30frames

Referential

2011-03-03T09:01:00.001-08:00

Let’s talk about references in music videos. Yes, again. But I don’t wanna delve into who copied whom or how the new Gaga clip is either aping a variety pack of science fiction films or maybe just the opening credits of Tom Cruise’s Legend. Anyone who actually makes music videos getting worked up about this stuff is either lying to themselves that they haven’t ever included reference images and

Calling the kettle 'Deep Onyx'

2011-02-17T12:05:00.000-08:00

So, what has been going on? Any news in the music video world. New Radiohead music, new Britney video ... Oh yeah – the DefJam/Rihanna/LaChapelle battle over the provenance of the Melina directed video for ‘S&M’. As stated over on VideoStatic, the specifics around what is and what isn’t stealing/copying/whatever is kind of well-trod ground and I don’t want to go over anything frame by

The video needs to be amazing

2010-07-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Is that you, tube? It's me, Judas

2010-07-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

Remember me? Last week, Videostatic tweeted about this article in Newsweek – referencing how music videos are back. Back I say!! I had missed the article for two reasons. One, I was unaware that Newsweek was still a going concern (I’m also weirded out by

Same As It Ever Was

2009-12-09T08:29:00.000-08:00

Does this sound familiar to anyone?There has been much talk about YouToogle and possible replacements for the titan of web video. No one is happy with the picture quality of Das Tube – other than R Kelly who enjoys the graininess because it allows Kells to claim that ain’t him sexing the underage girls on the home video.There will someday (and soon) be a new and improved YouTube. Maybe Google

G versus B

2009-11-17T11:34:00.000-08:00

G versus B is not a reference to gerardvsbear – but rather Gaga v. Beyonce. The biggest bit of recent video battling (sorry Breezy and Rihanna) has been BK from Texas tryna stop the onslaught of Lady Gaga. So far, it isn’t working. Gaga released her Francis Lawrence directed clip for ‘Bad Romance’ last

Lactose Intolerant

2009-10-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Like an infant burping up his dinner, the internet offers up new content and then it goes away – only to reappear on another site where Mommy comes in and wipes it off again. The most recent one of the ‘watch this link before it goes away’ clips is the Kanye-Spike Jonze collaboration for ‘We Were Once a Fairytale.’ I gather this is a mini-movie and

MAPS - 'Where the Streets Have No Name'

2009-09-07T10:42:00.000-07:00

So today is Labor Day and on this second most American of holidays (after ‘Bring your Gun to Work Day’) what better band to focus on for a MAPS than the one that loves America the most - U2. Sorry, chest thumping country artists, your love for America pales in comparison to that of Bono, Adam, Larry and the guy that refuses to admit he is bald. ‘

Shifting Targets

2009-08-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

A decade ago in music videos, if a label wanted a director for a specific job, and the director knew he was the first choice, that director could come up with a concept that cost more than the label’s desired budget. If they wanted to spend $400k on a budding pop-diva’s first single, the director could add in some helicopter shots or post effects and get the budget up to $550k – and a lot of the

Required Reading

2009-08-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe I have neglected to link to this guy, perhaps I am just jealous that he is a commissioner AND out of the blogging closet. Tim Nash works at Atlantic UK, but I love him because he posts the good shit.Anyone involved in music video production must read In Your Face. Yes, he jumbles up the capitalization, but my rum-and-silver-polish cocktail is really kicking in now, and there

MAPS - 'Desolation Row'

2009-04-07T06:48:00.000-07:00

As part of the very popular ‘MAPS series’ here is part two, the Tower Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The Tower was built in the mid 1920s, a fertile period for the kind of construction that is a boon to music videos hungry for production value.Downtown LA has a couple streets and corners that can convincingly play the role of a big city on the East Coast – one of the reasons that lots of videos

I Don't Wanna Grow Up ...

2009-04-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

I know, two posts in a week. It's like the old days.Idolator linked to this post on Tripwire about a super-indie band called Team Robespierre and their recent, failed, efforts to get one of their videos played. The video has a very, um, “home made” quality to it – but apparently MTV was allegedly going to air the clip on Subterranean. The post is a blow-by-blow of how the band got the run around

Maps - 'Southern California'

2009-03-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

This is, I freely admit, an odd idea for a post and I imagine doing more of these, but who knows how that will really turn out.In 1995 Spike shot a video for the band Wax – the one where the guy runs in super slow motion to catch the bus. You know, the video where the public transportation enthusiast just happens to be on fire. It made a stink with MTV at the time because of the fire and the

