes a lot more sense, but it's still a cheap and lazy way to do a video. Using stock footage of anything is just about the worst thing a video can do. I don't care if you're getting ready for the third coming of Jesus, re-using footage of the second coming is completely unacceptable. The second worse thing to do in a video is put the band on a stage and have them lip-sync their song. The third worst thing to do to a video is have your cousin Leon edit it. The fourth worst thing to do is dress like you're attending a church social. The fifth worst thing to do is to let David Lee Roth direct. At least they avoided that last one.
Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh, but it's hard to see a video that bad after seeing such wonderful work as this:
If you want to see a genuinely good Pointer Sisters video, look up their video for I'm So Excited. It was the very next video they released, and there's a HUGE difference. It's flashy, fashionable, sexy, stylish, and everything you needed in order to be an 80's pop group. But as for this video, it's a laundry list of what not do. So here's my breakdown:
Style: 1
Execution:1
Nostalgia: 2
Olympicosity: 1
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 1.25
And now part two! Wind the calendar back a couple months and we have another band releasing a song with the same name. Here's Van Halen's Jump:
This video, directed by Sir David Lee Roth, makes several strides over the Pointer Sister's video. Firstly, there's no stock footage of sporting events. Secondly, the members of Van Halen seem capable of jumping much higher than the Pointer Sisters. Roth in particular. However, the boys have an advantage since they're not wearing heels.
Van Halen's Jump is a bad video because all it shows is footage of the band performing the song. And they're not even performing for an audience. And chances are, they're not even performing at all. This video has no creativity, no ambition, and attempts to do nothing more than portray the band members as a bunch of goofy, fun-loving guys. Well at least they nailed that last part. While this video is tantamount to is a serious crime, it wouldn't be so bad if the majority of VH's videos weren't also boring performance videos. The difference between Jump and Panama videos is virtually nil. They're interchangeable. Yet somehow, this video won several awards. Go figure.
Once again, I don't have any hate for Van Halen, heck I owned pretty much all their albums, but a band who so throughly ruled the 80's should have better videos than this. Here's my summary:
Style: 2
Execution:2
Nostalgia: 3
Rothenticity:2
FINAL SCORE (not an average): 2.0
NEXT WEEK: Debbie Gibson
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