Jon Watts shot the band-approved spot on July 15-16 in Brooklyn. I assume you'll hear more about it soon.

The Lee Lenox one isn't half bad, but this is just so the self-hype doesn't get more out of hand than it already has. Kudos to most of you Ant Villians to seeing through the madness from the start.

Nice try, anyway.

         

I don't think this is a spec piece. I was shown it last week when it was awaiting final approval from TVOTR.

I guess it's an official UK video.

         

Well shit it's gone! Original post too. Quick! Anybody got either in their cache?!

         

curioser and... oh, who really gives a flying toss?

         

I'll be surprised if it's their official video for the UK... but stranger things have happened. And with Beggars Banquet/4AD releasing them in Europe and Interscope in the States, two videos isn't out of the questions.

         

I think it's actually been very interesting. I'm convinced now, whereas before I could only speculate, that the original thread with fairypigcock was a fabrication, and a pretty clumsy one.

Something clearly manipulative like that is going to get an angry reception and while I didn't think the video was top notch, the comments about it were pretty harsh. No surprise, then, that Mr. Lennox would pull it down.

The idea of contagious media is media that spreads by word of mouth and the internet makes that near instantaneous -- but the internet is also a shrewd customer for the very same reason -- millions of voice able to speak.

I think it's been an interesting object lesson that the laws of marketing and tom foolery are a wash out on the web.

I'll step off my soapbox now. I'm only renting it, anyway.

On that note, and for the sake of a record, below are the comments received on the actual vid itself:

bout f-ing time

direct blip.tv

kevathens, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 02:57 here's the direct link, lee

mr lennox, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 02:59 cheers kev

kevathens, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 03:10 Hype aside, that was excellent work. Watched it twice, and it all clicked into place on the 2nd go-around. Especially dug the surrealism cap'd in that previous post

lusk81, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 03:41 Well I know you want some constructive crits: Right off the top, I gotta say that it feels rather uneven throughout.

For instance, in the beginning, do those editorial 'bumps' help in any way? I would say that entire first half of the piece is all over the place and would work so much better if played straight up. Weird pimp gets inside red riding hood's car. They drive around. Falling deeper and deeper into the forest.

Like let it sit. I still dont really understand the male character - is he a pimp? I don't know. But by having that first ride build (genre style), it would've been so much more effective -- so when we go to kaleidoscope dream world, that will hit with a really strong wallomp of something really happening (or brewing).

Overall the effects work feels very stock. Even the smoke. That's taken straight off the smoke CD! But more importantly, the vfx feels so 'different' from everything else. It needs better incorporation. You start to do that by layering/screening the effect - but I feel like it needed to go even further and interwoven so much stronger.

I really love that sexual intro: Stockings, close ups on eyeball, lipstick etc. Now why do we lose that charge? If riding hood is going out on a romp, why do we lose the romp? Cause the rest of the time she just drives around looking....uhm....asian?

If you kept that sexual vibe, not only would it supercharge the track (TVOR's best by the way), but it would also help add an erotic layer that I feel is needed and completely missing overall. I'm not saying the girl has to be a model or act model like. I'm saying deviance.......

As for minidv, why did you go handheld for so much of the piece? If you locked the cam more, it would've helped the aesthetic ten fold. Ahh, so much more....

commissionergordan, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 03:59 WAYNE!!!!

Wayne the wolf, excelent casting. Nice one Lee. Big up the Hunters Bar crew.

captainmarc22, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 04:39 hype is right... that was very mediocre.

lusk I agree that editing with those bumps were super irritating.

The story took FOREVER to get going... it felt like they were driving for half the video... give em something to do...

I dunno, the structure was nice but it really had a film school horror film vibe to it.

And c'mon, the modern day fairy tale? So played out.

Though I did liked some of the abstract effects.

but wasn't this supposed to be directed by Jon Watts???

www.videostatic.com

spit, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 05:11 Yeah, I'm really not sure what to say about that. It was extremely slow-- there was a section in the middle that was dedicated to 45 seconds of the driver and passenger exchanging glances-- and a lot of the effects felt sort of forced, like they were there due to a lack of coverage, and not to move the story or the mood. Most of the post effects- the 'bumping', the half-hazard editing, and the 'smoke', felt superfluous. And the story- where was it? I'd be interested in reading the original treatment. Does the band know about this video?

captainmarc22, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 05:28 actually i was wondering that too- is this a spec?

coady, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 05:32 I think you guys might be being a bit hard on this. Remember, it is a long song. There are some moments that really stand out, like when the woman's expression changes in a split second. Many of these visuals are genuinely hypnotic (to my eye).

(I am, however, still suspicious about the long posting that proceeded this video and the origin of fairypigcock.) ... edit ... delete

chadmarigan, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 05:57 Why is there a Star of David on the moon? Is it suppose to be a pentagram?

coady, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 06:11 It's a pentagram, bro. You're watching too much CNN. ... edit ... delete

yesman, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 06:16 It's gotta be a spec, it looks really budget!

setanor, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 06:27 This isn't a Jon Watts video. This is a spec video. And it's got "Underground Notoriety!!!" because of the previous thread.

najork, Thursday, 3. August 2006, 06:57 There are some great bits here, where the visuals are striking and timed perfectly to the music. I feel like it's sort of uncomfortably on the fence between being all abstract and sensational, and being a coherent narrative (which would need allot more character development).

Is this his first mostly non-aniamted video? "Girl and the Sea" set my expectations rather high.

         

Some missing comments in there, for the record. I added a comment later..

I disagree with my original 'excellent' (sorry, lee). I agree more with najork and c'marc's 'film school horror film vibe'. Pretty good, still.

(Anybody got that techwizard post?)

         

my comment was (mas o meno):

abstract romp, sexual smoke, yum. the rest... ho-hum.

isn't it a bit of a risk to pull a stunt like this in the incestuous/internecine world of hip videos? "the only comments i care about is the band's and TVOTR love it"... hmm.

         

Although I thought Lennox's TVOTR video was half baked I seriously doubt it was a spec. Was likely a UK commission. The production value was not spectacular but the budget for this must be well beyond the means of either Draw Pictures or the director. Lighting up a forest isn't cheap, especially if it was shot in the UK. (which I'm guessing since commissionergordon knows the talent).

         

Anyone have the video they could send to me (and I can upload it to my server in turn); the original post is clearly gone and the blip.tv link isn't working for me.

         

This is not a pentagram. It's the star of David. A Pentagram has 5 points.

         

ed2k://|file|TV.on.the.Radio.-.Wolf.Like.Me.mpg|67696644|45877ECBAEE88C00A5EF715549361D97|/