Bat for Lashes Pearl's dream - dir Nima
really wanted to like this...but didn't.
I know this is Nima's M.O. but the video straddles the line between cool and cheesy and I'm afraid it may slip over onto the cheesy side more often than the cool. Also, as I watched the video I kept catching myself wondering how kids these days emulate their musical icons?
Back in MTV times, music videos set fashions, haircuts, and overall style. Whereas, nowadays, that doesn't seem to be the case and artists often come off more like runway models in terms of style - you can kinda see how what they're wearing is cool but you'd never in a million years wear that sh*t out.
On one level maybe it's more freeing and interesting to have our musical artists step away from dictating fashion for the masses. But, I look at a video like this, for an artist whose talent I admire, and if anything the video lowers my level of admiration because the artist looks like a regular person trying too hard to be different.
When you look back at artists like Michael Jackson at his height, or Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, or even as recently as Avril Lavigne and her necktie fetish, you see artists inhabiting their image and coming off as superstars while doing it. Kids copied them and even a few adults admired the new fashions while publicly complaining about 'kids these days'.
But now there is so little to look up to. Artists in music videos, even the most creative ones, often come off as regular people with an unusual job, or, even worse, they come off like the nerd in high school who can finally show off and does - like Bats in Nima's video.
And, to me, that indicates that we, as video makers, are failing at our jobs.
K
No offense K, but I don't think Bat for Lashes is nearly as popular as we'd like to all think. Comparisons to Michael Jackson and Kurt Cobain are a bit of a stretch...
I get your point though, and I agree with it. Dressing people up in elaborate costumes (tintori & the like) does not make your concept any better. I wish more directors would concentrate more on what the video should mean - and what it does for the viewer rather than try to just dress up a song.
It's so funny, most of these videos try so hard to be art, but the concepts are just so weak.
This shit is just some never ending hipster halloween.
Any video which doesn't showcase the artist's strength and looks bored doing it is not a good sign. This is ok. The girl looks tired, and pissed. I'm no expert, but a well executed treatment is paramount to what ends up on the screen. Drooling dogs? bestiality implied? Zanadu. I actually kinda dig it, people work hard making videos so it doesn't matter what goes on i'll still watch it it looks passable. I just think connecting the dots narratively is what should've been done in the result, it's so unfocused.
Upon closer inspection, why not go all Dino Delaurentiis / Flash Gordon and went all cheesy? certainly would get more attention by subverting the seriousness (read artsy) of bat for lashes music. All out cheese or no in between, I agree with the above poster it toes the line between the two but ends up in the latter due to the director's perceived conceptual aesthetic.
I think the Dougal Wilson video was the best at showcasing the artist, and she's been sagged by shitty videos (conceptually) on the new album. Does that translate in sales? it's a fine vid and the song is spacey, it's enough of requirement. The direction just screams "art" and well, that's what the director does. What do I see? that it was prob a one day shoot and they crammed as much as possible into it. Kept shooting and lost track of what it was supposed to be. (giggles)
Yeah, everyone looked bored in that video. Even the dog was yawning.
Normally I really like Nima's work but this just wasn't my cup of tea.
It's bored Lily Allen dressed like Lady Gaga.
The list of SUCCESSFUL videos where the artist appears detached (or blase' or tired or disinterested) is quite short. Making a clip with that as the core of the performance is always going to be a very high degree of difficulty.
The wire rigging work doesn't help it either. I mean, when it looks that obvious, what's the point of even painting it out.
Bryan, I love the Hipster Halloween comment. That's just artists being artists. Some are hits, some are misses. For every Bjork in a goose costume, there's a Karen O in a trashbag.
There's a lot that I love about this video. It's very Mulholland Drive meets a mystical wolf t-shirt. Which is awesome. And the planetarium stuff is rad too. Something about the whole of it feels off kilter, but it also might be the track. It's good, but nowhere near the eerie Portishead-ness of "What's A Girl to Do?"
Regardless, if they designed a T-Shirt from this video, I'd buy it.
Josh, they already have.
Note the reviews.
those reviews are almost as sweet as the sweet, sweet wolves shirt itself.
first off, for the video -- i give it mad props for the wolves. i have shot 2 (TWO!) videos with wolves in them, and that shit is mad difficult. the fact that Nima got a couple well framed, hot snarling-drool shots out of those beasts on a low budget / single day is a high five.
secondly - i don't see the detatched thing everyone's going on about. i do see some over acting, but there's a lot of commitment here.
thirdly - i like the look and feel and i like what's happening. i do wish the narrative had been stronger / more clear / more involved. i think i might be saying this over and over in videos im seeing these days... but strong narrative is probably going to be the best choice for anyone in our post-budget days. no one is going to beat the 90s era for high end art direction and great lighting, so let's not try to replicate their impressionistic approach to narrative, if you know what i mean.
oh also -- i could totally see steven tyler wearing that outfit in 1989. Or david bowie in 1977. and i think overall the criticism about artists dressing too arty is describing only a subset of musicians these days. these things are supposed to be fantasies, right? not transcripts of suburban lifestyles.
Maybe if the video was like a story Hmmmm little red riding hood story or something the video could of been great.
