Amerie "Take Control" dir: Scott Franklin
Is this the most disjointed and incomprehensible narrative video this month? This year? Ever?
Wow. Amerie, who is so gorgeous it hurts, plays a micro-mini-skirted spy/assassin/mistress. Also involved, a senator, a fashion photo taking paparazzi with ponytail issues and a LINCOLN NAVIGATOR. Seriously I have no idea what is going on here. But she look damn good. With such a strong base to build from, this clip could have used a healthy dose of simplicity.
I could only find it on Youtube.
I kinda like it - better than a fair amount of R&B stuff out there. The horns are really off, though.
I don't think the storyline is meant to be taken that seriously: Even when she's in the car, the shots are all her. The vid's more about Amerie than any plotline.
There are worse narrative vids. Check VH1 Classic for some of those. Maybe Richard Marx? Nah, Hazard was pretty cool ;) Maybe Hasselhoff..
I think the plotline was borrowed from Antonioni's Blow Up.
Yeah it's Blow Up down to the last detail except it's told from the girl's POV instead of the photographer's. Even the photo studio set up is the exact same. Seems like kind of a film-school geeky angle for an R&B video.
Narrative wise, I got most of it. It's not as bad as the Sexy-back video. Those freeze frames that say "eliminate senator" cracked me up.
That was a hot mess.
Here's mov: