The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (official video) from The National on Vimeo.

         

meh.

         

he looks like my dad.

         

I really like this track, but it seems like they could have done a lot more with this tune than just shots of the vocalist leaning out the window of a web cafe.

         

I totally disagree with you, guys: this video works perfectly for the track. The "meh", "looks like my dad" and the lazyness is, in my opinion, exactly what they were aiming at. Just love it.

         

Black and white should be shot on film. Shooting on video and turning down the saturation doesn't work.

         

yeh, c'mon, there's this (almost funny) frenchity about it.

         

my main concern is it took 3 people to come up with this.

         

"Arty vids with nothing to say.. We're antville and we like arty vids with nothing to say.."

         

this is a fine example of a boring, soulless, styleless video.

         

Gar I hate Justin Bieber's new video garr

         

It works for the track. A little variety wouldn't hurt, what's arty about it? this isn't Mark Pellington.

         

Barely anything. There's barely anything to it, I'm afraid.

         

what sucks is probably 75% of the cool directors out there would kill to do a National video. Good chance they'd pull a ton of favors and make something excellent.

These guys just handed the reins to some of their friends and made a 'who cares about videos' video. Of course they're free to do whatever they want; but it's a missed opportunity. Their "Mistaken for Strangers" video was equally regrettable.

         

Bingo.

         

Actually the first video was shelved. This was a salvage job by friends and family.

         

15 comments for this video/band?

         

technically speaking 17.

         

18!

Jason, did the first video get posted up anywhere, or was it unreleased/unfinished?

         

If you listen the lyrics, I think the song suits a stripped down b&W video. Extra shot variety would be the only thing I would add to this. -j

         

for whatever reason, i can't stop watching this video. i think it's kind of great in that it's just a shrug. more variety of shots would be good, also i wish it was shot on film but otherwise i think it's kind of perfect.

         

Berninger stole my coat. Bastard.

         

For what it's worth, I was supposed to do the "Mistaken for Strangers" video. The band said they didn't want to dress up, act out a narrative, or anything like that. They wanted to do something simple. I sent an email asking, what about something like The Replacements' "Bastards of Young"? They liked the idea, proceeded to ignore my subsequent emails, and the next thing I saw was that Matt's brother directed a video that was just that.

Not too long later, a friend of mine interviewed The National for Time Out Magazine, and he remembered that I was supposed to do a video for them. He suggested we run a sidebar about how The National "fucked me over" as per the song.

I said let me try emailing the lead singer one more time. I mentioned in my email that I was friends with the editor, saw that they were "inspired" by my idea for "Mistaken for Strangers," and said that I'd still like to do a video for them. This time, the singer responded within hours saying, "Of course they'd think of me for the next album."

And of course, like Charlie Brown believes Lucy, I believed him. I emailed the lead singer again a month ago asking about submitting for the new record. No response. And now there's this.

How many directors does it take to make a mediocre video for one of the best bands in music today? Three.

         

Don, sad story, but maybe you were spared. Obviously, they aren't interested in making a good video, and I'm sure that they're working with a budget of zero dollars and whatever the director is willing to pitch in. You'd have ended up with a bad video with your name on it and no money to show for it. Are these three dudes at the top of this post any better off in their lives or careers for having done this video? I'm not sure.