Music videos are the visual scoring of a piece of music, in a way. The scoring of a movie is done after the film is complete, and works to compliment the overall piece. A good score helps to subliminally increase the emotion displayed on the screen while not taking the focus away from the film itself.
Often times music videos fail to do their simple job and overshadow the music they are supposed to be complimenting. Music videos are treated as commercials rather than vehicles in which the listening experience can be enhanced. Even good music videos seem to miss the mark. Take the Beastie Boy’s music video for “Sabotage,” for example. It is a funny and interesting spoof of 70’s cop epics, and without a doubt one of the best music videos of all times, but it completely detracts from the actual song.
I think that in lot situations, music has been demoted to a level of “complimentary art.” Music is treated less like an art form in itself, and more as a way of enhancing other works, or other daily experiences. Music is listened to while riding in a car or walking to class, but rarely is it the main focus.
I recently came across a clip of Jakob Trollback’s new approach to the music video (which can be found here: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jakob_trollback_rethinks_the_music_video.html). The video reminded me a lot about Nippon, and got me thinking about how this abstract approach to the music video could help benefit the listener’s experience of the music.
Instead of trying to promote the artists as celebrities or making an attempt to depict of the song’s subject matter through actual images of the words, the lyrics—the actual words themselves—become the main focus. By focusing on shapes and letters and the movement in sync with the music, the viewer becomes more aware of the music’s subtleties and gains a fuller experience. They are not distracting from the music in anyway, they highlight the different parts. In a way, it is similar to a visual player that can be found on itunes or windows media player—which is basically a score of the music.
I think by taking this approach depicted here, the listener’s experience of the music can be further enhanced because it takes into consideration the relationship between form and function, unlike the music videos of today.
