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What makes a great music video?

Started by 2 Light Ales Please, March 26, 2011, 08:55:52 PM

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2 Light Ales Please

I've recently been thinking about the music videos I love that are either better than the accompanying song or enhance it to the point that solely listening to it is not enough.  Two that spring to mind are Remember Me by British Sea Power and Theme From Sparta FC by The Fall.  Both videos are astounding in my opinion, albeit for different reasons.

The BSP vid is just so beautifully done, fits the narrative of the song perfectly and just makes me smile whenever I see it.  There are also some great shots of that London, which is an added bonus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Peo0s75QDR0

The Fall video on the other hand, is a sinister masterpiece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ-lsCkvbOs

I think it's absolutely hilarious and the sort of thing only Mark E Smith and his ad hoc bunch of misfits could pull off.  What other videos have a duel between a man with a calculator and an abacus wielding Spartan maths teacher?  My favourite bit though comes at 2:47, with the jump-suited man wildly waving his arms, crying "PLEASE STOP. IT'S VERY DANGEROUS TO FIGHT"

So, opinions etc? What do you think makes a great video and what're your favourites?  Go on, I bet you've got one.

Sorry if this is already a thread, I've looked but didn't find one.[nb]It probably has, so, erm sorry.[/nb]

One that actually makes the song better, even when the song sounds shite. A lot of poor 'dance' tracks are saved by their videos, the Run DMC vs. Jason Nevins track from the 90's is a good example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8


rudi


Icehaven

Excellent choices OP, particularly Sea Power, although even though it's one of my favourite songs I've never really loved the video.
Faith No More have done some good vids. This is a nice Hitchcok parody one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itrYbwesN7s

2 Light Ales Please

I've never thought much of Faith No More's videos, but having watched that mini-thriller, I might have to give them a try.  The bit at the end's a nice touch too, they've always had a sense of humour.

danyulx

Maybe my favourite music video ever: 'Angels' by Bobby Conn. Scared the living piss out of me when I first saw late-night on MTV2 (before it sold its soul) at a tender age. This is the censored version unfortunately but you'll get the drift. Fits the song like a glove.. like all good music videos should, and few do.

Bobby Conn - Angels

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

I find a bit of humour helps. So many videos are contrived to make the band or singer look as cool as possible, it's refreshing to see something that's not as self concious. The Beastie Boys Sabotage vid is a (possibly the) classic example for that sort of thing.

More obviously, a unique visual style. Again, so many videos, in their quest to look cool, just throw a glossy sheen over everything (slow motion, lens flares etc.) and end up looking like all the others. So when something different comes along it really stands out, regardless of how technically accomplished it is.

QOTSA's video for Go With the Flow is probably my favourite, because it looks ace and fits the song so well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE

small_world


phantom_power

i like videos that take a concept or story that suits the music and the length of the song, as well as ones that play with the medium and what is possible. in this regard i think spike jonze and michel gondry are kings of the medium.

i don't have access to youtube at the moment so will just suggest you search for sugar water by chibo mato as the perfect combination of all those aspirations.