Music videos are in a weird place right now. No one really airs them, and as artists make less and less money, the bells and whistles of slick promotional materials become harder to justify. Can’t knock it; that’s how it should be. A musician’s music should always come first, but as a guy who loves the artform and enjoys making them, it’s kind of sad. Artists still want nice videos, they just don’t want them to cost anything either, leaving us film/video/moving picture makers constantly challenged to turn out eye-catching work for free or with minimal resources. The bright side is that the people who are left doing it are as passionate as the musicians. We’re a slightly disturbed bunch, ready to put our rent on the line to do what we love.
This ongoing column will highlight videos for/by/with/from independent bands and directors making the most of what they have to kick your eyes and ears out yo’ head and earn a spot on your Twitter feed.
Narrative: Alex Goot meets a wide-eyed faerie and squires her through an episode of Dawson’s Creek.
Performance: Goot backlit at a piano. It’s revealed he’s playing to the faerie at the end. Meh.
Song: Cheez-Whiz pop. For crackers, etc. As far as talented youngins go though, Goot is one of the best. He almost makes “Fireflies” bearable. Almost.
He also plays all his own instruments and produces all his own tracks:
Kid’s been in the game since MySpace was popular (learn more about that here) and has not slowed down. When the industry comes knocking, he’s going to make an amazing songwriter and producer if nothing else.
Why You Should Watch It: Because holy crap we live in a day and age where a camera available at Best Buy can be pointed at just about anything and make it look like It’s a little miracle called the Rebel t2i, and along with its older brothers the 7D and 5D, you’ll be seeing its name in this column pretty often so click here and learn a little about the camera line changing micro-budget videomaking. Granted, director Kurt Schneider has a solid eye and knows how to use locations, available light and attractive people to his advantage. Images like the ones at 1:03, 1:18, and 3:23 don’t happen by accident. They’re not beautiful in the “we spent thirty minutes composing this frame” way, but they feel honest. They pluck at a nostalgic place in our brains, give us the feeling we’ve been there, like a handheld Norman Rockwell. The budgetary limitations are obvious – not everything is lit well, and there are occasionally double and triple shadows that look cheap – but for the most part, it’s a cute doc-style video that features some prettier than average pictures and will play well to its target audience.
The Beat-Play Experiment 