Re: "The Whole Story Videos" a bit let down

[gb10@gte.com (Gregory Bossert)]

Dave flings himself in front of the bus called .gaffa:
> Overall, the videos on "The Whole Story" did not impress me.

ah well, can't please everyone, after all...

> The early ones seems rather amateur (Wuthering Heights)

point taken, but remember these date from the early days of music
videos.  i remember the excitement over the first Blondie videos
(from the same era) -- they look a lot like a high school video
project to these modern, MTV-jaded eyes.

anyway, the (possibly unintentional) naivete/ of the video effects,
the choreography, even the dress, supports the basic mood of
intense but adolescent passion.  and ain't she a *cutie*!

> the ones from "The Dreaming" kind of reminded me of Dr. Who
> (which I like, but also feel amateur)

again, i see what you mean -- this is largely due to being shot on video,
with lower budget lighting (that sit-com look).  but look again at
the textures and details in _The Dreaming_, and the rollerskates in
_Sat in Your Lap_: there's a lot of ingenuity in these videos.

> and the videos off "Hounds of Love", although clearly better produced
> and having a larger budget had an overall "muddled" feeling.  Cloudbusting
> was O.K., but Kate's hair style and mannerisms kept reminding me of
> Raggedy Ann :-).  "Running up that Hill" was just some dancing and
> people in masks.  "Hounds of Love" and "The Big Sky" just seemed like
> a muddled mess.

boy, sure is a *fine* asbestos suit you're wearing there, Dave.  to be
honest, i used to have mixed feelings about the video for _HoL_;  however,
recent comments in this very newsgroup have led me to see this video
as a pastiche of film cliches, with an emphasis on Hitchcock -- and i'm
a big Hitchcock fan...

_The Big Sky_ certainly is a mess, but rather more joyful than muddled,
IMHO.  this is a song about running around with your arms stuck out,
making airplane noises, and generally making a ruckus -- and that's just
what happens in the video.  it helps a lot if you jump up and down while
watching...

Raggedy Ann on a magic machine, spraying clouds across the hills, 
not really able to understand what's happened to her/his father;
i don't have a two-year-old child myself, but the image hits pretty
hard...

i am unable to respond to the comment about _RUTH_, except to commend
Dave for his keen powers of observation.  by the by, is it my imagination,
or is that one throw-KaTe-over-your-back move reversed (i.e. has the
film been flipped around) -- something always sends chills down my spine
at that point...

> Anyway, the Babooshka video alone was worth the $24.95 I spent :-).

Ron, i hope you've got a quote or two explaining just why KaTe is 
dressed as She-Ra in the choruses -- not that i'm complaining, mind you...

thanks for the comments, Dave - hope this doesn't come across as a flame!
footah!
-greg -- gb10@gte.com --
	"a woman drew her long black hair out tight
	 and fiddled whisper music on those strings
	 and bats with baby faces in the violet light
	 whistled, and beat their wings" -- T.S. Eliot