Ulterior Motives

2009-03-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

Lots of videos get made with some kind of ulterior motive in mind.Maybe the director wants to shoot a car crash for his reel. Maybe the label is getting a big wad of cash to promote a movie.The label might be promoting a product for money. (Hello, PCD)The artist might be promoting their own line of clothing/vodka/acne cream. (Hola, Puff)Maybe the artists just wanna party with some bikini clad

Triangulating

2009-02-20T10:01:00.000-08:00

If you read this blog, I am sure you have heard about the new music video site 99dollarmusicvideos. I realize I am a bit late to the game since the site has been getting talked up on Videostatic, Idolator and the Ville (where 99$V has drawn less commentary than the ‘controversy’ about Kanye and data-moshing).The idea behind 99$V is a clever one and will surely draw attention to a few interesting

Where are you?

2009-02-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Good news, DJ Khaled is still alive, and nowhere near the white Bentley roaming LA in a slow speed pursuit. But, the Miami based DJ/producer might have been depressed because the best-ever Khaled music video got made – and he wasn’t even in it.On Saturday Night Live, the Lonely Island guys did a digital short for a song of their new album, Incredibad. The song “I’m on a Boat” is just about the

Zombie Blood

2009-01-28T09:28:00.000-08:00

So John Landis, the director of the most famoustest music video ever, is suing Michael Jackson for a portion of the profits from 'Thriller.' The shocker is that the contract actually says that Landis is entitled to 50% of the profits.I saw this over on VideoStatic yesterday. The story is big news, especially since Jackson is selling the rights to 'Thriller' off to a company that will try and turn

Un-Real Estate

2009-01-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all!Hey, I got some mail. Okay, not really mail, but over on the ‘Ville, a poster named budget added the following comment:Would you please weigh in on this article: Music Industry Looks To Internet For Revival Particularly this quote: "Universal Music, the industry leader, has said that it makes “tens of millions of dollars” from YouTube." We're making 10k videos that end up

Man, That's a Lot of Holes

2008-12-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

Lots of interest (okay, nerdly on-line levels of interest) about a recent study in the UK that seems to indicate that our economy 3.0 savior, the Long Tail, may not have nearly as much salvation on board as some have hoped.Read the London Times article and the thoughtful response from Mike at Idolator. Between bouts of overdosing on rum balls and Kiefer-ing my Christmas tree I decided to add in

Hide-A-Band

2008-12-08T09:21:00.001-08:00

If a musical act or artist is good (or lucky) they get to stick around long enough to have a lengthy and profitable career. If they are really good (or extra lucky) they might stick around so long they don’t want to be in their own videos any more.This post is about the game of ‘hide a band’ that certain videos play. Squirreling away the artist in the deep background (or out of the clip all

Never Gonna Give You Up

2008-12-01T10:05:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,It has been a long time since I posted. How long? Well the stock market was still a place you might want your money. Tina Fey was still most famous for her ‘day job’ on 30 Rock.Also, that was before the launch of MTVmusic.com. I have lost major stretches of my waking life clicking around through the old clips on mtvmusic. Yeah, for the intertubes!Other sections of the net still do some

Shamwow?

2008-08-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Sign up for new cable/Netflix/phone/porno-website service for just $12 per month. Of course, that is only the first three months, after that the twelve bucks becomes $59 – the REAL price. Most adults are familiar with the bait-and-switch strategy and won’t fall for it. At least not more than once.Hey, I was in Thailand, and it sure LOOKED like a pretty girl, how was I supposed to know ...How does

Flip it and reverse it

2008-07-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Over on Videostatic there is post about the Pharcyde (sort of) reunion video, but the hidden gem in there is the original treatment for the Pharcyde video “Drop.” You know, the one in the alley where everything goes backwards. You can watch it here.Now check out the treatment. One page from Spike, complete with teenage text0r spelling (see, he WAS ahead of his time). The concept and the execution

Recognize

2008-06-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder how to get started directing music videos? Check out the Music Video Training Center.Drill down through the site. Watch the videos, read the success stories and get all the technical advice (many amateurs forget step #2) you can't find anywhere else.If this doesn't give you the break you need, I don't know what will.Drop me a comment and share what you have learned.

