Why can't we make videos like this anymore?

j1clark@ucsd.edu said:
I don't know... I have not watched broadcast TV regularly since CBS canceled the Smother's Brothers Comedy Hour, nor subscribed to cable...
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Ya know...when people play the whole, "personally, I don't even watch TV" card, it's kind of a subtle & smug way of taking a crap on those of us who do.

But if I can make a friend or two in this thread.....

Sir, you are absolutely right on this one. That music video is just genius :D
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+1
 
the thing i have taken away from watching marathons of 80s music videos recently is how many directors/ whoever's responsible for the video's concept coudnt come up with better idea for their videos than "okay, so, youre at a concert."

that and the comical unevenness in production values from one video to the next.
 
Great video! ... but of course it's built on the music track.
You might also ask why we don't see quality musical composition getting out to the main stream.

By the way ... this tune is a great Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons emulation.
 
To think they could pull off something like this without computers in those days...

 
...Today, we'd see a girl stripping throughout the video, a talentless singer / rapper with no acting skills, and the choreography trying to show off a stupid luxury vehicle and a bunch of hoes. WTF happened!!
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Well said, well said!
A real shame what rap and hip hop made out the new age :(

Sex , Drugs & Rock'n'Roll
...turned into...
Gangbang, Gangster & Education-have-none

hope that get fixed at some point, so we can finally think about watching TV again
 
EDV said:

The choreography, the acting, the humor, the casting, the camera movement, the timing, the whole concept and the way the story comes together....an absolute classic of a video for the ages. Today, we'd see a girl stripping throughout the video, a talentless singer / rapper with no acting skills, and the choreography trying to show off a stupid luxury vehicle and a bunch of hoes. WTF happened!!
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When we reach a new decade, it's always "why isn't X as good as X from ten/twenty years ago!? What's happening to the world and today's youth!?" You can break it down, analyze it, say it's the fault of the new generations, the content creators, or both... but I think it has more to do with perceptions.

If you look at the content of 'present day', you see everything. Every video, every song, every movie, every book, every piece of media. So what stands out? Yes, the crap, the aweful music videos with girls dancing, the over saturation of shallow depth of field, the aweful books, movies, etc...

If you look at the 'past', you see only what has survived over the course of time. You see the strongest pieces of work, you see the things that have staying power. You don't see the justin beiber's, the jersey shores, or the twilight movies of the past, because they don't last and people forget about them.

This is why someone will think of 5 comedy movies from the 80's and think 'man, I can't even think of one good comedy movie this summer, what's happened with the world?' Same with books, movies, music videos, etc. It's all about perception.

It's an even stronger feeling if this 'media' is what you grew up with. It has a certain feeling of nostalgia to it.

The above video is fine. Well shot, great humor, but I don't find it anything special.
 
There's a certain charm to those old FX. Seeing that it's hand-drawn and the roughness that brings is much cooler to me than anything they could do today. Today it would be too slick. Or fake un-slick to seem charming. Unless someone went through the trouble of actually emulating the old technique. Which they'd never do 'cause they'd have a two-day deadline from the shoot date. Ditto the animation in Raspberry Beret (which I heard Prince STOLE the animated footage and edited the whole thing himself!) and Sledge Hammer.
 
Postmaster said:
Call me old fashioned, but I prefer it when those "musicians" can actually play an instrument.
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I "understand" your point but jazz should not be compared to pop imo.
Right? There are tons of jazz youtube vids online that are mind blowing.

It's a pet beef with me. I like all styles if they are good.
Attacking a performer or thier music is fine. Attacking the genre is ignorant.

Saying Billy Joel is not your bag is fine. Saying Jazz is better is, I'm sure, you yourself wouldn't agree with.
Just me being super technical. :)


EDV said:
To think they could pull off something like this without computers in those days...

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Still a classic and still works today both musically and visually for me.
 
We geezers remember the 80s well(ish). Love that they gave the one guy a guitar to hold; not a note of that song came through an amplifier!

Funny, some friends on facebook were just asking if anyone knows where the old 16mm film from my old band's first music video might be... so long ago! But must be around here somewhere... and the amazing thing is that unless it was kept in an oven or swimming poor that stuff will probably telecine well!
 

I gotta laugh though. They played this way too fast live.

Another cover. Can't remember what my point was now. That was fun veering off topic though. :) LOL. -beers?
 
I'm an old geezer who graduated from high school in 1980 and I have very fond memories of the music videos from the early to mid 1980s. I first fell in love with them on the USA Networks late night weekend show "Night Flight" then MTV hit. I also am now more inclined to listen to Jazz then modern pop, but I also realize that things change and that there is a very good smattering of new music that is very good. I think that the music video form has been very hard hit with the change in the music industry business model that the internet has caused and very few artists today have the budgets to make extravagant videos.

There is one exception, that I have noticed, and to be honest, even as an old geezer, I really like some of the music videos that have been made by Lady Gaga. Now I am not going to set around and listen to her music but I tip my hat to the effort, and money, that she has put into some of her music videos. Some that I admire are:



And while this is no "Thriller" I think it is a pretty good shot at the "Story" music video.



In different vein, I think that the work of Romain Gavras (Son of Costa-Gavras) is outstanding.




Yeah, music videos have changed in the past 25 to 30 years, that is for sure, but so has a lot of things. I think that the music video form is very alive and well, it's just different.
 
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Love those Lady Gaga vids. She must aggravate Madonna "Yesterday's news" Ciconne to no end.

The Justice videos I've seen are great as well.
 
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