Music Video Clichés
Hey antville! Spotted any good clichés lately?
probably retreading ground, but we're talking about clichés, right?
dancing hipsters (those American Aparrel ads now remind me of "1234"....)
roller skates
band playing on a tacky/kitschy talk show / game show / variety show / sit-com etc.
a new one: band playing people like instruments - I've seen 3 videos in the last few months.
topless girls for no reason other than to have an uncensored web version (Cribs)
Does the Klaxons video that Saam keeps making count as a cliché?
The band performing the song that the video is for.
the video is the casting session for the video.
How would you characterize Hey You and What I've Done? Charity vids? Maybe "Message" vids.
i'm with hakai, this is getting pretty ridiculous. think about how many different types of places you can shoot a video? They all seem to be on the cliche list now. desert. forrest. city. wherehouse. space. I guess arctic tundra is the only spot that isn't cliche. someone better hurry up and make a video there before its too late.
Posts about cliches? :) I love to see vids ham it up. These are weapons of mass awesomeness, imo.
Sorry Captainbob someone's already done it, everything has been done, we can only undo things now.
Also I couldn'tresist
ice floe - nowhere to go! (hilarious.)
There was a VH1 special of "The Top 100 Music Video Cliches." Problem was, by the time they got through 100 "cliches" they had pretty much ruled out 98% of video concepts out there. Plus their categories were stupid, like "hot girls" and "cars" and "fog machines." Thats all good, but I could make a video with those three things that is nothing like another video with those three things. Imagine Chris Cunningham making a video with hot girls, cars, and fog machines...and then having Wayne Isham make a video with hot girls, cars, and fog machines...I guarentee you they will be completely different, yet under the terms of VH1 they are cliche. Go figure.
captainbob, hakai; sure, one can make a really good video with a concept that's been done before. But EVERYONE recognizes a fresh concept when they see one.
If you really think about it everything is cliche. walking is so cliche. talking about cliche is so cliche... im not one to talk... i love cliches ;) but to me its not what you do its how you do it. its not what you say its how you say it...
"The Never Been Done Before" cliche. I am so sick of those.
so aside from okgo on treadmills can everyone list the one video from the last year that borrowed the least? That did its own thing the most?
When I met Chris Cunningham I asked him what advice he would give to a wannabe video director. He said to ignore what everyone else is doing and do your own thing.
Which new director is blazing their own trail and ignoring the history of music videos the most d'ya reckon?
The reason that alot of videos have cliche stuff in them is because when you pitch it to the label or the band, to get your imagery accross you have to refference sometihng that has already been made. So when you say, "Yeah, it will be just like Pink Floyd live at Pompeii" then thats what you end up with.
the reason so many videos you see on air are full of cliches is because bands, labels, and managers think if a video 'worked' for an artist the best way to make a video 'work' for their band is to make the same video.
try being a commissioner with a deadly case of boredom at all the shit ideas I get sent to read that are rarely original or clever, and then when I do get that great idea then having to try to convince the SHEEP to lead, and think outside of the box and go for it.
familiarity breeds contempt in some and comfort for others.
I'll tell you my least favorite cliche. Videos made with no money that suck and look like it and then people on antville talking about how cool they were because it was made with no money. Boring videos will always be boring no matter the price tag.
cheap does not = non sell out video
I miss the days, when people wanted to direct music videos because they had ideas and wanted to express them creatively not because they thought it would lead to making them money doing commercials for Tide.
I've said enough now, I better go commission a video to one of my own directors.... haha, see I told you I was Funny Antville!!!
yours truly , cathy pellow the last one left who still cares about music videos, if only I could get the rest of the mugs to give a crap.
cath, u know we all love ya, but: could you just name a couple of the looks-like-the-dime-it-was-made-with-so-don't-be-waxin'-all-lyrical vids you hate? just to make sure we're clear on what sux for you? kthxbai.
Cathy pellow makes me laugh...Good lord, what a fuck'in wind bag.
"could you just name a couple of the looks-like-the-dime-it-was-made-with-so-don't-be-waxin'-all-lyrical vids you hate?"
I guess I'd have to say all of wart hogs videos. haha.
I would not name names or point to specifics because to be honest, I hate haters so I'm not going to behave like one.
but crap like a girl walking through the woods and some dudes dressed like animals randomly popping up and then calling that good I just don't get.
I think moreso what bums me out is when bands I really love try to make the anti video which to me means they are making a video, but they don't want anyone to think they are pandering so they go out of their way to make something that to me becomes this phony testament to how they don't care about making a video - to that I say just don't make a video because when they do that I feel they actually hurt the music because the video brings down the song. I also get bummed when I see for example some cartoon video that has fuck all to do with the song it's completely random and has no connection whatsoever - thats as much as I will say.
uh oh.....are you referring to dougal's bat for lashes video???
i await the backlash.....
odd, when I was trying to think of the most original video I had seen in a few months, the Bat for Lashes is the only thing that came to mind... but didn't post it cause i thought someone would scream "furries!" (even though it's not REALLY a furries video).
I think everyone agress Tide commercials are lame. But overall, ad agencies are taking way more risks; the whole viral advertising has opened up a ton of new possibilites. Check out the DVD magazine shots or boardsmag you'll see how much amazingly creative work is being done in advertising; especially in Europe.
Ya know, especially compared to the music video world.... case in point, that New Found Glory video.
"Modern Rock Video Clichés" (with bonus extra: the script to The Perfect Video).
