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music videos
I like music videos. I think they have the potential to be one of the most creative of the arts, if you'll allow me to call music videos an art. You have the music to set the mood, and you can either go with it or depart from it; you can add dialogue, you can add dance; you can tell a whole story or you can just show parts of a world. You can do whatever you want and I think music videos are really interesting and I think it would be the best thing ever to have the chance to direct one.
That being said, I just saw the video for Rob Thomas' "This is How a Heart Breaks." I have been obsessed with this song for a good three months. When I first heard it, I didn't care for it, but it slowly grew on me and now there are so many things I love about it and I could listen to it forever. But the video? Is a joke. Both Maaya Sakamoto and Ayumi Hamasaki have videos where they run the whole time ("Mameshiba" and "Rainbow," respectively - the second including the theme of running from yourself) and they aren't half as much of a joke as this. He's running the whole video and it doesn't match the song at all. Here are the three very brief parts that I like: when he turns around at the end of the first verse to start running for the first time, when he's backed against the wall waiting for the elevator doors to open so he can run again, and the "while I wait" in the last chorus when he's on the roof. The rest of it, what the hell. I just feel like ... considering how much this song has inspired me just in regards to my NaNo, certainly someone who was being paid to be inspired by the song could have come up with something better than HELLO I AM ROB THOMAS WATCH ME RUN ISN'T IT FASCINATING. Because no. It's not.
I also saw the video for Shakira's new song "Don't Bother." It amuses me because when "La Tortura" came out people were like "it's so dirty!!" but I watched it and it seemed like typical Shakira to me. I mean, in my opinion "Suerte" is a lot worse and a lot less interesting (although despite my dislike for the video, the first time I heard of Shakira was when I saw it on TLN). I think this "Don't Bother" is worse in terms of that, and also the song isn't half as good as either "Suerte" or "La Tortura."
Also, I think there must be two videos for "These Words," because the one on Yahoo! Music is a lot stupider and ugly '80s than the one I saw on TV, which was happy and clean and colourful and I think her hair was shorter.
music videos that disappointed me
"One Headlight" by the Wallflowers - All I remember is the dude singing and an American flag. This was one of the songs I used for inspiration while writing SFF. If there is one thing I will remember about Gomattou it is that their video gives the appearance of being filmed during their lunch break - that is what I thought of this video too.
"Be My Last" by Hikaru Utada - Okay, the song sucks too, but the video had potential until she got hit by the car. HELLO PHOTOSHOP.
"Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar - I like to think of this song as being fairly serious. The video, while they love to praise it on Much, is pretty darn dorky.
music videos I think are awesome (trying not to list every one I think is awesome, just the most awesome awesome ones)
"Maybe" by Emma Bunton - Have you seen this video?? IT IS THE BEE'S KNEES.
"Osaka Koi no Uta" by MoMusu - Everyone but me thinks this is the most boring video ever. I have no idea why it bores so many people. Well, okay, I guess I can see it a bit, but at the same time I think it's soooooo fascinating. (I suspect I watch this video like an English major is expected to read a book.) I could talk about this video forever so I will just mention my favourite part, which is how at the end it comes back to the beginning. It starts with Ishiyoshi, the cloudy skies and the girls looking like they're expecting something, and it ends with Ishiyoshi, the cloudy skies and the girls. I think it gives the video a lot more depth than it would have otherwise had. I just plain love this video.
"Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson - You are very much allowed to make fun of me for any of these. I just found out my file of "Behind These Hazel Eyes" got deleted, which MAKES ME WANT TO HURT SOMETHING. I like the two worlds presented in "Hazel Eyes," I like how they interact. I like how it's a little fuzzy where one ends and the other begins (like how last night Jay was talking about how it's hard to tell exactly when the brain makes a decision - so fascinating). I love the beginning of the last chorus when she suddenly turns and starts singing, her face when she sings "just thought you were the one." I don't have quite the same attachment to "Since U Been Gone," but in this one she reminds me of Even from my current (non-NaNo) novel project. Like, ridiculously so. And that makes me love it. I love the shot of her standing on the bed with the torn pillows. Just still and quiet like that, amidst scenes that are full of destruction.
