Chapter 1

Ok so, I did miss the class, but if I recall correctly, we were supposed to read Chapter 1. So that’s what I did.

One of the things the author emphasizes is THE CONTEXT in which the video was created. We shouldn’t judge them just by the esthetics or content, we must look at the hole picture and do some research before saying anything. Is funny how videos are censured because they are considered offensive or ¿dangerous? to some groups in society, but people who complains (and there is always going to be a complaint) rarely search the background of the band, the director, and so on. Nowadays it seems that in general, all musical genres have their way to do videos. If your a rap singer, you should put hot women and a lot of bling, «dog». If you are a pop artist you have to be in excellent shape and wear preppy clothes, look beautiful at all times! and stay positive ;) Rockers on the other hand should not give a damn about their reputation and looks, they are «rebels». There isn’t much innovation in the field, and there’s a lot of censorship, but every once in a while there’s some music video that causes controversy.

Another thing I thought it was interesting, is how in the music business, rockers dislike music videos because all the attention is drawn to them and they looks, so listeners won’t give a damn about lyrics anymore, if the video is good, they’ll like the song, if not, they won’t listen to it. And there’s also the «imagination vs given images» issue, it’s better when you picture things than when you know exactly how they are and it is impossible trying to create another image, because you’ll always be influenced by the one it was given to you. This happens all the time with books turned into movies, some adaptations are nicely done but sometimes they suck.

A few pages ahead, the author speaks about videos used in concerts and how all the audience positively reacts to them, because enriches the live performance. 2 years ago I went to see Roger Waters, he was going to sing the whole Dark Side of The Moon and other Pink Floyd hits, plus some of his work. During the show, there were this huge screens on stage, and each time a song started, a radio appeared on the screen and a gigantic hand «changed» the station, so a new song could start. That was so amazing! We were definitely waiting for a great production and we would have been disappointed  if his show hadn’t had this kind of details. But to give a different example, there a lot of artists who like to keep it simple, so they can connect better with the audience, which is fine too. 

So I leave here a little moment from one of the greatest concerts ever! at least in Mexico. You can see the huge screen right there and its sick quality!