Happy Friday. Today I ask which pop diva makes you sticky.
(get your head out of the gutter)
I’m talking about memorability. In web parlance, they talk about the importance of stickiness. You can get people to your page but how long do they stick around? The longer they stick around, the better you’re doing… or something like that.
So let’s perform a little test.
I recently work on the latest crapfest from the director of the first two Harry Potter flicks (easily the worst in the series). In a desperate attempt to grab young viewers, this film features not one but two pop hits. The first is this little ditty.
When the credits rolled, it was the Ke$ha song that haunted my soul but the following morning I woke up humming Lady Gaga. Therefore, I posit that the Gaga song is the stickier of the two.
Do you agree or disagree? Which song do you end up humming in the shower?
Of all the pop shows I’ve seen at The Hollywood Bowl, this was by far the most consistently enjoyable. By that, I mean that all the bands were good, not one was a dud (as is usually the case but I’ll address that phenomenon at the end of this post).
The first opener was The New Pornographers. While their melodies are sweet, clean pop confections their sound last night was anything but. It felt like they needed another 30 minutes for a sound check… or maybe the bowl just swallowed them up. It’s been known to happen to good bands and I can vouch for The New Pornographers. These guys rocked their SXSW set a few years back.
Also, as good as their female singer was, she can’t compare to the power and clarity of Neko Case.
The second opener was Tegan and Sara and they were much improved since I saw them open for Ryan Adams (dude, when you gonna make another album that floors us?). First, it helped that this time they had a backing band; the two of them acoustic = tedious. Second, their sound was clean and tight (New Pornographers, take note of what they did for next time). Lastly, these two girl have a great stage presence/banter. They reminded me of the Smothers Brothers. Hey, Logo, are you developing a variety hour for these two?
Finally, Death Cab for Cutie took the stage. Like all previous pop acts that have played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the first half of Death Cab’s set was loaded with their heavier songs while the second half focused on slower songs with a more cinematic scope. In my humble opinion, I thought Death Cab did a great job.
Now, those points I was going to address. First, The Hollywood Bowl is an unforgiving space for pop acts. While it’s a cool novelty for a band to play there and it’s awesome that the audience can bring in a picnic, I think most bands should avoid the Bowl. Second, if you’re gonna play with the LA Philharmonic, embrace it, don’t treat it like jamming with a buddy. Death Cab should have dumped their usual instruments and only had the orchestra backing them. That would have been amazing. Lastly, Transatlanticism is their best album but this might be my favorite song/video of theirs:
By now you’ve heard that next year’s Oscars will allow 10 nominees for best picture. Regardless if this ends up being a good idea or bad idea, we are half way through the year so we should have at least one contender, right? As I’ve seen 42 theatrical releases this year, I will suggest three possible contenders.
Of the movies I’ve seen this year, my three Oscar hopefuls are:
Recently FIND held another lecture in their “Shop Talk” series, this time inviting director Chris Milk to speak about working in, and breaking into, the commercial and music video world.
First, it should be noted that Chris moved backwards through these industries. He first landed in the corporate jungle of Madison Avenue as a commercial director before venturing into the wild west of music videos (why do most directors start with music videos? Because it’s easier to convince a bunch of addle headed musicians that you should direct the video for their third single than it is to convince Murray the used car lot owner to fork over a big chunk of his advertising budget for you to helm his late-night local television spot).
For reference, here’s a commercial by Chris (a spec ad, I suspect):
And here’s his video for “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” by Gnarls Barkley:
Second, he confirmed everyone’s fears – as the country goes, so do these industries. We all know the music industry has gone to hell. Gone are the days of million dollar music videos. Today, a major band is lucky to get a low six-figure budget for their first single; I know someone that was offered a $10k budget for an effects heavy third single by an artist that’s huge (I mean HUGE) on KROQ. Chris seems to think that the ideal newcomer will not only be able to shoot great footage but will also have the postproduction expertise to make $5k look like $50k.
