48 hours of music videos

I've spent the past 2 days watching music videos, online & on VHS shuffle (the other channels are filled with Michael Jackson). I wont make a habit of it, as all the nudity and ego-centric visuals can make good material for nightmares.

The videos I've found most effective, or interesting to me, have been ones where the musicians themselves have had creative input into the visuals.

This observation seems to be contrary to what most animation tutors or students or directors advise me. The wisdom I often hear is that it is best if the musician surrenders completely to the director, allowing the creative to excel in their different gifting. I suppose this video I watched this morning of Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs proves their point. The concept of the video is surprising and kind of seems irrelevant to the lyrics. A few friends have pointed out that they enjoy seeing something unexpected and new in a video.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/573167/kaiser_chiefs_ruby/

Different tutors have said about my work that I have far too much respect for the musician. Well... Kate Bush directed Wuthering Heights. Guy Garvey and the Elbow boys have entirely filmed some of their own videos and seem to have had an onging collaborative relationship with 'soup collective' (Islington Mill film makers, Manchester).

I remember some years back Guy offered something like £1000 to whoever could return a sketchbook of his that he lost (I think it was mostly visual rather than song writing). Julian Copes 8mm Laughing Boy is an well worked out expression of a what is perhaps supposed to be a drug fuelled personal experience of the world.

Nirvanas 'Heart Shaped Box' interests me, directed by Anton Corbijn, 1993 wikopedia tells me it was devised mostly by Kurt Cobain, which shows:



Biographical details interest me in a video. I happen to know that Courtney, Kurts lover and later wife collected heart shaped boxes and kept an old letter from Billy Corgan (A pisces himself with an Smashing Pumpkins album out called Pisces Iscariot) in a heart shaped box under her bed. I've read Kurts published 'journals' with its memorable sketches of KKK figures. Also, the little girl in the KKK outfit is Kurts younger half-sister. It can become so irresistably personal to an emotional teenage audience.

Watching Smashing Pumpkins early videos I can spot visuals which, having listened to numerous interviews with BC as a teenager I know to be of personal interest to Billy Corgan - Roman Catholic icons such as sacred hearts & expressing a kind of ethereal femininity.

I warmed to this video of Jarvis Cockers 'Don't let him waste your time' (Dir: Dougal Wilson 2007), perhaps because of Jarvis personality being able to shine in it. Also, to me, it is effective in its use of adding sound effects, which I felt was done badly in David Bowies 'Thursdays Child'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1oMtwmTaNQ

My highlight of this 24 music video fest however, was spotting Sean Hughes in Terrorvisions 'Tequila' Video. Random yet thrilling.