I'd like to use this post to introduce myself and try to give everyone a better idea of what this blog is about. I'll get right to it!
My name is Danny and I love music videos! I've been an avid fan of the art form ever since I can remember. It all started when I first saw Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" around the age of six, before I could understand what the concept of a music video even was. As far as I was concerned, Mr. Gabriel was a crazy British wizard with the ability to bend the fabric space time, all in the name of blowing my feeble kindergarten educated mind. Friggin' awesome! Ever since then I've been hooked. I can honestly say that I spent more time watching music videos in high school than doing homework, something that was reflected in my grades (not so good) and personality. I used to get up way earlier than I had to before the school bus came just so I could catch MTV and VH1's morning video block. I was obsessed!
A few of my friends have some pretty radical blogs and gave me the idea to start my own. I shamefully admit that I wasn't even entirely sure what a blog was a few months ago, but I think I'm starting to get the gist of it. This is where I will post my favorite music videos and try to break them down as best as I can for everyone to enjoy. I don't have any formal training in video filming or editing so I can't really critique on an academic level, but I do know what I like and what looks good or bad. This blog is my first foray into the medium and I will do my best to smooth out this page and improve my format. Comments and criticism will be greatly appreciated!
Now for a video - Linkin Park's "Waiting for the End", director Joe Hahn (this guy is sweeeet)
This video is sex. My tastes change over time; recently I've really been enjoying organic effects and toned down computer magic. This presentation really set my shit straight. We're so saturated with digital effects nowadays that sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in a green screen. I'm all for the progression of technology but sometimes you can really taste fertilizer in cinema. Mr. Hahn, the director of this video, did a great job reminding me how awesome digital magic can be. He had this to say about his creation:
"It was an opportunity to experiment with pushing the digital envelope as it pertains to the visual language . . . It was my attempt to digitally crush us to the point that you feel the soul of the music through what has become the essence of us. We become the ghosts in the machine. Some may say that because of technology, we lose a sense of who we are. I counter that by illustrating that we can get closer to who we are if we sift through the noise." What a cool guy.
The purpose of any form of art is to make you feel something. Have you ever left a movie theatre after watching an action flick and felt like you gained the insight on how to kick ass? Music videos have the unique property of giving you a condensed package of both music and . . . well, video. The song coupled with the display really do a good job of making you feel something, and this video is a perfect example. I really got wrapped up in the deconstruction of the band member's anatomy and the points of light projected from their bodies, all in perfect sync to the music. The whole production was very smooth and I never got a sense of a "bad cut". I felt comfortable. It was like being wrapped in a cool blanket of nerdiness and carried away to some blue toned ethereal plane. Wouldn't be sweet if they came out with goggles that could make us see like this and all of the little red triangles, like, meant something? The answer to that question is yes.
Keep up the good work Joe Hahn.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
First Post! Congratulations - MGMT
7/10 vulture camel spiders
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)