Dot Com

2008-05-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

I know that some music video sites have shifted into summer hours to allow more time out at the Hamptons – but not here on 30frames.Note that several of the links below include cussing and/or boobies.How times have changed – music videos used to be a powerful creative force that shaped what was seen as cool and hip. Those days, as you may have read, seem to be over. Now music videos are

I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today

2008-05-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid I would (occasionally) shoplift a candy bar from the corner store in my neighborhood. It seemed logical at the time, after all these were adults with a great big store – they would hardly miss my 50-cents, right? Going past that place as a grown-up I marvel that it is still in business. So tiny, so few items for sale and how much effort must those people put in to be open so many

Museum Quality

2008-05-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

This started out with me writing about how the only place that seems to play music videos (other than the YouToogle) these days is museums.Bjork took her claymation-y “Where The Wilds Things” are Choose Your Own Yak-venture to NY’s Natural History Museum. This Jakob Trollback guy spoke at the TED conference and explained what music videos really SHOULD be (and we all know that this is MY gig).

Platypus

2008-03-19T14:46:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts – sometimes I feel like I have run out of things to say, so I just go back to the classics.The music video industry is in an odd place these days, where it is neither fish nor fowl. Budgets have dropped (see, I told you this was a classic) but the expectations have not changed. And I don’t mean just the expectations of what will end up on screen, I mean all the other

Blessed Mockery

2008-02-14T10:48:00.000-08:00

There is this dim-bulb chick from a dopey reality show who has recently made a “music video.” The clip is not very good, but if you see how they made the thing – this is no kind of surprise. The song is goofy and the video is worse – even the fact that the video’s star is a blonde in a skimpy swimsuit showing off the goods in a way that seems like it is aimed at getting clicks 9and other

Reeling in the Years

2008-02-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

A high-school reunion usually prompts people to try and get themselves together – or at least act like it. Gym memberships, Rogaine and spray-on tans often mark the lead up to the big event – but they can’t quite make us look as good as we did back then.“Thriller” is like the one person coming back for the get-together at the Double Tree that everyone remembers clearly. In fact he has been the

When it rains, it pours

2008-01-15T08:51:00.000-08:00

On top of all the problems experienced by working production professionals – death of music industry, typical January blahs, some kind of strike – we have also been visited by another bit of bad news. What, no rain of frogs?!?Axiom, one of the major production pay-roll companies went under – taking many millions of dollars with it. My favorite definition for Axiom is “A self-evident principle or

Loss Leader

2008-01-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

The LA Times did another one of their “Ultimate Top Ten Lists” – cataloging the artists that have made the most money in the last year. The musician with the biggest/longest tour are always the champs and in 2007 it was The Police that earned the most. Less than 10% of their earnings were from selling music and the bulk of the cash came from concert ticket sales – it helps to have an fan base

Jingle Bells

2007-11-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

At the LA Auto Show, the prominent color this year was green. Hybrids, Variable Displacement, Fuel Cells and all things gas-saving were in the spotlight. Even the Porsche SUV, the Cayenne, had a partially electric version on display (though still a plan rather than a buy-able product). Cadillac displayed a hybrid Escalade that had chrome “Hybrid” badges big enough to compete with the 22-inch rims

The Perfect Drug

2007-10-26T15:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks to kureman over on antville for posting this clip.Here is about thirty minutes of behind the scenes footage on the making of Mark Romanek’s iconic 1994 video for Nine Inch Nail’s “Closer.” The featurette is broken into three separate sections and is overall relatively interesting.Romanek was always a great MV director who I wished worked more and this is a decent glimpse inside the mind of

A Single Cell

2007-10-22T16:34:00.001-07:00

Businesses come and go. They are born and then they fold. The “Conestoga wagon construction and repair industry” fell by the way-side. At some point, a sweaty man hauled the last block of ice up a flight of stairs to chill the last real “ice box” – perhaps someone was sad about that. Certainly the “airbrushing things on the side of Dodge vans” industry has seen better days. Perhaps those jobs

Will the last Famous Musician to leave please turn out the lights?

2007-10-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

The business side of the music industry has been getting heavy coverage the past few days. From Britney’s video adventures with the vertical brass cylinder, to Radiohead’s groundbreaking (groundbreaking, I say!) new strategy and Madonna’s new school all-in-one deal with Live Nation. There has been plenty of hype, but …The Britney thing? Next.Radiohead and Madonna are intriguing because these are

Check Ya Net!

2007-10-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Gotta love Busta Rhymes getting down like a Senator. No, not in a "wide stance" kind of way but in a "Intranets is a series of tubes" kind of way.Check out the onsmash clip of Bussa Buss decrying the good ol' days (hey, that's my gig) and remembering the time when he spent millions on recording before "the computer caused that fuck up." Busta is, as always, hilarious and gives voice to the rarely

Gimme Less

2007-10-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hey, did you hear? There is a new Britney Spears video. It hasn’t been getting much press (well that and the Radiohead pick-a-price adventure) – so I thought I would let you know about it.I do not want to get into piling onto Britney’s personal life or pointing out all the substandard elements of the clip. Anyone with eyes can see that. This is an actually decent pop song with a flat and

Hooray for White People!

