kevathens, 7. February 2006, 17:28
A-ha "Take on Me" (1985), Steve Barron


This video is still amazing. Would we be here without it?

devilducky mp4
         
Maybe the best ever.
         
oh come on - its technically excellent but also sentimental clap trap for a crap boy band!
         
Video goes very well with the song, that's all I can say.
         
HASS: Sure the piece could do without the girl crying at the end but c'mon - there's utter gems here: Via frame (dolly) we have our two protagonists see each other in their own respective fashion. They escape a surreal universe by ripping a hole in it. Racing bad guy pipe men come to fuck them up in illustration world! Man comes back to life by slamming himself into walls until he shakes himself of the illustration!

This is just great.

Editorially this is one of the best edited promos of all time. So sharp! That opening sequence is incredible.
         
definitely one of the best ever.
         
Did they used a MAC G5 for this ?




:P
         
yes.
this
is
just
great.

andthesong2
         
Not sure if you guys are up on the career of Steve Barron, but check out the rest of his music video credits.
www.mvdbase.com

They include, Dire Straits "Money for Nothing", Michael Jackson "Billy Jean", Tears for Fears "Mad World", and the Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole "Unforgettable". Features include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Coneheads, the Merlin miniseries, and now (how convienient) Choking man. www.ghostrobot.com (temporary website, sorry)
         
IMO, that "slamming into the wall" part was a direct lift from the end of Altered States.
         
I'm steve's wife. We're reading all this with much appreciation. Yes he did lift Ken Russel's Altered states images but more as a homage.
         
About half a year ago Noodlestickx wrote:
"did they used a MAC G5 for this?"
Answer is:
Nope; before the Mac age, this was all handwork, frame after frame of film drawn over by hand, by the two animators Canadace Reckinger and Mike Patterson.
Took them about three months.
         
Hi, Just found this site.
Hi Andrea/Steve.
I was the assistant editor on this video. Nice to read the comments on the editing. It was edited at Rushes Film Editing in London by top-editor-of-his-day Mr Richard Simpson on 16mm film (can't remeber if it was Super or Standard 16mm - frame shape suggests Std 16). I remember having to eye-match the rotoscoped images to the live-action edited cutting copy; not easy on 16mm lol.
Nice to have worked on a classic!
email: avtar@cutandrun.tv
         
literal version - don't miss.
(who - apart from dustball - will do more of these?)
         
Family Guy's take on it.
         
Quake on me
         
dek: hehehehehehh.

avtar: respect & kudos. let's hear it for all the unknown assistants... it's what makes a man i reckon (having spent a long night or hundred myself as an a assistant trying to eyematch/sync/reconnect/wrangle the computer).

classic vid, classic tune, nice post.