criterionforum.org

THE MUSIC VIDEO MINI-LIST
September 24 - October 14 2019

What is a music video, for the purposes of this list?
A short film constructed and dedicated solely to presenting one song with visual accompaniment.

What is not a music video, for the purposes of this list?
A filmed live performance. A commercial scored by one song. Excerpts from feature-length films.

Am I voting for the music or the video?
Call it the OK GO Rule: you’re voting for the video itself, not the music. Naturally, all of us are far more likely to vote for a video that both presents a song we enjoy and does it in a novel/fun way than we are to vote for a cool video for a song that sucks, BUT keep in mind you are not voting for the song except for in consideration of how it is integrated with the video. Lots of amazing songs have shit videos— maybe call this aspect the Pavement Principle?

How many music videos am I voting for?
25, in ranked order, PMed to zedz by Monday, October 14. This is a MUCH shorter timeframe than our usual list projects, but that is by design as we had some extra time between the other planned lists. Please keep the deadline in mind when planning.

Can I post YouTube links to videos I like in this thread?
Can you? Yes. Should you? Also yes. Will you? Hopefully yes.

EDIT: The YT playlist has been nixed, sorry folks!

So something like Anima, which is three songs long, would be ineligible?

I haven’t seen it, but based on that description, no, it’s not eligible

You say no filmed live performances, but does that extend to music videos made up of footage from one or more live concerts set to the studio version of the song?

Not that I expect anyone to vote for one of those.

Good question. That would be eligible. An actual live performance, like from Unplugged, a concert, or one of those raw street performances, would be ineligible

I’m going to go ahead and unlock this a day early since the other mods prob didn’t realize it was locked and if we’re discussing this we might as well all be able to do so

Let me ask, hypothetically: if this HAIM video that I may have submitted as one of my five is a live performance but also the official video for the song, where does it fall?

That’s a live performance, so not eligible. I should mention there are certainly live perfs that I love and cherish and which I’d vote for in a heartbeat, but doing so is clearly voting for the song/perf and not the video. I suspect all of us can quite easily find 25 music videos that fit the perimeters

Gotcha. New PM coming your way, then...

You're breaking poor Paul Thomas's heart over here

You can still vote for all those Fiona Apple videos

Anyone interested in MTV-style music videos of the era when their format was dedicated to videos (1981–1992) absolutely should not miss the oral history book I Want My MTV. It not only contains many incredible stories, anecdotes, and behind-the-scenes observations and shit-talking but it also made me rethink a few basic things I'd assumed when watching the videos in that era. For example that the musicians starring in them were excited to be making the videos and thought they looked cool in them—often the opposite was true.

I'd expect that many will be voting for more recent videos that are better-conceived and less dated looking than most of what came out of the '80s (before video making "went corporate" and people were still generally making things up as they went along, often with shopworn concepts and a small budget).

Gregory wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:10 pm

I'd expect that many will be voting for more recent videos that are better-conceived and less dated looking than most of what came out of the '80s (before video making "went corporate" and people were still generally making things up as they went along, often with shopworn concepts and a small budget).

I’m slowly going through all the MTV VMA nominees (with the intent of doing a short write-up on each, but we’ll see...), and yeah, a lot of them aren’t anything to write home about. Still, there are a few gems that hold up for their sheer weirdness.

I mean, when I think artists who changed the music video game, it’s like 90% Michael Jackson, who turned videos into mini movie events and hired top talent to do it, and forward-thinkers like Peter Gabriel (all of the videos from Us are wonderfully weird explorations of what CGI could do in the early 90s)

soundchaser wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:14 pm

I’m slowly going through all the MTV VMA nominees (with the intent of doing a short write-up on each, but we’ll see...), and yeah, a lot of them aren’t anything to write home about. Still, there are a few gems that hold up for their sheer weirdness.

WTF Thriller lost Best Video to the Cars???

Didn’t Kurt Loder once admit there were a few years where they just let him choose the winners?