2007-10-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

The music industry has a long history of white people “borrowing” the coolest cultural elements from black Americans and using it to make money. I’m not even gonna get into all the examples, they are legion.In Chris Rock’s 1996 stand-up special “Bring the Pain” he talked about how there weren’t any cool white people any more, just white people trying to act like they are black to be cool. I

Revising History

2007-09-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

Before you read this, you have to check out James’ post over on SRO. Seriously, this whole post is me arguing with that post, so you better read that first or this will make even less sense that I normally make. And it's pretty good, too.James is definitely correct that MTV was never perfect. Many people in the MV community have an incredible amount of nostalgia for a Viacom sponsored Utopia

On the Down Low

2007-09-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Retirement is not permanent. Not in boxing. Not in entertainment – especially not in the rap game. Anyone who was surprised that Jay-Z released his “Kingdom Come” comeback CD after “quitting” to head up Def Jam, well, Kanye and Fiddy have a bridge they wanna sell you.However, I was surprised to hear recently that Jay-Z has another album coming out – less than a year after his last one. I first

Esperanto

2007-09-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

If you work in music videos you have probably had this conversation with someone – perhaps a relative, someone older than 25 or pretty much anyone not in the “tween” or “hipster” demographics. They are the Normal People.NORMAL PERSONWhat do you do?YOUI work in music videos.NORMAL PERSONReally? I love music videos! Which ones have you worked on?YOU(Name of most recent job) NORMAL PERSON{Blank

Stacking Chips

2007-09-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Not to start this down the road of the Mac/Win wars, the Sunni/Shia thing is bad enough – but Apple announced some new products and it started me thinking.It seems that only ones really winning in the new music marketplace are at opposite ends of the (perceived) quality spectrum. On the “low” end is Koch Records – a record label that was once the 99-Cent Store of labels, but now seems to have a

Another Opposite World?

2007-08-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

I have posted before about Obtusity and how different the posts are from what I do here. I poke around in the whys and the hows of video making and the 'Tus captures the layered meaning and art of it all.Another web source I turn to a lot is obviously Videostatic and I have written about that before as well. But Steve over at VS has gone and flipped the script on us.Check out his philosophical

Choppin' Necks

2007-08-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

There are two new music videos that borrow from a recent ad campaign. This is not unusual since TV commercials rank just behind feature films as the main “inspirations” for music videos. The unusual part is that both these new MVs are biting the very same advertisement …The HP “Making Computers Personal Again” spots. There are lots of commercials in this campaign – including snowboarder Shaun

The Cone of Silence 2: Eclectic Boogaloo

2007-08-06T07:03:00.000-07:00

This is the second in a series of anonymous email interviews with music video industry insiders. This time we are lucky to get input from a young, but very accomplished director who definitely plays the game by their own rules.When you first got into music videos, was directing videos the goal or did you see it as a stepping stone to commercials/features?Music videos were the only real goal

The face of Viral Video

2007-07-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Pardon me for the possibility of dead horse beating ...Last weekend's feature film box office receipts illustrate exactly why "viral video" is a terrible business model. Look at the photo atop this post. Have you seen it before? How many hundreds of times? Miss Lohan literally could NOT have been receiving more attention last week - just before the opening of her new film I Know Who Killed Me.

Real Big Fi$h

2007-07-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay between posts. Real life intrudes …Anyway, the LA Times ran an article on Sunday about the growing trend of “indie” or “alt” artists getting their music placed in television commercials for the most surprising products. This once verboten avenue for money and exposure seems to be getting more well trod and respectable by the minute.The article treats the issue of

There is no God but God

2007-06-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

HBO’s new comedy show “Flight of the Conchords” has obviously brought a lot of comparisons to Tenacious D. It is easy to understand why – two guys play guitars and sing funny songs while seemingly waaay too into it and believing they are (or are soon to be) massive rock stars. Jack Black and Kyle Gass have dreams of arena rock while the Conchordians imagine (or joke about imagining) a world where

Leakers Almighty

2007-06-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Wednesday afternoon the kind folks at Idolator linked to a new blog (so new it really had no posts) that is all about leaking the names of people who leak tracks. I’m pretty sure that this guy posting the names of bloggers who post unauthorized tracks on another blog is not gonna “solve” the music piracy situation – but it is a funny situation.Many commenters on Idolator and the dude’s blog (

The Cone of Silence

2007-06-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of anonymous email interviews with music video industry insiders. Up first is a major player at a very major music video production company.What kind of things does an executive producer do on a daily basis?I’m not sure how it works at other, bigger companies, but at my company the executive producers are involved in every aspect of the music video process. My

