Sprint 1: Research

Link

Director:
Concept:
Era:
Notes:
credits:

9 Best Music Videos of 2012 | 9. Grimes, “Oblivion” | TIME.com.
Director: Emily Kai Block
Concept: Football Game/ Motorcross
Era: 80’s, sparkly wardrobe, boombox, bulky headphones
Notes: Recorded at a live event with unsuspecting extras?
credits: beginning credits

HYFR (Hell Ya Fucking Right) (Explicit) – YouTube.

Director: Director X
Concept: Bar-Mitzfah
Era: Contemporary
Notes: dancing, slo-mo
credits: some intro text, credit to the director in the beginning and at the end

Hot Cheetos & Takis [HD] – YouTube.

Director: 13twentythree Photography
Concept: Playground Rap
Era: 80s rap culture
Notes:  frequent cuts back and forth on the beat, children extras
credits: title of song at the beginning, graffiti typeface for title and end credit to group Y.N. Rich Kids

Jack White – Sixteen Saltines – YouTube.

Director: AG Rojas
Concept: Montage of Surreal Mischief
Era: 90s
Notes: special effects, body paint, children extras
credits: none

M.I.A. – Bad Girls – YouTube.

Director:Romain Gavras
Concept: (see below)
Era: 80s ?
Notes: drag racing
credits: a copyright line, white on black at the end

“Director Romain Gavras takes all the live-fast-die-young absurdities of rap videos—speeding cars, dazzling stunts and provocative women—and transports them to a bombed-out desert, where they are quickly rendered into nothing but gimmicks in a stunning satire. The result is a chaotic cavalcade of insane feats, wacky dance moves and, as is typical of M.I.A., a deeply political streak running through it. The most arresting image is of M.I.A. nonchalantly filing her nails on top of a car as it careens on two wheels, which is simultaneously invigorating, frightening— and completely bad ass.”

via 9 Best Music Videos of 2012 | 4. M.I.A., “Bad Girls” | TIME.com.

Explosions In The Sky – “Postcard From 1952” music video (HD) – YouTube.

Director: Peter Simonite and Annie Gunn
Concept: Nostalgia
Era: 50s
Notes: slo-mo, people and children playing
credits: none

Aimee Mann – Labrador – YouTube.

Director: Tom Scharpling
Concept: (See below)
Era:
Notes:
credits: interview-news style credits

The video stars John Hamm as an overbearing version of director Tom Scharpling—portraying him as a greasy huckster video director who wants to do a shot-for-shot remake of ‘Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry.” (Students of the ’80s will recall that Til Tuesday was the group Mann fronted before her solo career.) In the video Mann balks at the concept, but claims she was tricked into signing a contract and is now obligated to go forward with it. The result is exactly what you’d expect: A mind-blowingly hilarious shot-for-shot remake of “Voices Carry” with Superchunk/The Mountain Goats’ drummer Jon Wurster standing in for the vaguely abusive boyfriend and a cameo by Ted Leo in an atrocious wig. The laugh-out-loud video is the perfect antidote to “Labrador,” the somewhat depressing song off of Mann’s Charmer LP about a hopelessly one-sided relationship.

via 9 Best Music Videos of 2012 | 2. Aimee Mann, “Labrador” | TIME.com.

Grimes – Genesis – YouTube.

Director: Claire Boucher
Concept: Surreal Post-Apocalypse?
Era: 2010s
Notes: live snakes, elaborate wardrobes, riding in a car, band of characters, dancing
credits: dancing with fireworks

Wilco – “Sunloathe” – YouTube.

Director: Directed by Peter Glantz. Art by Nathaniel Murphy.
Concept: Fantasy monsters
Era: 70s
Notes: made up critters, mixed media, clay-mation with traditional animation, patterns
credits: animated name of song and band at beginning

Kanye West [MERCY] ft. Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz on Vimeo

Director: NABIL
Concept: Geometric space (parking lot?)
Era: 2000s
Notes: hide and reveal characters, black and white, surreal space
credits: end copyright line

Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game on Vimeo

Director: Phillip Andelman
Concept: Librarian stuck at a bad day at work
Era: 60s?
Notes: Starring Helena Bonham Catter
credits:

Something I noticed about some of them: they give a reason for the video to end, snuffing out a flame, panning away,