I first saw this video a few years ago when the song came out, and was not at all impressed with it at all. The video basically shifts locations as the band is playing the song. In place of creativity and a great story line, this video tries to substitute effects and high-budget filmmaking. This song has a great story behind it that I believe is not being told through this video.
I believe that instead of spending a lot of money on intensive graphics and special effects, the emphasis should've been placed more on the meaning behind the song. Overall, I think this video served its purpose of drawing attention to the band, however this video could've been much better if given the proper time. For this reason, I give it a 2.0 out of 5.
This is a very simple dream sequence video. It tells the story of the rapper Jeremih being poor and driving around in an old station wagon trying to impress girls with his duct-taped televisions in the back seat, fake spray-on jewelry and old 90s cell phones. At the end, after the girl leaves his car, he wakes up in his mansion with another girl and is glad it was just a dream. However, as he is falling back asleep, a dog with a flea cone from his dream walks across his bed, symbolizing that maybe it wasn’t just a dream.
I was impressed with the storyline of this video and I can honestly say that this wasn’t what I pictured at all when I first heard this song. However, I feel that this story despite being excessively corny, works a lot better than any other generic rap videos out there that are simply about how much money they have. I think this was a great humorous video and so I would give it a 4.0 out of 5 rating.
This video uses an interesting reverse tactic to illustrate the story of a tragic accident. The video starts out with Chris Martin, the band’s lead singer waking up on a mattress in a run-down urban area. He sings the lyrics to the song as we follow him in reverse through a city, railroad tracks, a forest and eventually to an old BMW he was driving. At the end, we realize the reason for his loneliness and wandering. We find out that he swerved to avoid a truck and his girlfriend was thrown out the windshield of the car because she had removed her seat belt to put her jacket on.
Figure 1
This video used this reverse film style to the best extent possible. I was really impressed with several shots in the video, particularly the one where Chris Martin is seen walking in reverse with the railroad tracks directly behind him (Fig 1). This could’ve been a great picture in and of itself and I feel it did capture the sense of loneliness portrayed in the video. I am a big fan of this style of filmmaking and I would give this video 4.7 out of 5 for excellent usage of a wonderful genre.
This is another example of a great promotional music video featuring heavy use of graphics and a simple formula of the band playing in one location with different effects. This film’s main purpose was to promote not only the song “New Divide,” but also the movie “Transformers 2” which features heavy use of the song. There were two versions of this video, one with clips from the film and one with just the band. The one I am reviewing is the one featuring only the band.
The film is set in what appears to be a dark, underground cave. As the band plays and their music gets more intense, the use of graphics flare up to highlight this increase. The film switches between plain shots of the band without any effect and graphically intense shots with orange and blue tints featuring clouding and snow-like effects outlining the band as they play certain parts of the song. The video also features an unnamed female character, possible representing the Mikaela character played by Megan Fox in the movie.
In conclusion, this was yet another example of a great promotional music video. Through the heavy use of graphics to complement a popular rock song, I think this definitely brought a good image to both the song and the video. For this reason, I would give this video a rating of 4.5 out of 5.
This video has been one of my favorites for a while and was one of the first videos I actually purchased from iTunes because I got tired of waiting for it to load on Youtube. I really enjoyed all the different angles, shots and techniques used in this film. Even though it is a very simple style of video, it is one of the best of this style I have seen.
The film takes place as the band plays in a fenced-in concrete courtyard situated in an urban area. It switches periodically from shots of the singer to shots of the rest of the band. The video opens in an urban, barbed-wire area and with a view of the band from the perspective of a small camera hidden inside a fire-hydrant. Eventually the video ends with the band playing with fiery silhouettes of themselves in the background.
In conclusion, this was a great rock video that compliments the song very well. I could truly feel the pulse of the music and the sense of paranoia the band was trying to portray. I loved the different shots and techniques used, and for this reason I give this video a 4.4 out of 5.
This video keeps very much in the same tune as the TRON: Legacy movie for which the song was made. It features a heavy use of 80s-esque computer graphics, possible paying a tribute to the original TRON movie that came out in 1982.
The film opens with the two members of Daft Punk walking into “Flynn’s Arcade” in full leather “Daft Punk” regalia. They proceed to the back where they begin to play a game featuring the title of their song, “Derezzed.” They are transported into the game where they eventually have to face off in a digital jousting competition. They lose, and at the end, Olivia Wilde, who stars in the movie, removes her helmet and reveals that she was the rider on the red mechanical horse.
All in all, this was a great music video and I feel it supports the movie very well. The digital feeling is there throughout and you do begin to feel that you too, are inside a video game. The shots were chosen very well and I believe that the intro scene is very essential to the whole video. As they enter the long-abandoned arcade, you know that something strange is about to happen. I would give this video a 4.0 out of 5.
After reviewing the Black Keys’ music video for “Just Got To Be,” I tried to think of other music videos that pulled off the concept of just a singer and a band playing in one location without necessarily any storyline. I wanted a video that was even simpler than the one by the Black Keys. I found just what I was looking for in Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” Music Video.
Released in 1986, the video immediately shot to the top of the charts and is credited for most of the song’s instant success. It was ranked number 3 on VH1’s Top 20 Videos of the 1980s, and for very good reason. The video is extremely simple and features Robert Palmer singing the song in a black tie and black pants surrounded by mannequin-looking, identically dressed high fashion models pretending to play various instruments. The background is some type of cloudy red sky and the “band” is playing on top of what appears to be a dirty concrete floor. The film does not feature many quick, fast cuts like the Black Keys video does, however, I don’t feel it needs them. It still is able to cut with the beat and switch from shots of the models, to shots of their instruments, to shots of Palmer with great ease in transition. Really, the acting by Robert Palmer and the casting of the models are what made this film great.
This video is definitely a classic. Directed by famous British film director and photographer, Terence Donovan, this video created a style all its own and set the stage for many other similar music videos to follow. For this reason, I feel it deserves at least a 4.9 out of 5. It was the first of its kind and is still the model for all other music videos of this genre.
