Well, my music video knowledge is very limited, but these are a couple of the trivia that I know by heart:
- The first EVER music video aired on MTV was “Video Killed the Radio Star” by, if I recall correctly, The Bugles.
- “Thriller” by Michael Jackson was the first ever Music Video-Turned Short Film.
- The first ever Music Video I remember watching is “Remember the Time” by Michael Jackson – another short film/music vid!
That’s it! LOL – Anyway, “Thriller” was revolutionary because of the song (come on! It was an awesome song!) – the art direction, the makeup, the choreography…. everyone loves dancing that – and because it lasted a whomping 14-minutes! At least that’s what I’ve been lead to believe, since I haven’t done my research.
Why did this video work so well? Michael Jackson was acting, but it wasn’t an over-dramatic part. It was a simple, fun, horror/musical film. Nowadays, we’ve seen an increase in this Music Videos-Turned Short Films, but why won’t they make an impact? One of the last big profile of these type of projects is “What Goes Around” Music Video for Justin Timberlake. The regular version last 9 minutes, I think – I’ve heard rumors that there’s a much longer 30 minute version, but I haven’t checked if it’s true or not.
This video doesn’t work because, the song is pretty average – and Justin’s acting ability leaves him when he ventures from comedies to dramatic roles. I quite enjoyed his performance in SNL, but I’ve yet to see a dramatic Justin’s performance that I can stand for more than one minute (and this is from watching just trailers). For some reason, I CAN’T see him making a successful career in this genre… he wasn’t meant to do drama – so his so-called-dramatic-role in his music video falls flat and makes me hate watching it every time it’s on. And even if Scarlet Johansson is in the video, it doesn’t help at all either.
The visuals in the video are nothing out of the ordinary, alright use of color, and the stage where Justin performs his song is decent, but the video fails to entertain me and keep me watching… oh – this is off-topic but “My Love” also bores me at the beginning of the music video. LOL – whoever thought this lengthy version was good, was obviously on crack!
I think the best Justin Timberlake video to date is “Rock Your Body” – hands down.
Let’s now talk about “Remember the Time” – I vaguely recall watching this vid for the first time in the early 90’s – I was barely 5 or 6 years when I saw it, and it literally left me open-mouthed. LOL’ I thought the effects were soooooooo cool! You know, that part where he stands in the sand… xD – Anyway, this video is not as good as “Thriller” because there’s a tiny bit of a hint of drama, and Michael can’t act. xD – Choreography is not as good either, but it’s good on its own… but it marked my childhood. :)
The last Music Vid-Turned Short Film I’ve seen is the new Marilyn Manson video, Heart Shape Glasse, PLEASE, note that it IS Marilyn Manson, so you may find the video explicit.
Manson joins the musicians who can’t act list, and decides to have a soft-porn short film at the beginning of the music video, because he can’t act! This music video lasts 8 minutes or so, and stars Manson’s new girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood. The video literally could work without this beginning, but bleh – maybe in a few months Ms. Wood will have something to regret doing, just as Chloe Sevigny did. I don’t even know if the rumors of the video are true, but I think it’s pretty unnecessary for it to work well.
The video doesn’t really show anything exciting, or anything new for a Manson video… which I don’t know if it’s good or bad, LOL. Art Direction is dark… expected for his style, song is average on the verge of catchyness.
Hmm… now. I wonder what happened to Wayne Isham, Nigel Dick? I know what Dave Meyers is up to now, as well as Joseph Khan – who ended up doing that crappy movie Torque, the Motorcycle-Fast and the Furious LOL
And you know who’s got cool videos? Michel Gondry :) Spike Jonze and Chris Cunningham :) – I think the three of them have worked with Bjork before… no wonder she’s got such cool videos!!! The White Stripes’ also got a nice video collection ^^ anybody else in mind??