Even if this had a stronger narrative, impeccable wire work and tap dancing wolves it would still suck because she looks like shit.
I have no clue what you people are comparing this to in your head, getting all disappointed. It is what it is, not a compromised version of something else.
I honestly like this better than Dougal's.
The t shirt is better than the video. Is this a new trend?
REALLY wanted to like her after What's A Girl To Do, but found her first album boring.
Had hopes for the new material, but alas...
As far as fashion goes, I dig her style & as so many others, it may be all she really has to offer.
Besides, lest we forget this of European origin. That means fashion IS a crucial element & being English in particular, the bored expression requisite.
;)
Still, mov. anyone?
I dig it.
Most music video concepts are cheesy, it's the directors who are aware of the inherent cheese of this profession and harness it's power that strike me as interesting.
Nima is a director who is obviously aware of the cheese and slices it accordingly.
Speaking as someone who loves crazy fashion in videos and Fellinis it up whenever possible, I think the fashion is a problem in this video because the clothes are wearing her, not vice versa. She doesn't have the strength of personality to pull off the look.
(Also, Adam - in the UK we use half-wolves as wolves are endangered species; most animal trainers have access to them and they're actually pretty easy to shoot. That snarling looked like it was induced by salt or a little chilli on the gums or something.)
Her body suit is sexy. If it were me I'd lose the doppelganger in the audience and the interaction with the planets. Do more with the wolves. Wolves rock.
-j
But the cheese is too serious and theatrical to be funny. Was it supposed to be funny? cheese is kitschy out here, as American Apparel. Bodysuit sexy. Fashion is the subject notice people spending more time admiring the fashions than the video.
Maybe I'm just undersexed, but isn't she awfully dishy?
There are many flavors of cheese.
Fashion. Are music videos fashionable now? What crazy times we live in.
all i know is, next time i write "...and then we UNLEASH THE WOLVES!!" i'll append "...(in england)"
The infamous wig outfit is lifted from the designs of Martin Margiela. I think it was a good choice.
if i didn't know this was nima, i would have said it was saam... like the video though!
Does Saam still make music videos?
By now Im just going to assume that "Over and over" was a total fluke for Nima because like this damp squib all his other videos just seem to flop about like dying fish.
Oh c'mon, he's made lots of kickass videos (Jamie T, Jim Noir, Architecture in Helsinki etc..)
this? really?
the uk poster looks nice, www.vice.com
the movie looks like smth weve all seen before - adidas house party redux (i loved the ad), brought to you by kids with cells
"Kids film themselves. We've all seen shitty, pixellated footage of something interesting happening on YouTube. Kids today, that's all they watch, really."
fuck you, kids, and ur lazy film making really
The film looks cool and original and at this point somewhat unpredictable. Aren't you just happy for him doing a feature, guys?
a feature shot on cellphones by kids? nah, not really
It's called a "mockumentary" (a portmanteau of the words mock and documentary).
really? i didnt know this word like in cloverfield, u mean? or the blairwitch project?
u sound like a nice kid, let me ask you this, i dont no if uve seen it, is thin blue line a mockumentary? www.sbs.com.au
Yes, like in those movies. No, it's a documentary. See, it doesn't contain the "mock" element which would've made it a "mockumentary".
umm, but the academy thought it was a real mockery
^ Sharp, real sharp L :)
The Devil is a gentleman A swindler, living as he can
Seriously though, what are you talking about? The article you've provided doesn't say that. It's considered to be a documentary, like, universally.
its obvious u havent seen the movie so here it is, the abridged version;
◄ The Thin Blue Line (1988) Trivia
Trivia
Goofs
Showing all 4 items Jump to: Spoilers (2) Was rejected by the Oscars for Best Documentary category in 1989 because it was considered to be a fictional film due to its scripted content.
u should go watch it, its the best film ever made also, some further reading: www.popmatters.com
also, if mockumentaries have borrowed from docos, what about docos borrowing from fiction (and i aint talking docu dramas, am talking re-enactments) or even counterfeiting fiction (as was the case with flaherty's nanook of the north)
The article still doesn't say that.
IMDb aka The Internet Movie Data-base (the "website" you are quoting) is user-edited so it's not really a proof of anything or nothing.
The movie had a real-life impact ("'Blue Line' inmate freed after 12 years"--says Chicago Tribune: pqasb.pqarchiver.com) which a good enough proof to me.
So, like, whatever, bro, don't be so menstrual about it.
if u dont change ur reading habits (wikipedia, the epitome of user generated content), u wont be able to tell when someone's being serious or just fucking with you
cheers
Please do tell me if you've been serious because I really can't tell with you! I don't know what to believe anymore. Is Legion even your real name? I don't have any non-on-lines friends so please don't "f**k" with me cause you guys are like my only friends left :-(
for instance, you can start here:
see, we was talking mockumentaries even before the advent of broadband internet
back in the day, we would write our posts in notepad, go online (dial up) and then paste it here in a haste
so the answer is: i was indeed fucking with you, i do it all the time with the kids on my block
Now you sound creepy.
dont worry, im into bright kids
I'm curious to see a Nima movie. I'm am not curious to see a Todd Phillips movie. Sucks to have his name all over it.
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