Like, Wow

2007-06-15T07:45:00.000-07:00

Just a quick one before the weekend.When the Esquire article came out in January of 2001 it created a pretty big stir in the music video world. A very high-profile director of the poppiest of kiddie pop videos was revealed as a former pornographer. And not just some soft-core Cinemax stuff, this guy did the hardest, weirdest dirty movies that anyone had seen. Based on that description, can you

Whaling

2007-06-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

In casino parlance, a Whale is the kind of big time gambler that gets all the comps and upgrades – because despite the effort and expense, the high-rolling whale ends up pumping major cash into the house’s pockets. In the world of music videos, the whale is just as profitable and the opposite of the mirage – but the whale is rare and getting rarer.As a side note, did anyone else who saw "Ocean’s

Grande

2007-06-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, I would drive my parent’s car past Taco Bell to get to Del Taco (or even better, the locals only Benny’s Tacos). Why did the probably intoxicated me choose the Del over the Bell? Because their cheap-ass bean and cheese burrito was larger so I got more calories for the same $1.49. Yum. The Benny’s $1.49 burrito even had something meat-like in it. Ultra-Yum!As a more grown up

Fan-made Shark Jumping

2007-06-03T21:46:00.000-07:00

I know I touched on this before, but does anyone still think that fan made music videos are going to be the next wave?Here are some suggestions from the site for the newest fan-mercial contest from Heinz Ketchup.• Try describing your idea in one sentence—that will keep your commercial simple and single-minded.• Turn on the TV if the ideas aren't flowing and actually watch the commercials. What

Shweddy Balls

2007-05-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

The drummer from Semisonic, Jacob Slichter, wrote a pretty cool book about his life as a “sort of” rock star. He has a self-depreciating wit and the kind of insiders perspective that I enjoy.Slichter did a five minute piece for NPR on his band going through the process of making a video. The clip was from the 2001 movie “Summer Catch” starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and the pre-workout, pre-Jeter

Tick, tick, tick

2007-05-23T08:27:00.000-07:00

The Alarm ClockWake-up calls are a pain. No one likes to get up before the sun, but music video production usually means starting the day when it still doesn’t seem like day. To get everything done in the time allotted (usually one day in 2007) – things need to get cranking early. The crew arrives, the generator fires up and mmm, mmm “courtesy breakfast.”But then comes the nerve-wracking part

And the Winner was ...

2007-05-17T13:29:00.000-07:00

MVPA Awards 2007Wayne Isham received the lifetime achievement award at the MVPA Awards Wednesday night. There have been twelve other winners, and all of them deserving (Fincher, Julien Temple, Jeff Ayeroff, etc). But look at Wayne’s credit list and marvel that it took as long as it did. My guess is that this is the first night in 12 years worth of award shows that MV’s Falstaffian clip machine

Listen all of y'all it's an arbitrage!

2007-05-14T09:22:00.000-07:00

First up, this guy DID win “last year's overall CIPS Supply Management Award” which sounds so Straight-outta-Slough I can barely wrap my head around it. So he is “good” at his job, which apparently entails being a major tool.Check out the photo accompanying the fawning article, he seems to be auditioning for the BBC version of “The Shield.” He is Bob Brimson and he is the guy that makes sure

Keeping it Clean

2007-05-09T08:01:00.000-07:00

I know the topic of fan created videos has been covered before – both here and other places, but I though recent events justified a new mention.Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal had a whole article dedicated to the “downside” of fan created videos. Seriously, it is sub-titled “Hundreds Enter, but Some Complain Winners Are Often Pros Seeking Exposure, Not Loyal Listeners.” You can read the WSJ piece

The Mirage

2007-05-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

Some jobs seem just over the horizon and that is where they will always be – tantalizingly out of reach for a director or production company.Most directors have worked on concepting some job that seems to be within their grasp. They talk to the label. They might talk to the artist. The re-work the idea based on the input and then – the job goes to someone else. As frustrating as that can be, I am

Making Movies

2007-04-27T08:37:00.001-07:00

There is a new Ludacris video for the track “Slap” directed by Philip Andelman where Luda plays the Travis Bickle role from Taxi Driver. Now that is a weird and inspired choice (though not quite as weird as that Three Six Malkovich clip from a few months back). As I was starting to write about the Luda video I saw that the gloriously “elbow-patched corduroy jacket of videos” that is Obtusity had