"Ourselves" by Ayumi Hamasaki - I'm not writing this in any particular order but if I was this one would go at the top, because it is probably my most favourite music video ever. This video was the driving force behind the start of my current novel project. I get a lot of my inspiration from movies and books and music videos and songs. I don't know why this video has such a hold on me but it does. Like "Osaka Koi no Uta" I could talk about this video forever, so I will just mention some things that I rather like:
-- I forget the proper word for it, but how it goes outside of itself to reference Ayumi's previous works. The A Best cover is everywhere in this video. Also shown are the covers for A Ballads and Never Ever. I rather wonder if the selected covers have anything to do with the idea behind the video, or if they were just chosen for their looks. I want to say that the simple dress of this video's main character is part of this - Ayumi rarely dresses that simply in a video, just jeans and a top. But to contrast there is the Ayumi who seems to be leading the scientists, and who is all dolled up in crazy black and white. There is a webpage where the author examines Ayumi's videos as they all fit together, and one of the themes that is repeated is Ayumi the person and Ayumi the artist (eg. "Fly High," "Evolution"). I think "Ourselves" is more obvious in going about this (what with the Ayu-masked scientists trying to go about dissecting her and finding out what has made her who she is), but at the same time you can watch the video ignoring that aspect. I think either way is interesting.
-- Everything matches the music so perfectly. That scratching effect, the zooming in and out, lights flicking on and off ... It is really cleanly put together, very deliberate.
-- There is a sense of loss, of destruction, of fear, of being resigned to it. Ayumi's body floats away like bubbles and she doesn't even panic. They play a video game where she slowly disappears and she does nothing. For being so full of violence against one person the video is strangely calm. There isn't a lot of tension.
-- Hints of remorse from the black and white Ayumi, the regular Ayumi's silent scream, the shots of her falling softly to her knees, alone.
-- And the song is perfect and the video is just plain creepy, even if you don't want to look as deeply into it as I like to pretend to try to. (One thing that bothered me when I first saw a performance of the song was how different she performed it than in the video - no one in the video is happy, but she gives the performances with a smile. The line "watashitachi wa chanto shitte iru konna futari no koto" - "we know each other so well" - has a totally different feel to it, depending on whether the song is dark and brooding like in the video, or whether it's cheery and colourful as in the performances. Personally, I much prefer the video, as you could probably have guessed.)
"Black Black Heart" by David Usher - The only song I've heard by David Usher, and when I first heard it I didn't like it. Then I heard it again a couple years later and liked it rather a lot, and now I like to relate it to my current novel project, so what else is new. XD; The video presents a darkened city where everyone is either alone or scared to death. Various forms of communication are shown but none of the characters are able to get through to each other. I wonder about the girl in the hostage scenes - what is the paper she is trying to decode? It looks almost like she's putting together a ransom note from magazine clippings. So is she working together with the threatening man? What are they trying to achieve? Why is she calling David? He doesn't hear the phone ringing so we never find out. Why does the man making the threats fall to his knees in apparent despair? You could write so many stories taking your inspiration from just this one video. A sillier story idea might be: Why does David have so many shoes?
"La Tortura" by Shakira - Most of the Shakira videos I've seen have been little more than fanservice, and admittedly this one is no different. But I think the reason why I like "La Tortura" at the same time as I don't like "Suerte" is perhaps because she is presented as a stronger person in "La Tortura." I like the scenes where what you thought was true is shown to be false - she's not crying over him, she's cutting onions - and at the end when you find out she knew he was watching her the whole time. I think it's interesting that there is a very savage part of the video, present in the scenes with the dancing painted Shakira, but the rest of it is very modern, and yet altogether the video is very human. I like that there's not really an explicit judgement made re: his watching her even while he has a new girlfriend. It's sort of vague and left for the viewer to decide whether it's a good thing or not. And I like the colours in this video, the way a lot of it takes place in a kitchen. It's interesting that way.
music videos I am bound to be disappointed by
"Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteruu You Know?" by Berryz Koubou - I listen to this song without really understanding the lyrics. I think I like to think of it as being a lot darker than it was meant to be presented. As much as I love H!P and its formulas, I would be sorely disappointed to discover that the video for this song follows the usual H!P PV formula, at least if there was no attempt to be a bit more serious.
"Get in Line" and "Enid" by Barenaked Ladies - For the longest time Mom had her BNL CD in the car and these are my two favourite songs from it, so I listened to them over and over again on the way to and from work. I pretty well have music videos mapped out for them in my head. Which is not to say that my ideas are necessarily better, just that ... I'll probably like them more. You know?
