Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Saturday 15 August 2015

Baeble Blog: FKA Twigs alt 20 min art video

NB: The video explores sexual themes (especially in the 2nd piece), though without nudity, and does have 1 instance of swearing about 14 mins in.

The Baeble blog is a good place to look for examples of unconventional work for inspiration, ideas or simply to help evidence and justify some of your own whackier ideas as having antecedents in the diverse field if music video.

FKA Twigs has created a long form video to promote an EP, adopting a style that edges more towards art gallery installation than typical small screen fare.
Link below, but note content warning.

Chris Cunningham would be the most obvious influence, though David Lynch equally came to mind for the horror-tinged elements and general oddness. Some more conventional tropes are present and the final piece recalls Janet Jackson, Madonna and that modern-day mini-Madge, Gaga. 

Whilst somewhat challenging, the second piece, wherein Twigs becomes a literal doll, plaything, is an intriguing exploration (perhaps plain denunciation?) of the male gaze and its impact. 

I'd be curious to see how the BBFC might rate that piece alone; nothing explicit but clearly dark (so arguably disturbing) themes and tone, a borderline 12/15? The one swear word later on would not automatically disbar a 12 by the way.

Noting the content warnings, you can read the article here, or view the video below.

Its clearly been a successful campaign:
Heading towards 3m views (screenshot Dec 6th 2015)


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