Looking Back, Seeing Forward

2007-04-25T08:07:00.000-07:00

In last Sunday’s LA Times Magazine (sorry, West) there was an article by noted photographer Robert Landau about his relationship with the massive rock and roll billboards that used to line West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Landau grew up in the area and started taking photos of the billboards at a young age. The LAT article is interesting for the great photos which you can sample on Landau’s

Always be Closing

2007-04-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

How NOT to get the jobBefore you can shoot the job, you have to get the job. Here is a quick list of the best ways to not get hired to direct a music video.10. Focus on the part YOU likeIf you really want to blow your shot at the gig, never make the treatment, the pitch and the reference images all about the performance, or the artist’s chance to show off their acting chops or polish their street

Up in the Perms

2007-04-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy reading "inside the electric department" posts from Peggy Archer (a nom de blog) over at Totally Unauthorized. She posts about all the lighting work she does, from major music videos, to odd stuff she finds behind the scenes of big-budget movies, the stupidity of shooting in houses with winding driveways to the sofas she finds by the side of the. She is a good writer and her nuts

The White Whale

2007-04-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Movie reviewers like to criticize certain films that they perceive as being over-cut for their “music video editing” – and it is not a compliment. Some old school filmies blame MVs for ruining the attention span of the planet’s young. But I would say that many video directors and fans are less obsessed with super fast edits than they are with …One take videos. Every director who has ever made (or

Weekend link

2007-04-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is an old piece from studio daily.com that gets opinions from a lot of heavy hitting MV directors (Patty D, Sophie, Meyers, Nava) and some high-end tech people on the state of the music video industry as well as their own creative strategies. It is from 2004 and even way back when there is lots of talk about falling budgets which never gets old (okay, maybe a little). Three years on, though

Herd Dynamics

2007-04-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

Into the penFollowing the herd is not a lot of fun. The view isn’t so hot and you usually step in much crap. Then, why do so many videos do exactly that, follow the herd?The herd is eternalWell, making videos that are largely the same as others in the marketplace is certainly not new. Many folks, me included, remember the past as the good ole days where everything was better than it is now. By

Homebrewing it up in the national news

2007-04-08T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick weekend note. Once the mainstream media get a hold of something, you can tell it is no longer news ...The LA Times did a big Sunday Calendar piece on user generated music videos and fan-based stuff.This critical mass of contest-generated fan videos has got music video-dom's most in-demand director, Marc Webb, for one, thinking about his career. "A music video is a symptom of the

Derelicte

2007-04-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

I guess this is just continuing the Zoolander theme established in a hilariously truthful post over on Shots Ring Out. You should check it out, both for the Mugatu image and for the “so crazy it can’t be real” reality of it all. Anyway, read on, once you come back …In the recent Los Angeles edition of City Beat (our second-tier free medical marijuana and massage parlor ad paper) there was an

Cold Lamping with Flavor

2007-03-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Directorial StyleDeveloping a distinct style as a music video director can be tough to pull off in the marketplace – with the realities of satisfying the desires of labels, managers, artists and product placers making a director’s reel jump around like Everlast.Do directors WANT to develop a distinct style to call their own? Should they? I don’t think there is one answer to that.Directors with a

Killing the Messenger

2007-03-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

No one likes to hear bad news. I certainly don’t. But few people care about bringing me bad news. They just go right ahead and lay out all the stuff I don’t wanna know. Why? Because I am not famous.When musicians start being called ‘artists’ they start getting used to no one telling them anything they don’t want to hear. Labels don’t want to and the managers certainly don’t want to. Artists

Limeys in the Sun

2007-03-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Euros love the desert. Especially those Commonwealth types from England, Ireland and Welsh-land. The love them some videos in the desert, probably because their local “warm vacation spot” is Brighton.Every Continental director (and most of the artists) I have worked with has really, really wanted to shoot in the desert outside of LA. They all feel that the song in question (no matter what it is)

RIAA = Villain

2007-03-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

How evil is the RIAA?Seriously, how baby-eatingly bad is the RIAA? Are they Hitler bad? Slobodan Milosevic evil? Maybe just Dr. Evil semi-evilish?The RIAA has been under some serious heat from them there intranets of late. By enacting the strategy of suing anyone who doesn’t genuflect fast enough, the record industry is shooting themselves in their be-spatted foot. Yes, the RIAA is doing a whole

Tumbleweeds 2 - Death of a Salesman

2007-03-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

This is a (sort of) sequel to another post.FM Rocks was the largest music video production company in the world over the last decade and a half. They were the home of directors like F. Gary Gray, Paul Hunter, Dave Meyers, Bryan Barber, Benny Boom, Jake Nava and Erik White. FM Rocks did videos like Notorious BIG’s Hypnotize, Beyonce’s Crazy in Love, Outkast’s Hey Ya and hundreds of others. FM