Of course, if you have seen any of these videos you are very much allowed to completely disagree with my interpretations. That is part of the fun of pretending like music videos are out there for us to analyze, I think. :)
PS: More about Jay later. XD!
That being said, I just saw the video for Rob Thomas' "This is How a Heart Breaks." I have been obsessed with this song for a good three months. When I first heard it, I didn't care for it, but it slowly grew on me and now there are so many things I love about it and I could listen to it forever. But the video? Is a joke. Both Maaya Sakamoto and Ayumi Hamasaki have videos where they run the whole time ("Mameshiba" and "Rainbow," respectively - the second including the theme of running from yourself) and they aren't half as much of a joke as this. He's running the whole video and it doesn't match the song at all. Here are the three very brief parts that I like: when he turns around at the end of the first verse to start running for the first time, when he's backed against the wall waiting for the elevator doors to open so he can run again, and the "while I wait" in the last chorus when he's on the roof. The rest of it, what the hell. I just feel like ... considering how much this song has inspired me just in regards to my NaNo, certainly someone who was being paid to be inspired by the song could have come up with something better than HELLO I AM ROB THOMAS WATCH ME RUN ISN'T IT FASCINATING. Because no. It's not.
I also saw the video for Shakira's new song "Don't Bother." It amuses me because when "La Tortura" came out people were like "it's so dirty!!" but I watched it and it seemed like typical Shakira to me. I mean, in my opinion "Suerte" is a lot worse and a lot less interesting (although despite my dislike for the video, the first time I heard of Shakira was when I saw it on TLN). I think this "Don't Bother" is worse in terms of that, and also the song isn't half as good as either "Suerte" or "La Tortura."
Also, I think there must be two videos for "These Words," because the one on Yahoo! Music is a lot stupider and ugly '80s than the one I saw on TV, which was happy and clean and colourful and I think her hair was shorter.
music videos that disappointed me
"One Headlight" by the Wallflowers - All I remember is the dude singing and an American flag. This was one of the songs I used for inspiration while writing SFF. If there is one thing I will remember about Gomattou it is that their video gives the appearance of being filmed during their lunch break - that is what I thought of this video too.
"Be My Last" by Hikaru Utada - Okay, the song sucks too, but the video had potential until she got hit by the car. HELLO PHOTOSHOP.
"Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar - I like to think of this song as being fairly serious. The video, while they love to praise it on Much, is pretty darn dorky.
music videos I think are awesome (trying not to list every one I think is awesome, just the most awesome awesome ones)
"Maybe" by Emma Bunton - Have you seen this video?? IT IS THE BEE'S KNEES.
"Osaka Koi no Uta" by MoMusu - Everyone but me thinks this is the most boring video ever. I have no idea why it bores so many people. Well, okay, I guess I can see it a bit, but at the same time I think it's soooooo fascinating. (I suspect I watch this video like an English major is expected to read a book.) I could talk about this video forever so I will just mention my favourite part, which is how at the end it comes back to the beginning. It starts with Ishiyoshi, the cloudy skies and the girls looking like they're expecting something, and it ends with Ishiyoshi, the cloudy skies and the girls. I think it gives the video a lot more depth than it would have otherwise had. I just plain love this video.
"Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson - You are very much allowed to make fun of me for any of these. I just found out my file of "Behind These Hazel Eyes" got deleted, which MAKES ME WANT TO HURT SOMETHING. I like the two worlds presented in "Hazel Eyes," I like how they interact. I like how it's a little fuzzy where one ends and the other begins (like how last night Jay was talking about how it's hard to tell exactly when the brain makes a decision - so fascinating). I love the beginning of the last chorus when she suddenly turns and starts singing, her face when she sings "just thought you were the one." I don't have quite the same attachment to "Since U Been Gone," but in this one she reminds me of Even from my current (non-NaNo) novel project. Like, ridiculously so. And that makes me love it. I love the shot of her standing on the bed with the torn pillows. Just still and quiet like that, amidst scenes that are full of destruction.
