Steve Barron - Master of Music Videos
OK, I think it's time to collectively declare Steve Barron a master of the music video. I was watching the video for a-ha's Take on Me and thinking about how perfect it was, not only for the song, but in general as a kind of complete short film. I was then inspired to find out who made the video. Wikipedia led me to the Steve Barron page.
Nearly all of his videos are classics, not just because many of the songs are classics but because my memory of many of these songs is inextricably linked to their visual counterpart. He manages to deliver three act mini-narratives with intertwining band performance footage without privileging one over the other. The videos are truly balanced works of film making and commercial functionality. Here are links to some of his videos on YouTube.
A-Ha - Take On Me:
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing:
According to the Music Video Database he made this two months after the a-ha video. Can you imagine any contemporary music video director making two genre defining videos in a year let alone a span of a few months? The only thing I've never understood about this song is how the singer insists on saying "faggot" THREE separate times. We get the point the first time and all it does is make you think they're really focused on promoting their homophobia.
Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked:
This is one of my favorite videos from my early teens. Much like the ground-breaking Money for Nothing video he incorporates 3D animation into band performance. Here is my comment on YouTube: "It's amazing how much this video shares with the film version of Sin City on a visual level. The green screen generated high contrast black and white with red highlights is a total match. If you took out the 1992 Lawnmower Man style 3D animation segments this vid would be considered way ahead of its time." Of course someone took offense to my comments on the effects. hateoprah49 wrote, "that animation was damn good for 1992. this video probably won a shitload of video awards" Fair enough. What I was saying is that the 3D effects were firmly 1992 but the other effects actually look fresh in 2008.
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Everyone knows this video, it's 100% pure classic, and for whatever reason YouTube won't let you embed it. We wouldn't want bloggers putting that video all over the internet and forcing millions of people to watch the video yet again. Here's a link to the video on YouTube.
Bryan Adams - Summer of 69:
He takes narrative elements from the songs and actually adds to them rather than just illustrating them. He provides a larger visual context.
Toto - Africa:
This video is incredibly visually inventive. It uses an image of the band playing on a giant stack of books sparingly but to great effect.
Don Henley - All She Wants to do is Dance:
He even made an addition to the post-apocalyptic genre. This came out the same year (1985) as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The post-apoc disco set is amazing.
Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me:
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon:
Human League - Don't You Want Me:
I wonder if this was the first video to break down the fourth wall with a "music video inside the music video" concept. Damn, and the final shot makes it a video inside a video inside a video.
ZZ Top - Rough Boy:
Shit, I don't remember this video. This is the first time I've seen it and it's insane. Watch this now. It features ZZ Top all sci-fi style playing their instruments, singing, and being super bearded in hovering boards. They look like mounted deer heads. The song is a total waste but the imagery is incredible. It features a torso-less pair of walking stockinged high-heeled legs. Not to be missed.
He was one of the early practitioners of the medium and is perhaps the quintessential mini-narrative music vid director. There are plenty more videos I didn't include here. Maybe I'll do a second round. I wish this story had a happy ending. I would tell you that his brand of short storytelling lent itself particularly well to the big screen but unfortunately that is not the case. I won't go into too much detail but here is a list of his feature film credits: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Coneheads, the Adventures of Pinnochio... Not bad films per say but absolutely mediocre compared to his stunning videos. Not all directors are able to transition into film nor should that be the final goal of all directors.
Nearly all of his videos are classics, not just because many of the songs are classics but because my memory of many of these songs is inextricably linked to their visual counterpart. He manages to deliver three act mini-narratives with intertwining band performance footage without privileging one over the other. The videos are truly balanced works of film making and commercial functionality. Here are links to some of his videos on YouTube.
A-Ha - Take On Me:
Dire Straits - Money for Nothing:
According to the Music Video Database he made this two months after the a-ha video. Can you imagine any contemporary music video director making two genre defining videos in a year let alone a span of a few months? The only thing I've never understood about this song is how the singer insists on saying "faggot" THREE separate times. We get the point the first time and all it does is make you think they're really focused on promoting their homophobia.
Def Leppard - Let's Get Rocked:
This is one of my favorite videos from my early teens. Much like the ground-breaking Money for Nothing video he incorporates 3D animation into band performance. Here is my comment on YouTube: "It's amazing how much this video shares with the film version of Sin City on a visual level. The green screen generated high contrast black and white with red highlights is a total match. If you took out the 1992 Lawnmower Man style 3D animation segments this vid would be considered way ahead of its time." Of course someone took offense to my comments on the effects. hateoprah49 wrote, "that animation was damn good for 1992. this video probably won a shitload of video awards" Fair enough. What I was saying is that the 3D effects were firmly 1992 but the other effects actually look fresh in 2008.
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
Everyone knows this video, it's 100% pure classic, and for whatever reason YouTube won't let you embed it. We wouldn't want bloggers putting that video all over the internet and forcing millions of people to watch the video yet again. Here's a link to the video on YouTube.
Bryan Adams - Summer of 69:
He takes narrative elements from the songs and actually adds to them rather than just illustrating them. He provides a larger visual context.
Toto - Africa:
This video is incredibly visually inventive. It uses an image of the band playing on a giant stack of books sparingly but to great effect.
Don Henley - All She Wants to do is Dance:
He even made an addition to the post-apocalyptic genre. This came out the same year (1985) as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The post-apoc disco set is amazing.
Culture Club - Do You Really Want to Hurt Me:
Culture Club - Karma Chameleon:
Human League - Don't You Want Me:
I wonder if this was the first video to break down the fourth wall with a "music video inside the music video" concept. Damn, and the final shot makes it a video inside a video inside a video.
ZZ Top - Rough Boy:
Shit, I don't remember this video. This is the first time I've seen it and it's insane. Watch this now. It features ZZ Top all sci-fi style playing their instruments, singing, and being super bearded in hovering boards. They look like mounted deer heads. The song is a total waste but the imagery is incredible. It features a torso-less pair of walking stockinged high-heeled legs. Not to be missed.
He was one of the early practitioners of the medium and is perhaps the quintessential mini-narrative music vid director. There are plenty more videos I didn't include here. Maybe I'll do a second round. I wish this story had a happy ending. I would tell you that his brand of short storytelling lent itself particularly well to the big screen but unfortunately that is not the case. I won't go into too much detail but here is a list of his feature film credits: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Coneheads, the Adventures of Pinnochio... Not bad films per say but absolutely mediocre compared to his stunning videos. Not all directors are able to transition into film nor should that be the final goal of all directors.
Labels: brian adams, classic, culture club, def leppard, dire straits, director, don henley, human league, madonna, michael jackson, music video, narrative, steve barron, toto, zz top
posted by mores at
11:56 PM
1 Comments:
People should read this.
October 29, 2008 1:02 AM
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