Going to School on Porn

2007-03-08T10:17:00.000-08:00

Music videos have always shared something with pornographic films. Many of the same, smaller San Fernando Valley soundstages are used for both kinds of production. The same kind of “outlaw” personalities were involved with making porn and promos. Heck, Eddie Van Halen is even writing skin flick scores these days.In the early days of videos when clips were shot on, um, video – the same camera

Viral Video re-infection

2007-02-28T13:14:00.001-08:00

Make sure you read the previous posts on viral videos or you will be wondering why I am starting with the number four.Once again, I am back to pontificate on why I think the whole “viral video” thing is such a non-factor in the world of music videos. There is some reasonable debate over what is and isn't a viral video. I would probably categorize a video as viral if it is getting passed around

Mystery Artist 4.0 - Live Free or Die Anonymous

2007-02-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

The Mystery Artist is back, and this time they are multi-talented - fucking shit up as much behind the cameras as in front of it. As always, MA is not Elvis, but that doesn’t mean bedazzled jumpsuits aren’t involved.MA is a big time mover and shaker – controlling careers and attracting as much attention as the artists who are being sold. Mystery Artist has their own recording career as well, and

Big Eyes

2007-02-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Driving down the coastal highway in Baja, south of Tijuana, I noticed two things – one, a preponderance of places to buy enormous ceramics that would crowd my vehicle for the rest of the trip and two, unfinished construction. I am not talking about a house that is almost done or a store that is party way complete. All along the main highway past Ensenada and Rosarita there are massive concrete

All Your Bases Are Belong To Beyonce

2007-02-16T06:02:00.000-08:00

Beyonce is everywhere. From the cover of Sports Illustrated’s no-longer-controversial swimsuit issue to the red carpet of whatever awards show is shutting her out this time. Miss B is gorgeous and talented and every-fucking-where. And it looks like she is blowing it.Beyonce’s “Irreplaceable” has topped the singles charts since the last BSB record (or so it seems) – so how can I say she is blowing

Viral Video Infection

2007-02-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

This is sort of “part deux” for my preaching to the choir post from last week.Several commenters here and on antville took me to task for not acknowledging the power YouTube’s “viral video” effect. It is true I neglected to include the upside of video sharing in the last post. I was lazy, the post was already long and I believe viral videos are much, MUCH less infecting than many people

The Choir

2007-02-09T08:43:00.001-08:00

The way music videos are seen by people (a topic endlessly discussed here) today doesn’t just change the way labels/prod cos/directors profit from them – it changes what music videos do.Obviously, music video discussion sites like this one, SRO or antville are not for the casual fan. If you are interested in what other commenters think of the long-awaited Grizzly video, whether a thirty year old

The King is Dead ...

2007-02-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

The changes in the music video world are driven, largely, by record labels. Labels are consolidating and closing up at an alarming pace. When Tower Records goes under – you know things aren’t going well. But I would say that the softening/collapse/death of retail is still not the main reason for the shifting world of music video.The changes in music television are, in my opinion, responsible for

Opposite world

2007-02-01T15:27:00.000-08:00

This blog is rarely about me reviewing videos - both since there are many other sites that do that and since I find that stuff kind of beside the point. I enjoy the machinations, selling strategies, whys and wherefores behind the scenes far more fascinating than what usually ends up on your Viacom-owned video outlet.But, someone turned me on to a very literate blog that is all about the poetry

Is Warners/Capitol merger now inevitable?

2007-01-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Virgin and Capitol are getting folded in together by corporate parent EMI. The famous Capitol Records building may be turned into loft apartments (sorry, Sinatra sex-pad already purchased).In Friday's LAT, many expressed fear that all EMI/Capitol/Virgin operations for the US would be run out of New York:Art Alexakis, singer of the band Everclear, which has been on the Capitol roster since the

My Chemical Rickey

2007-01-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

On MTV's TRL today (January 24) there were two very disparate acts in the top ten. Okay, this is not unusual, but what was odd, was that both groups seemed to be wearing exactly the same outfits.Yes My Chemical Romance and Pretty Rickey both appeared in clips where they were dressed in matching band unis. Some kind of Drumline homage, perhaps?This has not happened since Rammstein and 98 Degrees

Shoving and Making

2007-01-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

Have you seen Video Static recently? No? Well, go there now.