"Ourselves" by Ayumi Hamasaki - I'm not writing this in any particular order but if I was this one would go at the top, because it is probably my most favourite music video ever. This video was the driving force behind the start of my current novel project. I get a lot of my inspiration from movies and books and music videos and songs. I don't know why this video has such a hold on me but it does. Like "Osaka Koi no Uta" I could talk about this video forever, so I will just mention some things that I rather like:
-- I forget the proper word for it, but how it goes outside of itself to reference Ayumi's previous works. The A Best cover is everywhere in this video. Also shown are the covers for A Ballads and Never Ever. I rather wonder if the selected covers have anything to do with the idea behind the video, or if they were just chosen for their looks. I want to say that the simple dress of this video's main character is part of this - Ayumi rarely dresses that simply in a video, just jeans and a top. But to contrast there is the Ayumi who seems to be leading the scientists, and who is all dolled up in crazy black and white. There is a webpage where the author examines Ayumi's videos as they all fit together, and one of the themes that is repeated is Ayumi the person and Ayumi the artist (eg. "Fly High," "Evolution"). I think "Ourselves" is more obvious in going about this (what with the Ayu-masked scientists trying to go about dissecting her and finding out what has made her who she is), but at the same time you can watch the video ignoring that aspect. I think either way is interesting.
-- Everything matches the music so perfectly. That scratching effect, the zooming in and out, lights flicking on and off ... It is really cleanly put together, very deliberate.
-- There is a sense of loss, of destruction, of fear, of being resigned to it. Ayumi's body floats away like bubbles and she doesn't even panic. They play a video game where she slowly disappears and she does nothing. For being so full of violence against one person the video is strangely calm. There isn't a lot of tension.
-- Hints of remorse from the black and white Ayumi, the regular Ayumi's silent scream, the shots of her falling softly to her knees, alone.
-- And the song is perfect and the video is just plain creepy, even if you don't want to look as deeply into it as I like to pretend to try to. (One thing that bothered me when I first saw a performance of the song was how different she performed it than in the video - no one in the video is happy, but she gives the performances with a smile. The line "watashitachi wa chanto shitte iru konna futari no koto" - "we know each other so well" - has a totally different feel to it, depending on whether the song is dark and brooding like in the video, or whether it's cheery and colourful as in the performances. Personally, I much prefer the video, as you could probably have guessed.)
"Black Black Heart" by David Usher - The only song I've heard by David Usher, and when I first heard it I didn't like it. Then I heard it again a couple years later and liked it rather a lot, and now I like to relate it to my current novel project, so what else is new. XD; The video presents a darkened city where everyone is either alone or scared to death. Various forms of communication are shown but none of the characters are able to get through to each other. I wonder about the girl in the hostage scenes - what is the paper she is trying to decode? It looks almost like she's putting together a ransom note from magazine clippings. So is she working together with the threatening man? What are they trying to achieve? Why is she calling David? He doesn't hear the phone ringing so we never find out. Why does the man making the threats fall to his knees in apparent despair? You could write so many stories taking your inspiration from just this one video. A sillier story idea might be: Why does David have so many shoes?
"La Tortura" by Shakira - Most of the Shakira videos I've seen have been little more than fanservice, and admittedly this one is no different. But I think the reason why I like "La Tortura" at the same time as I don't like "Suerte" is perhaps because she is presented as a stronger person in "La Tortura." I like the scenes where what you thought was true is shown to be false - she's not crying over him, she's cutting onions - and at the end when you find out she knew he was watching her the whole time. I think it's interesting that there is a very savage part of the video, present in the scenes with the dancing painted Shakira, but the rest of it is very modern, and yet altogether the video is very human. I like that there's not really an explicit judgement made re: his watching her even while he has a new girlfriend. It's sort of vague and left for the viewer to decide whether it's a good thing or not. And I like the colours in this video, the way a lot of it takes place in a kitchen. It's interesting that way.
music videos I am bound to be disappointed by
"Nanchuu Koi wo Yatteruu You Know?" by Berryz Koubou - I listen to this song without really understanding the lyrics. I think I like to think of it as being a lot darker than it was meant to be presented. As much as I love H!P and its formulas, I would be sorely disappointed to discover that the video for this song follows the usual H!P PV formula, at least if there was no attempt to be a bit more serious.
"Get in Line" and "Enid" by Barenaked Ladies - For the longest time Mom had her BNL CD in the car and these are my two favourite songs from it, so I listened to them over and over again on the way to and from work. I pretty well have music videos mapped out for them in my head. Which is not to say that my ideas are necessarily better, just that ... I'll probably like them more. You know?
Of course, if you have seen any of these videos you are very much allowed to completely disagree with my interpretations. That is part of the fun of pretending like music videos are out there for us to analyze, I think. :)
PS: More about Jay later. XD!