Once upon a time, music videos were favored over scripted “reality” television and budgets for these videos could well exceed the million-dollar mark. Ah, the good ol’ days.
Is the music video dead? The folks at Artist Home, SIFF and the Seattle Weekly would disagree. Instead, you could say the music video has made a come back. Now instead of living within the television waves, it has been reborn online.
On Friday night at the inaugural Sync Music Video Festival at SIFF Cinema Uptown, those in attendance celebrated the “unsung heroes of the music industry.” Four Northwest directors and filmmakers were spotlighted, along with a handful of other single music videos.
This new wave of boundary-pushing directors is proving that the music video isn’t a dead art. Here are five reasons why.
1. Butts. Lots of butts.
Emily Denton’s “The Void” by Haunted Horses had some Capitol Hill ass shaking and Stephan Gray’s “Gimme that 80s Butt” by Don’t Talk to the Cops…well, the song title speaks for itself.
Even while “dressed up like Jesus”, Denton makes videos that are oddly sexy, but also communicate a message – even if it’s a ridiculous one. It may take a few repeat watches, but you’ll eventually get it. Oh, and her budget for the phallic Monogamy Party – “Crimes” video? “Maybe $10 for the popsicles.”
2. Raz – “They’ll Speak” premiere.
I won’t spill too many deets about this soon-to-be-released video by Stephan Gray but one thing I can guarantee is it’s one of my favorites from the director so far. The video was shot outside Stephan’s studio apartment around 3am and a “cheap video trick” made Raz fly. Yes – fly.
You can listen to the track below.
https://soundcloud.com/berend-schipper/raz-simone-they-ll-speak
3. Jordan Albertsen’s short for Indians – “Sink Into You”.
What took Jordan 6 months to create has only received around 8,000 views on YouTube. Not every video can or will be a YouTube hit, and that’s OK. It’s just over 13 minutes long and you can feel that Albertsen “fell in love with the song.”
4. Beer and wine now being served at SIFF Uptown.
IPA, Lager and wine varieties. Oh, heyyyyyy!
5. Music videos being shown on the big screen.
The beauty of this event is that everyone shuts up, the lights dim and the video plays on a state-of-the-art digital projection and sound system. How often have you watched a video at work (tsk tsk) while texting and getting email notifications *BING* at the same time? At Sync, we were able to focus on Ryan McMackin’s subtle touch or Neil Ferron’s dark humor.
While the music video has found a new niche that’s more habitable (i.e., the Internet), it hasn’t lost its soul. Even though the online ecosystem is overpopulated with outlandish crap that is desperately trying to become viral, these Northwest directors are proving that quality and authenticity doesn’t come with a $3 million dollar price tag.