Music Videos I like

Here are some music videos which I feel are iconic in their own way in terms of editing, production and creativity.

→ 1. A-Ha - Take On Me (Director: Steve Barron)


This 1985 version of the video by Norwegian pop group 'A-ha' was named 14th best video of all time by MTV and won 6 awards at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards for Best New Artist in a Video, Best Concept Video, Most Experimental Video, Best Direction, Best Special Effects and View’s Choice. It was also nominated for Favorite Pop/Rock Video at the 13th American Music Awards in 1986.

The video used a pencil-sketch animation/live-action combination called rotoscoping, in which the live-action footage is traced-over frame by frame to give the characters realistic movements. The theme of the video was romantic fantasy where the narrative follows a woman reading a comic at a café about competitive motorcyclists in a race where the hero (Morten Harket) is pursued by two villains. The winner of the race, Harket, winks at the girl from a page. A graphical representation of a hand reaches out from the comic book to the girl, inviting her to enter his animated world.

They are both able to view each other through a strange window, allowing them to see each other in live action, while they each actually remain in pencilled comic book form. Most of the video I think is concept-based, "Take me on...I'll be gone in a day or two", suggests that one should take a chance since the other may not be around for long. This may mean, since he's in a comic book, anything could happen. The concept of real-life and fiction are explored, showing how one can interact with one another, hence the hand pulling out of the comic. Towards the end, the hero finally escapes from the comic book by becoming human and embraces the girl.

The video's technical excellence can be seen through it's precise cuts in sync with the music for example, the quick beats of the tune is perfectly synced with the sketch stills through 0:27 to 0:35. The opening scene with the comic book establishes the story of the comic involving a race with motorists, where the obvious hero and villains can be distinguished (through the expressions drawn on the faces of the racers). The video switches from the comic sketches to real life, finally ending in real life as the hero from the comic comes to life embracing the girl (the prize).

→ 2. Prince - Black Sweat (Director: Sanaa Hamri)



'Black Sweat' (2006) from the album '3121' by legendary 80s singer Prince, was nominated for two Grammy Awards (Best R&B Song and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance). The video is represented in black and white to mirror the minimalism of the song itself which also uses only two people (Prince and dancer Celestina). The video consists of one scene of a blank background using one prop (70s stylized chair) in the center.

Although the video itself is not 'iconic', the video uses simplistic shots to follow a narrative which is not explicitly presented as it is in the song itself. Most of the video is performance-based to illustrate the narrative of the song. As there is an obvious sexual innuendo in the lyrics of the song, this is not explicitly shown in the video, but can be expressed through the art of dance and costume. The female dancer reflects the song's lyrics in terms of femininity, sexuality and seductiveness and this is through the image she is portrayed in. Since Prince's work is heavy in funk, he does not reside in wearing the fashion of today (or that of 2006), he tries to bring a flavour of the 70s/80s into his video through his fashion and use of props (chair). Many of the shots are extreme close ups of Prince and Celestina where the camera tends to move slightly hazily (0:28-0:32).

These extreme close up shots establish the intimacy between Prince and Celestina, as it should do between the viewer and Prince. The opening shots show the camera shift from one horizontal position to another, in this case it shows the blank background in which Prince is shown coming into the shot. It gives the effect that the characters in the video are standing on a conveyor belt gradually making their way into the shot.

→ 3. Beyoncé - Me, Myself and I (Director: Johan Rencek)



'Me, Myself and I' is the single of Beyoncé's 2003 album 'Dangerously In Love'. Although the video is not as popular as Beyoncé's 2009 'Single Ladies' video, 'Me, Myself and I' is known for it's reverse playback. Some scenes of the video are shown in reverse, so the viewer would see Beyoncé kicking her shoes on (1:34)

rather than kicking them off. From watching the making (4:30) of he video, the main performance of the song (the beginning scenes) shows Beyoncé lip syncing to the music in double speed so that her actions would be shown in slow motion when the footage is edited to match the speed of the original soundtrack. The female image being portrayed in this video, shows a strong woman who doesn't blame herself about her boyfriend's cheating, as Beyoncé said she wanted to avoid (when talking about the making of the video). Usually women feel as if it is their fault, but Beyoncé shows a different side to reacting in this situation. The female character is seen to hit her boyfriend, take matters in her own hands and scratch the side of his car. She is seen to be 'feisty', seen through her body language and even through her clothes (fur shrug, full-length dress, hair up in a bun).

I particularly like the reverse action of the video which heightens my interest in this music video. The actions are well executed for example, the cutting of the hair, kicking off the shoes and walking backwards, which proved to look sharp and precise seen in reverse. Another interesting effect of the video (which is often seen in other music videos particularly Mariah Carey and Ashanti's videos), is he slow motion of the video, where Beyoncé's mouth matches exactly to the original soundtrack, although her hair is seen to move in slow motion.