Living History of Music Videos

2007-01-21T13:44:00.000-08:00

Nigel Dick is one of the top-ten music video directors of all time. He understands the business from the perspective of a label video commissioner and as the guy who did clips that ranged from "Hit Me Baby One More Time" to "Welcome to the Jungle."Apparently Nigel taught some kind of extension class and he has generously posted his lecture notes on his website. Here is a bit where Nigel

C.R.E.A.M.

2007-01-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

More posts are coming, not to worry.Below is an article from the Austin Chronicle about the realities of contracts and money for artists sign with labels. The Chronicle is the Austin version of the Village Voice or LA Weekly, you know, the free lesbian personal ad and medicinal marijuana website paper. By the way, if you think this blog is way too concerned with business and the record industry

The Posse Blocker

2006-12-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

Just a quick hitter for Kev.I was talking to a very experienced urban director and we were laughing about all the dumb stuff that must get shot on a video because the artist wants it. Like his new custom Nike's or him with his main girl or his friends/manager/posse getting wild in the club. Shoots run long, artists are late - and even though the director doesn't wanna waste film or (more

The Grammys are hooked

2006-12-09T13:01:00.001-08:00

The list of Grammy nominated videos came out this week. I believe the selections are solid and remind me of the choices the Grammy voters seem to make every year. In the same way a famous actor playing a character that is fat/ugly/retarded almost assures an Oscar nod, the Grammys seem to look for certain things.The main thing they look for is a “hook.” Hooks are good, they sell treatments to

Wait, Now Hip-Hop is Dead?!?!

2006-12-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

If it’s in the LA/Chicago Times it must be true. Right?There is a piece in Friday’s edition of the Los Angeles Times explaining how the lack of Grammy nominations in hip-hop means that rapping on records has lost it’s creative steam. Certainly the best judges of what is and is not a creative force in music are the septuagenarians and Steely Dan fans that make up Grammy voters.Some of the article

Technology to the FUTURE!!!

2006-12-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

This was inspired by another conversation over on antville and shots ring out.There has been much talk about YouToogle and possible replacements for the titan of web video. No one is happy with the picture quality of Das Tube – other than R Kelly who enjoys the graininess because it allows Kells to claim that ain’t him sexing the underage girls on the home video.There will someday (and soon) be a

Mystery Artist III

2006-12-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

Once again, the photo here represents our Mystery Artist (previous incarnations are here). The MA in question is not Elvis but is very, very famous and not dead. Almighty Spell-Check help me now … Schadenfreude.A few years back, there was a pop star-slash-actor appearing in a kid-centric feature film. The pop star had begun their career working for the kiddiest of all entertainment enterprises,

Is YouTube dead?!?!?

2006-12-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Of course Das Tube has not died. It is still there. Trust me. Click on over and see Tyler’s birthday party. All is still in order.But when an “underground” phenomenon starts getting written up in major media outlets (think of grunge on the cover of Time magazine) it usually means the “hot, new thing” is waning faster than a Pro-Activ shilling Diddy.When the LATimes does a piece on how “graying

Tumbleweeds

2006-12-01T10:20:00.000-08:00

Many of you will wonder, “Why in the hell is this guy writing the same freaking post again?” Well, I wonder that myself sometimes. On the automotive industry blog call “The Truth About Cars” they have written over a hundred posts about the inexorable demise of General Motors, so I am just biting their style.Over on the ‘ville there is a discussion about a contest to finish a video for The

Ambition

2006-11-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

Time for another run into the mail-bag. Please understand that nothing I write is THE answer. These are only my opinions, and should be treated as the ramblings of some dude with a laptop and the time to write this kind of stuff.“A question I have as an aspiring MV director, (beside the obvious 'find a new career'), is how much of being successful merely relies on being at the right place?I look

Share and Share Alike

2006-11-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

One of the movers and shakers over on the Ville, spit, asked me the following question:I guess what I'm confused about is the lack of aconnection between music video sales (through itunesand dvds) and music video budgets. The itunes storesold over a million music video downloads in littleover two weeks when it first opened, and it seems likethese days every artist on a major label ispractically

Distro

2006-11-15T14:45:00.000-08:00

The driving force in the changes taking place in music videos is distribution – how videos make their way (or don’t) from the artist or label to the end consumer. Music consumers who watch videos only know about videos if they see them and they only know what the screen and speakers tell them – even if those speakers are on a cheap lap top or the screen is a smudged cell phone LCD. I have been

Static

2006-11-14T17:19:00.000-08:00

In the glory days (yes, I am writing about THAT again) there was a trade publication called CVC that covered the ins and outs of the music video industry. CVC was something that insiders subscribed to so they could see who booked which video and which rep signed what hot new director.In 2004 CVC folded and the editor started a website, Video Static, that does much of the same stuff. It is a very