Music Video shot at Bruneau Sand Dunes, Idaho

M

Martin M. Jones

New member
Finally posted our music video on YouTube and Vimeo this week. Am looking forward to your comments, critiques, observations. Many thanks to this forum for the ability to research questions and solve problems. Those of you who have posted Q&A have taught us so much and now as we begin shooting our first indie feature, we look forward to learning even more from this great community.

Thirst on Vimeo

Thirst on YouTube

Thanks
M Jones
 
What is the meaning of the video? I'm very curious...there are sultans on cell phones, scantily clad women, random guns shooting, a Native American woman on a horse with an American flag. Are the people laying in the bed at the beginning of the video just dreaming all of this? What is the symbolism of the Fuji water dripping?

I do have to say that the video would have really benefited with a vignette of the singer woven through-out the video, I feel it would have tied things together better, but that's just my opinion. The video really doesn't get going until over a minute in and it's in that first minute that a vignette would definitely help. Where it stands is that it would play much better as a short film or an experimental film, it totally works well for that.
 
I'd have to agree with suspectx on all his points.

The video was a little creepy to be honest, I'm guessing you were going for something really really odd and different? especially the scenes with the women and the old king guy. The part where he is moving his tongue around wasn't visually pleasing, to say the least. But again, maybe that's what you were going for.

I failed to see the story line, maybe you can explain it? What I saw was a jumble of odd images edited together to a song. Maybe I'm missing something or not reading into the video enough, but I just did not get it.

One thing I would change is all those cross fades, my eyes were going nuts. I had no time to take in what was happening in the scenes because many shots were only up for about 2-3 seconds.

Don't want to sound negative about the video, but I think you could definitely improve it by making changes. You have some good images, they just seem very rushed, and some shots you could do without.

Hope this was helpful.
 
Hi,
I am the producer / director. The song, "Thirst", though sensual, is about money, power & oil.
The three models represent America going to the Saudis and getting seduced into believing they can schmooz their way into getting the oil from the oil rich Middle East countries. The girls in getting seduced is like America still being sold inefficient gas guzzlers while being crapped on at the gas stations.
The poor bedouins represent the poor of all countries, following America, believing they will be protected. In the end, the Constitution, (represented by the American Flag), the people of America and all the poor all over the world are screwed . The sultans, like real sultans hide behind their heritage while they make money deals, (yes, on cell phones), and take all the natural resources from the land that belongs to the poor by heritage, not American guns.
Yes, the couple in the bed, whose dreams are triggered by dripping water, instigate this dream sequence.
Since the song is about money, power & oil, I felt the story line could follow in a vague way. I think the funniest part about all of this is that the younger the kids, the better they get the story and that everyone complains that the shots go to fast. Almost all music videos have so many quick cuts in it that I wanted to go the opposite way. Young kids think that it dissolves into the next shot way too slow. I am glad you liked parts of it though. We are now shooting a full length indie feature and all your comments help us so much, so , thank you!
 
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As far as the singer / band: they are never seen live or in video. Taos Neutrino did not want to be in the video so we had to work it in a different way. Sure appreciate all the input folks. We will keep all the comments in mind as we venture into our indie feature. Thank you!
 
leilani said:
Great video. What was your budget for this music video. Must have been hefty.
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Just curious, why would you ask a question about your own video?

Also, just wondering why "young kids" are the target audience? Or maybe they're not the target audience, from what you said it just sounded like you were tailoring the cut of the video to a younger audience. Everything you said about the meaning of the video is why I feel it would work better as an experimental film. But I'm looking at it through music video television terms. I guess you can say that it really is technically a music video, there is music. But I'm just thinking how MTV2, MTV, VH1, Fuse, Music Choice, MTVu, Etc would look at it and I'd say that it's really not their cup of tea so to say.

For me the symbolism is very hard to read, but so are David Lynch movies, so it doesn't matter, people can decide what they want no worries. You worked hard and you definitely got a project you can show to investors, which is great! Good luck on your feature!
 
suspectx said:
Just curious, why would you ask a question about your own video?

Also, just wondering why "young kids" are the target audience? Or maybe they're not the target audience, from what you said it just sounded like you were tailoring the cut of the video to a younger audience. Everything you said about the meaning of the video is why I feel it would work better as an experimental film. But I'm looking at it through music video television terms. I guess you can say that it really is technically a music video, there is music. But I'm just thinking how MTV2, MTV, VH1, Fuse, Music Choice, MTVu, Etc would look at it and I'd say that it's really not their cup of tea so to say.

For me the symbolism is very hard to read, but so are David Lynch movies, so it doesn't matter, people can decide what they want no worries. You worked hard and you definitely got a project you can show to investors, which is great! Good luck on your feature!
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lol, kind of looks like someone got caught there. How do you ask questions about the budget if you were the producer? Except to stimulate the thread artificially, no offense ;)

I also thought it was a bit vague. Then again when I put stories in my music videos, they are a little bit obscure sometimes too, though usually they are in the context of such fast edits and exciting rock that it doesn't make much of any difference whether you got the story at all. That's one thing I kind of laugh about with videos I direct with stories, if someone says they didn't get the story, I could care less, they usually still liked the video. But if they look closer enough, there is a story that's somewhat interesting included.

At least you tried to go for a heavy level of symbolism and something different, and I can respect that, despite agreeing with some of the criticisms. I think it's still a good effort for something experimental.
 
Hi again,
Oops. Busted. Actually I posted the question to my partner, (happens to be my husband), because he was a bit discouraged no one had posted a response.
As a filmmaker who is 60, I can assure you that I don't think I am capable of directing a video for a young market. It has been 20 years since writing my last jingle or directing a commercial.
I felt that it was necessary to work with slow dissolves because the music is slow and seductive. I didn't think that quick cuts was the direction that suited this music. As far as it having a vague meaning, I guess it does. I think it is worth the effort to try and get the audience to discover messages rather than lead them to it. Maybe this is frustrating to some audiences but I like to "tease" in a sense and maybe it will take a couple of viewings for someone to catch hints of what it is all about. The other side of this is when I conceptualized this video, I wanted to try and convey an almost soft porn look to the whole thing. I know one can always count on seduction as a marketing tool and we wanted to make sure this would be viewed by men, (who still run this business), who we may want work from down the road. I can tell you that since this has aired, (on a lot of different site venues), we have had two distributers wanting to talk with us about our feature. They may be disappointed when the feature isn't seductive but I do know that sex always sells and the fact that they contacted us after viewing the video tells me not much has changed in marketing in 20 years.
The feature we are in the process of shooting now is story driven but you can bet this old lady will make sure there is some flesh somewhere in it. It helps a movie get distribution and whether it is right or wrong, it is a fact. A great story with great actors on a big screen doesn't always need it but I am realistic in my approach. I think we have a nice story but not "great". This video is our first effort with this new digital age but we are well aware that we are not great cinematographers. I first and foremost always ask myself-is it entertaining? That doesn't mean the answer will be yes but that is always our goal. This community is highly intelligent and that is what we love about this site. We learn from you and your posts. I know how to sell widgets. From you guys, I learn how to make it look better. Thank you all so much for your postings!
 
this video isn't creepy, it's hilarious! i was smiling the entire time. the end, with the dude shooting the silenced m4 and the camel and kids falling, LOL! good stuff.
 
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