Unfortunately commercials, once seen as the safe haven for highly paid helmers, are also seeing their budgets slashed. These days advertising executives are looking for young talent to create viral campaigns. FYI, viral should be defined as “we won’t give you any money so you have to scrounge up the equipment yourself and we want it done in a week.” Chris mentioned that there’s really only one industry that still spends lavish amounts on their commercials — the pharmaceutical industry. Still not deterred? According to Chris there’s one last thing you gotta do: brand yourself. Are you the funny, shaky-cam guy whose work reminds folks of THE OFFICE or are you the guy that can shoot table-top so well that you’ll make all the lactose intolerant Americans rush to their phones, credit cards in hand, when they see your ad for Domino’s new extra cheesy family pizza? Wanna be both? No can do. Production companies are looking for consistency and reliability they can pitch to ad agencies. Want to stretch your creativity? That’s what music videos are for.
Personally, I’ve always been interested in music videos and commercials. Years ago I pitched like crazy on a rock video but in the end felt like I got screwed by the talent so I gave it up (lesson learned: getting screwed over isn’t personal, it’s strictly business).
I also had a brush with the commercial industry after winning awards for this, a Philips Electronicsspec ad/PSA hybrid:
At one point I had a Japanese company contacting me, asking me to pitch some ideas for their Pepsi-man campaign. I sent in a few ideas but never heard from them again (lesson learned: while domestic ad agencies might ask a handful of directors to pitch on their boards, foreign companies will invite dozens, if not more, to submit their take).
I was also told that I should shoot a Coke spec ad. The catch: I’d have to pay for it out my own pocket. Yikes! Not only was spending $30k (I kid you not) of my own money on a spec ad just not a possibility for me, it just felt wrong. I thought if I had $30k I should make something personal, not a commercial for a ridiculously wealthy multinational.
But there I go again talking about “personal” when I should know that it’s strictly business.
So what now? I’d love to direct a music video and/or commercial. Doing a very low-budget spec ad or video isn’t out of the question but first I think I need to build up my After Effects skills.
Years ago I swore off music videos; it you think actors are divas, try aging rockers. Still, when I see an uncluttered idea beautifully executed, I think I ought to reconsider. This was one of those.
So how the hell do I jump back in the music video abyss?
Have you checked out MTV Music yet? It’s a YouTube like service that let’s you view just about any music video shown on MTV (back when they actually showed music videos). It’s about f**king time.
For those that don’t know me, I’m a movie lover but a music junkie. That said, I just popped over to Pitchfork and checked out their Top 50 Music Videos of 2007 – I hadn’t seen a single one. Why am I so out of the music video loop?
First, I don’t get MTV in my home. Second, RES magazine used to hook me up with a quarterly DVD of cool music videos but they went under a few years back. Third, I’ve had bad experiences in the music video world.
Without divulging names, I was hired to shoot a music video for a band. I pitched them a sweet idea but it was way out of their budget range. They suggested that we do a fast and cheap performance video, the kind rock bands churned out in the 80s (think “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses). I shot one of their shows, delivered a cut and the band asked for some time to come up with notes. They also asked for the original tapes, to review the material. I later learned that the lead singer cut a new video and took all the credit. While it was technically his cut, were you to see both versions you’d agree that my cut was a first draft for his version. Besides that, as I was doing the job pro bono with the hope of directing a second video (a job the lead singer scored based off the performance video he cut from my footage), I felt burned. That’s the last time I dipped my toes into the music video arena.
But I digress. Prior to this Pitchfork list, I had seen exactly two music videos. The first was sent to me by BrakesBrakesBrakes for their single “Beatific Visions”.
The second is for “U.R.A. Fever” by The Kills from their new album (scheduled for a March 2008 release).
I only knew about either of those because they’re both my “friends” on MySpace.
That said, I checked out a few videos on the list by artists I was familiar with and may I suggest you watch the following:
“Smithereens (Stop Crying)” by El-P – While it’s easy to write off El-P as “unlistenable” I find his work interesting and irresistible. I can see why The New York Times featured this video.
“1 2 3 4″ by Feist – Surely you’ve seen snippets of this video in the iPod ads. Check it out in its full glory and see if you don’t break out into a smile (and yes, I have a massive crush on her).
“Don’t You Evah” by Spoon – Need I say more than dancing robots
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