kolley_kibber, 23. April 2008, 01:50
Duffy 'Warwick Avenue', Dir: Dan Wolfe

         
zzzzzz
         
I think they sort of half got what they were going for, but no...
         
was kinda sorta slightly moved by her performance, but that cut at the end clinched it...no.
         
ever the cynics round here...
count me captured.
(specially considering what was planned.)
         
Oh, no, dreadful. She's a trooper but this does her no service.

I spent the first minute and a half praying it would cut away and develop into something, then, when the camera's not moved by the start of the second verse, praying that they'll have the guts good sense to stick with the apparent 'single-take' - and they don't manage that either. I'd be even half-mollified if they'd managed to make a feature of her 'oops-I'm-not-miming-all-of-a-sudden' reality-hopping but it doesn't happen.

This MUST have been a contingency video (à la official mv for Love is a Losing Game). Dear, dear, dear.

sorry, teeny edit to keep it pertinent
         
This isn't what Dan shot for. I don't know whether this cut was his favoured cut (I wouldn't think so) or the record companies requested cut (I would imagine so) but who knows... It's kinda wrong to speculate.

Good performance from an artist well known for being quite shy. She's a big artist (in the UK) number 1's, heavy playlisting... I think we should praise it's balls at the very least.
         
hmm. who knows what to say. that cut at the end's bate for sure i know that much.
         
for whatever reason this clearly isn't the video that dan intended to make, i wonder if the person who posted this knew?

he's a really cool director, and its good to see a performance that has a shred of genuine emotion backing it up. i like it that the cuts at the end cause her to drop some of the vocal..... it's a nice touch.
         
from what i've heard, this came serendipitously during the shoot, took form as an alternative during the edit, needed some convincing of the commissioner to present, and was finally chosen over the originally planned video by duffy herself.
         
This is really interesting... You can see that she puts her hand up midway through the long take as if to say- OK, enough. But then carried on...

Some context:
www.mtv.co.uk

My assumption is that the decision was made that genuine emotion is stronger than all the bells and whistles money can buy...
         
no cut no!
         
Honestly, the cut only matters to anal film school types. Who cares? It doesn't take anything away from the video.
         
Actually, the cut...ANY CUT, should matter to everyone...that is why editing is so important. Doesn't work so well here but i guess the best take ran out.

Too many videos are edited without real consideration for the music or the image in my opinion...
         
and you would know scooper, because you're a really, really good editor, arent you.....
         
Whoa! Edit critics / cynics, calm down...
Who said they wanted this to be a one-shot anyway. I remember it cutting around 0m16s. The cuts at the end set it off really nicely.

If only more promo editors had the good taste to let clips run out more often. This is a really affecting piece of film making.

Good job done.
Well done Polydor for not forcing Daniel to stick to what he shot and for realising that sometimes the film that works (and gets the best emotional return) is not always the film you had in mind while shooting. Well done Daniel's editor. And well done Daniel.
         
Andrew1. I never said i was a good editor did i? I simply had an opinion. You simply had a pointless dig...

This is a brave and strong video emotively I just wish it had held until the end. Right, I'm moving onto a different thread now...
         
This is probably the best performance i've seen from an artist... seeing that she came from wales is pop idol Daniel has transformed her into a REAL artist in BOTH of her last videos.
         
Hmm, not sure. 'Performance' suggests that the artist's in control of the material - here it seems to be taking over.

More unscripted crying in shot:


         
who invited uwe boll?
         
FRAME: Great counterpost. Sinead's performance is actually a performance, while Duffy is clearly lip synching. Her crying feels uncomfortable. She doesn't want to be in the back of a car with a film crew pushing a camera close to her face. Not moving at all. Rather flat considering. And like SPIT said, all the edit comments are irrellevant.
         
i'd be curious to see an alternate cut with that other footage. But i dont mind this cut. her face is interesting and this fits with the emotion of the song. Great moment when she seems to almost stop in the middle.
         
"all the edit comments are irrellevant" say whaaaa? if you didn't like the way it was lit, would lighting comments be irrellevent? if the make-up was dodgy, would those comments be irrellevant too? personally, the cut at the end screws the emotion for me. if it's all about the emotion, then hell yeah it's relevant.

sorry, rant over.
         
I watched about half of this until I saw something shiny and couldn't be bothered anymore. She doesn't have the screen presence to hold my attention for that long, and I didn't buy the crying as genuine.
         
Duffy? I thought this is a blog about good music/vids?! What comes next? Amy Winehouse? *lol*
         
Francis Ford Coppola once said that the biggest fear a director faces is being labelled pretentious. But if you push through that fear and when it works, you can reach new heights. I think this video is a prime example of that and my hat goes off to everyone involved. Great work.
         
to rephrase spit (and lusk, i believe): it's only film-schoolers who see the one-take as a holy grail. and: word, stratobee (sorry, lusk).
         
PROG: I don't find this pretentious at all. It's a one taker, no more no less...

Which makes me a little puzzled when reading strato/adam's comment above... Cause his comment reads as slightly pretentious, but the video is not.

To reiterate, the performance feels flat because it's false. She's not singing. She's lipping and her expression(s), lack of concentration, and attempt to signal the camera crew to cut take - seem to come from what appears to be discomfort.

LOZ: The edit comments are irrelevant because the decision(s) made DO NOT detract from the final product. Again SPIT is right on. And SCOOPER, I'm with you 1000%, but considering what you do, you know it doesn't take away from the piece. Would a one shot be nice? Sure. But the edit is not what hurts this video...
         
lusk - okay, i'm with you on this video, it's not the edit that i don'y like, it IS her performance... that basically doesn't hold enough. it was just the edit that tipped me over the edge.
and for my penny's worth - i don't think it's pretentious, it just doesn't do quite what it should...