Very few of the videos from the 90s hold up— the best of that lot of winners is surely Virtual Insanity, which is a marvel of low tech effects being weirdly compelling and uncanny, though still not enough for me to vote for it

I have a few contentious contenders on my list, so let me ask you if they are eligible :

PINK FLOYD - Another Brick in the Wall (1979) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvPpAPIIZyo film or music video?
Natalie’s Rap – SNL (2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A0iftflme4 comedy or proper music video?
WEIRD AL YANKOVIC - Amish Paradise (1996) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg parody or music video?
SIGUR ROS – Route One (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54tllj-SKI + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szbGc7ymFhQ the longest music video of all time?

Take on Me by A-Ha still looks amazing even today. Even if the ending is a blatant copy of the climax of Altered States!

What is the guidance on 'unofficial' music videos? I have a number of videos that even if I cannot vote for them I would love to be able to highlight, simply because they fit their images to the music so perfectly.

The one for "Another Brick In The Wall" should be considered eligible, it was filmed right around the time the single came out and has pretty much nothing to do with the movie which came out a few years later. Strangely whenever VH1 Classic would play a video of the song, it would be the scene from the movie, not this.

domino harvey wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:27 pm

WTF Thriller lost Best Video to the Cars???

The first of many, many injustices. Wait until we get to all the terrible Taylor Swift videos beating all the good Taylor Swift videos.

BenoitRouilly wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:37 pm

I have a few contentious contenders on my list, so let me ask you if they are eligible :

PINK FLOYD - Another Brick in the Wall (1979) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvPpAPIIZyo film or music video?
Natalie’s Rap – SNL (2013) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A0iftflme4 comedy or proper music video?
WEIRD AL YANKOVIC - Amish Paradise (1996) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg parody or music video?
SIGUR ROS – Route One (2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G54tllj-SKI + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szbGc7ymFhQ the longest music video of all time?

Yes to all— the SNL one is a good question I hadn’t thought of, but in this case it’s a filmed Lonely Island single/video, so eligible; Parodies are def eligible; PF Video predates movie, so eligible; long-ass music videos are fine, so long as they’re covering one song— my understanding is that the SR nine hour video is just one (presumably drone-looped) song, right? If so, eligible

colinr0380 wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:41 pm

What is the guidance on 'unofficial' music videos? I have a number of videos that even if I cannot vote for them I would love to be able to highlight, simply because they fit their images to the music so perfectly.

Eligible, so long as they fit the other perimeters

So like, amvs are allowed?

I just Googled that— assuming my understanding is correct that they are fanvids compiling clips from shows to accompany a song, then yes, they fit the perimeters

That's what they are. Also, I think that's the first time I knew an internet word you didn't rather than vice versa.

Gregory wrote: ↑

Mon Sep 23, 2019 2:10 pm

I'd expect that many will be voting for more recent videos that are better-conceived and less dated looking than most of what came out of the '80s (before video making "went corporate" and people were still generally making things up as they went along, often with shopworn concepts and a small budget).

I've actually got a few 80s videos in mind already, but two in particular that could probably be described as "dated looking" and "just making things up as they went along" are:

"Eyes Without a Face" by Billy Idol

"All the Things She Said" by Simple Minds

There's seemingly just a lot of random stuff going on in both of these that has little if anything to do with the actual songs. They are more like tests for 80s video effects than artistic representations of the lyrics. But the Idol video has just a touch of perversity in it, with his arm being tightly strapped as if being prepared for a shot, a group of hooded figures popping up for no apparent reason, and a woman on the receiving end of a massive explosion of fluid. Not to mention that trio of Flock of Seagull-esque girls miming the chorus. I only just saw the Simple Minds video a few years ago on VH1 Classic and was mesmerized by it. With its sparkly night sky, exotic birds, and splashes of bubblegum pink, it reeks 80s fantasy aesthetic to the point that you almost expect a unicorn to go galloping by. But the care taken to film the three group members multiple times, performing the same verse and similar action but with the camera passing by just a tad later is highly effective.